Comparison of Visual Perception Infradian Rhythms in Student with and without Special Learning Disorder

Body rhythms are repeating molecular, hormonal, or psychological phenomena occurring in all living organisms. The present study was conducted to compare the change in visual perception, in different seasons of the year in students with and without specific learning disorder (SLD) at the age group of 8-12 years according to the topic of time psychology.

 This study is a comparative causal study. The sample consisted of students from schools in districts 13, 14, and 15 of Tehran during the academic years 2018-2020 who were selected by the convenience sampling method using purposive-voluntary sampling. Participants were 37 students with specific learning disorder with reading appearance (19 girls and 18 boys) and 31 students without learning disorder (17 girls and 14 boys). Then, each group of students with and without male and female learning disorder individually completed Visual Skills Perception Tests (Gardner & Morrison, 1982). Data were analyzed by repeated measurement method (once per season) in SPSS-22 software.

The results showed that visual perception skill (perceived visual age and visual gain) varies among subjects in different seasons of the year and there is a significant difference in visual perception between groups with and without learning disorders. Visual perception, processing speed, and sustained attention in normal students are significantly higher than in students with a learning disorder in different seasons of the year.

According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that there are significant differences in the visual perception of students with a learning disorder in seasonal rhythms that are due to these seasonal rhythms.