Social persistence following failure in boys and girls with LD

The response of boys and girls with or without learning disabilities to soc ial failure was examined. Children participated in two dyadic interactions with experimental confederates: an unfriendly interaction and a friendly on e. The children's behavior was videotaped, and they answered questions foll owing each interaction. The children with learning disabilities were found to be hyperresponsive to both interactions: They felt significantly worse f ollowing the unfriendly one and significantly better following the friendly interaction. Limited evidence was found to suggest that girls with learnin g disabilities were more adversely affected by the unfriendly interaction. Several of the findings were consistent with the hypothesis that children w ith learning disabilities show a learned helplessness response to social fa ilure. The implications of these findings for understanding the social beha vior of children with learning disabilities are discussed.