The Intellectual Profile of Retarded Readers

In the present comparative study intellectual profile in normal and retarded readers was studied for samples homogeneous as to age (9- to 10-yr.-olds) and sex (boys) selected from a total population of school children. Ss were 150 retarded and 50 normal readers matched for birthdate and school class placement. Systematic equating for WISC IQ level was carried out. In general, weaknesses in intellectual functioning for the retarded readers were restricted to the Verbal Scale. The retarded readers, when matched with normal readers for Full Scale IQ, were characterized by better functioning on the subtests of the Performance Scale and poorer functioning on the Verbal Scale. The finding that inadequacy in language functioning rather than in perceptual or manipulative skills characterized the retarded readers was sustained by an intensive evaluation of use of language.