This paper reviews studies on cognitive processes that may mediate the development of early learning problems. Topics covered include auditory and visual discrimination deficits, integration of information from different modalities, the significance of attentional factors, contributions of memory factors, and the importance of cognitive style dimensions such as field dependence and reflectivity/impulsivity. These studies, which used high risk and control groups, each yielded a significant difference. High risk children manifested deficits in recall, in visual sequential memory, in attention, and in perceptial discrimination, and showed greater impulsivity in their cognitive styles than other children. Relationships among these psychological variables are discussed briefly, and it is suggested that further study is required to examine the link between reading performance and cognitive deficits. (GO)