Maternal influence on the task behaviour of young Down's syndrome children

Twenty-one Down's syndrome children (mean CA 45.5 months, SD 12.4; mean MA 24.8 months, SD 7.5) and 13 control children (mean CA 39.9 months, SD 11.6) played with a box which had 10 doors each secured by a different locking device. There were two conditions, one in which their mothers were free to interact with them and one where maternal involvement was restricted. Results showed that mental age was significantly associated with measures of competence and organization. When MA was partialled out as a covariate, group differences remained for the competence measures, relocking behaviours, and aimless actions. The involvement of the mother had a significant effect only in decreasing the aimless actions of the Down's syndrome children.