Organizational strategy use in children aged 5-7: standardization and validity of the Rey Complex Figure...

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Cognitive science

Background:

• The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) is a widely used neuropsychological test.
• Assessing organizational strategies in children is crucial for understanding cognitive development.
• The Rey Complex Figure Organizational Strategy Score (RCF-OSS) requires further psychometric validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the psychometric properties, specifically standardization and validity, of the RCF-OSS.
• To examine the developmental changes in RCF-OSS performance in healthy children aged 5-7 years.
• To explore the relationship between RCF-OSS performance and other cognitive functions.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 217 healthy children aged 5-7 years was assessed.
• Psychometric properties of the RCF-OSS were evaluated.
• Correlations between RCF-OSS and measures of ROCF accuracy, executive functioning, and non-executive functioning were analyzed.

Main Results:

• RCF-OSS performance demonstrated significant changes between 5 and 7 years of age.
• Younger children (5-year-olds) predominantly used a local approach, while older children (7-year-olds) increasingly adopted a global approach.
• RCF-OSS performance showed significant, moderate correlations with ROCF accuracy, executive functions (fluency, working memory, reasoning), and non-executive functions (visual-motor integration, visual attention, processing speed, numeracy).

Conclusions:

• The RCF-OSS is a psychometrically sound measure for assessing organizational strategies in young children.
• RCF-OSS performance reflects developmental shifts in cognitive strategies from local to global processing.
• RCF-OSS scores provide insights into a range of cognitive skills, encompassing both executive and non-executive functions in early childhood.