Visual imagery scanning in young adults with intellectual disability

Fifteen young adults with intellectual disability and 17 college students learned the locations of 5 landmarks on an island map and then scanned from one landmark to another. In the perception condition, the landmarks were visible; in the imagery condition, they were not. The rate of scanning over distance was similar for perception and imagery conditions, but overall scan times were slower in the imagery condition. Participants with intellectual disability required slightly more trials to learn the landmark locations and had generally slower scan times. Both groups were identical in rate of scanning for both perception and imagery conditions. Results suggest that persons with intellectual disability have no particular deficit in image inspection and, perhaps, relatively good imagery capacities.