Self-instruction, individual differences, and mental retardation.

A general theoretical framework to guide research on self-instructional training was presented. The theory emphasizes that in evaluating self-instructional programs, more attention must be given to the developmental characteristics of the persons to be trained and suggests that self-instruction will be particularly useful to young nonretarded children, mentally retarded persons, and, more generally, individuals who have limited linguistic skills and a limited knowledge base. Further, retarded children taught to self-instruct will show better attention, memory, and motivation and manifest less impulsive behavior, maladaptive perseveration, and field dependency when taught through a self-instructional in contrast to an external instructional format. Empirical support for this theory was examined and recommendations for future research made.