The effects of relaxation training on anxiety and learning in learning-disabled children

Includes bibliographical references (pages 78-83)Because it is known that high anxiety interferes with learning, and that relaxation techniques have been shown effective in reducing anxiety, it was hypothesized that relaxation training would reduce anxiety and enhance learning in a population of learning-disabled children. In order to test this hypothesis, fourteen children from a private school specializing in the education of learning disabled children were selected to serve as subjects. Seven of these children received twenty minutes of relaxation training every school day for a period of four weeks; the seven remaining subjects received equivalent amounts of rest and adult attention in a control activity. Following training, the experimental group showed a significant decrease on measures of test and general anxiety, while the control group did not. Experimental subjects also showed a significant decrease in the number of errors scored on a learning task, while the controls showed no such improvement. It was concluded that for population of learning-disabled children, relaxation training is an effective means of reducing anxiety and maximizing learning