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Simultaneous and delayed matching to sample in gesture users and speakers with mental retardation
1University of Kansas, USA. brady023@tc.umn.edu
Research in Developmental Disabilities
|October 14, 1998
Summary
This study on severe mental retardation found that matching objects to line drawings was easier than other tasks. However, spoken names became the best match for delayed recall, suggesting communication method impacts learning.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Special Education
Background:
- Severe mental retardation presents unique challenges in cognitive processing and communication.
- Understanding representational abilities is crucial for developing effective educational and communication strategies.
- Previous research has explored various symbolic representations, but direct comparisons in severe mental retardation populations are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate representational matching to sample abilities in individuals with severe mental retardation.
- To compare performance across different representational modalities including identical objects, line drawings, icons, pantomimes, and spoken names.
- To examine the influence of expressive communication methods (speaking, distal gestures, contact gestures) on matching task performance.
Main Methods:
- Sixty-eight participants with severe mental retardation engaged in matching to sample tasks.
- Tasks involved matching objects to identical objects, line drawings, miniature objects, pantomimes, and spoken names.
- Delayed matching tasks were administered to a subset of successful participants.
- Participants were categorized based on their expressive communication methods.
Main Results:
- Participants performed significantly better when matching objects to line drawings compared to other tasks.
- Contact gesture users demonstrated lower performance on identical matching to sample tasks.
- In delayed matching tasks, participants achieved significantly higher scores when matching objects to spoken names.
Conclusions:
- Line drawings appear to be an effective initial representational tool for individuals with severe mental retardation.
- Spoken names become a more effective representational modality for delayed recall, highlighting the importance of auditory processing.
- Findings have implications for selecting and implementing augmentative communication devices tailored to individual abilities and task demands.
