Degree Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
1986
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Psychology
Abstract
This study addressed two questions believed to have implications for the current definition of mild mental retardation. The sample of 60 males (30 whites and 30 blacks) was selected from a population that had been evaluated according to the dual criteria of mild mental retardation in the public schools of southern Louisiana. Measures of the students' IQ, adaptive behavior, and socioeconomic status were obtained from the files. The Digit Span subtest of the WISC-R, a serial learning task, a paired-associates learning task and the Porteus Mazes were individually administered to the subjects. Other measures obtained were the regular homeroom and special education teachers' ratings of the students' social skills in the school setting;The results revealed that those students who had higher adaptive behavior scores did not perform better on the Level I tasks. Likewise, social competence as measured by adaptive behavior did not correlate to any noticeable degree with teachers' ratings of social skills in the school setting. However, better teacher ratings of social skills were associated with better performance on the Level I tasks. IQ and social competence as measured by adaptive behavior and teachers' ratings of social skills were not discrepant in the predominantly lower-class sample. The correlations of Race and Socioeconomic status were virtually zero with IQ and adaptive behavior. Likewise, race and Socioeconomic status were not significantly correlated with performance on the Level I tasks and the teachers' ratings of social skills. Although IQ correlated better than the adaptive behavior measure with the measures of Level I abilities and the teachers' ratings of social skills, a linear composite of the variables of IQ, Race, Adaptive Behavior, and Socioeconomic status was poorly predictive of the performance of the students.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-5749
Publisher
Digital Repository @ Iowa State University, http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/
Copyright Owner
Jane Ross-Reynolds
Copyright Date
1986
Language
en
Proquest ID
AAI8615084
File Format
application/pdf
File Size
149 pages
Recommended Citation
Ross-Reynolds, Jane, "The influence of intelligence and adaptive behavior on rote learning and social skills " (1986). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 8036.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/8036
