This study compared the comprehension monitoring skills of learning disabled (LD) and normal elementary school children. Comprehension monitoring, the ability to evaluate one's level of understanding of incoming messages, was assessed using two separate tasks. In the first (referential task), the child took the role of the listener in a referential communication situation and was asked to monitor his comprehension of the speaker's messages. In the second (game-learning task), the child learned a new game by listening to rules presented by an adult, and was asked to indicate when he had heard enough rules to play the game. The subjects were 12 younger LD boys (7-8 years of age), 12 older LD boys (9-10 years), 12 younger and 10 older normal boys matched on age and IQ with the LD subjects. Results showed that compared to normals, LD children made more comprehension monitoring errors for both adequate and inadequate messages on the referential task, and were more likely to say they knew how to play before they had heard enough rules on the game-learning task. Possible explanations of the results in terms of inattention or impulsivity of the LD children were considered and rejected. No age effects were observed. Thus, the major finding was that, relative to a matched sample of normals, LD children were deficient in comprehension monitoring skills. (Author)