Dynamic Assessment in Preschoolers with Down Syndrome and Nonspecific Intellectual Disability

Enhancing cognitive abilities is relevant when devising treatment plans. This study examined the performance of preschoolers with Down syndrome and nonspecific intellectual disability in cognitive tasks (e.g., nonverbal reasoning and short-term memory) as well as in improving cognitive functions by...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nieves Valencia Naranjo, María Auxiliadora Robles-Bello
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2020-05-01
Series:Psicología Educativa: Revista de los Psicólogos de la Educación
Subjects:
Online Access: https://journals.copmadrid.org/psed/art/psed2020a9
Description
Summary:Enhancing cognitive abilities is relevant when devising treatment plans. This study examined the performance of preschoolers with Down syndrome and nonspecific intellectual disability in cognitive tasks (e.g., nonverbal reasoning and short-term memory) as well as in improving cognitive functions by means of a learning potential methodology. The two groups with intellectual disability showed similar performance on verbal short-term memory tasks and rule-based categorization, with differences recorded in visual short-term memory tasks. Their performance was below that of typically developing children comparable in chronological age. Groups’ cognitive performance improved significantly between pre- and post-intervention, with particularly significant gains in the nonspecific group. Factors that may potentially affect children’s performance before and during learning potential assessment are discussed.
ISSN:1135-755X
2174-0526