The Effects of Typing Instruction on the Personality and Achievement of Educable Mentally Handicapped Children.

TO STUDY WHETHER TEACHING TYPING TO EDUCABLE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS WOULD RESULT IN IMPROVING ACADEMIC WORK, GREATER VISUALIZATION SKILLS, AND BETTER SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT, THE EXPERIMENTAL HALF OF THE 14 MATCHED PAIRS OF CHILDREN 10 TO 13 YEARS OF AGE WITH MEASURED IQ'S BETWEEN 50 AND 60 WERE GIVEN 2 TO 3 YEARS OF TYPING INSTRUCTION. TWELVE TESTS WERE GIVEN TO ALL SUBJECTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXPERIMENTAL PERIOD TO MEASURE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, VISUAL MOTOR ABILITIES, AND AUDITORY ABILITIES. ONLY TWO OF THE SEVEN MEASURES OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT SIGNIFICANTLY FAVORED THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (F=.05). THE DIFFERENCES IN VISUALIZATION SKILLS BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS DID NOT APPROACH SIGNIFICANCE (P=.05), AND THIS HYPOTHESIS WAS REJECTED. ONLY TWO OUT OF THE SEVEN TESTS OF SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT SIGNIFICANTLY FAVORED THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (F=.05). THE MAJOR IMPLICATIONS ARE (1) TRANSFER OF LEARNING FROM THE USE OF THE TYPEWRITER TO OTHER SKILLS MUST BE TAUGHT AND (2) SOME 1 'UDENTS SHOWED POTENTIAL FOR ACQUIRING TYPING AS A SALABLE SKILL. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ARE INCLUDED. NINETEEN