ABSTRACT
An interest in cognitive functioning has always marked the field of learning disabilities (hardly surprising when a major requirement for admission to the diagnostic category is performance on standardised cognitive assessments). The focus of this interest has varied. Some work has targeted discovery of the underlying cognitive processes that might explain poor performance on intelligence tests; for example, short-term memory capacity, attentional processes, general processing speed. Other work has had a more remedial perspective and has sought ways to enhance learning, problem-solving and conceptual understanding; for example, enhancing the learning of discriminations, boosting the understanding of moral concepts, acquiring selfdirected problem-solving strategies (see Clements 1987, Chapters 3 and 10 for a brief overview of earlier cognitive work). The background to these earlier endeavours has been general experimental and developmental psychology. Most recently the cognitive approaches for people experiencing a range of emotional and behavioural difficulties have begun to be applied to assist people with learning disabilities who experience similar problems.
