Hyperactivity and Learning Difficulties

Abstract

A survey of 1,593 (807 males) children in seven primary (elementary) schools was made by means of a rating scale measuring behavior and academic difficulty. On the graded rating of learning difficulty, 7.7 percent of the children scored above the cut-off criterion of two standard deviations above the mean and the ratio of boys to girls was 2:1. The differences between boys and girls was statistically significant. Hyperactivity was determined in this study by using the cut-off criterion of 15 on the Conners' Short Parent-Teacher Questionnaire. There were 11.4 percent of children above this cut-off criterion of hyperactivity (17.8 percent of boys and 4.9 percent of girls). Twenty-seven percent of children found to be hyperactive also scored above the criterion value for learning difficulty; only 5 percent of the non-hyperactive group scored in the learning difficulty category. Of those with learning difficulty, 41 percent were also hyperactive; 3.2 percent of the children had both hyperactivity and learning difficulty. The behaviors that most closely correlated with learning difficulty were “fails to finish things she starts (short attention-span),” “inattentive and distractible,” “uncoordinated, clumsy” and “fidgeting.” The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of various approaches to the definitions of learning problems.