Neuropsychological validation of diagnosed learning disabilities in male adolescents

The study reported herein was undertaken in order to examine the adjunctive utility of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery as a diagnostic system for the identification of that category of disorders referred to generically as specific learning disabilities. Current assessment procedures, based on the discrepancy model, have been criticized as being psychometrically inadequate for diagnostic purposes.

The research sample included 30 students identified by the host school system as learning disabled (LD) and 30 students randomly selected from the nonhandicapped school population who served as a comparison group. All students in the research sample were male, between the ages of 13 and 17 years, enrolled in either the 8th, 9th, or 10th grade, and of average or near average intelligence. The two groups were matched for age, grade in school, and IQ. Following the administration of the test battery to all 60 students, various combinations of summary scale T-scores were examined in order to assess the test battery's ability to discriminate the groups and classify students in accordance with actual group member ship.