Performance of delinquent and nondelinquent males on planning, attention, simultaneous, and successive cognitive processing tasks.

This study compared the performance of 30 White adolescent males (M age = 15 years, 8 months; SD = 7 months) and 30 incarcerated White male delinquents (M age = 15 years, 6 months, SD = 8 months) on measures of planning, attention, simultaneous, and successive cognitive processes. Normal and delinquent samples did not differ on measures of planning, simultaneous, or successive processes, but did differ significantly in selective attention. The results help clarify previous equivocal findings of attention and planning deficiencies in delinquents and suggest that A. R. Luria's model of functioning may provide a useful perspective for conceptualization of this group's cognitive competence.