A study on cognitive-executive functions of frontal-parietal lobes in students with specific learning disorders and normal students

Based on DSM-5, specific learning disorder is a kind of neurodevelopmental disorder that begins by school age. It can potentially lead to persistent problems throughout person’s life, including emotional, social and academic problems. Hence the aim of this research is to study cognitive-executive functions of frontal-parietal lobes among students with specific learning disorders and normal students. This study is a descriptive and causal-comparative research. The population under study included all male 5th-graders with specific learning disorders in Ardabil city (2018-2019). The sample included 80 students (40 normal students and 40 students with specific learning disorders) selected through multistage cluster sampling. The data collection was performed through Wechsler’s subtests of similarities, mazes, and visual puzzles and Bender-Gestalt Test as well as the Tower of London Test and a diagnostic interview based on DSM-5. With regard to cognitive-perceptive functions of frontal-parietal lobes, the results of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) indicated that there was a significant difference between students with specific learning disorders and normal students. On the other hand, cognitive-perceptive functions of frontal-parietal lobes in students with specific learning disorders (p < 0.001) were significantly weaker than those of normal students. The results showed that malfunctioning mental mechanism related to cognitive-executive functions can cause such a disability; hence, it is necessary for curriculum developers and psychologists to give due attention to this issue and develop new methods of training to increase such functions as organizing, planning, logical reasoning and spatial understanding etc.