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Mental Age (mental + age)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	71%
Psychology	28%

Selected Abstracts

Health status of children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 6 2001
Gregory S Liptak MD MPH
The aim of the study was to evaluate the health of children with cerebral palsy (CP) using a global assessment of quality of life, condition-specific measures, and assessments of health care use. A multicenter population-based cross-sectional survey of 235 children, aged 2 to 18 years, with moderate to severe impairment, was carried out using Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels III (n= 56), IV (n=55), and V (n=122). This study group scored significantly below the mean on the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) for Pain, General Health, Physical Functioning, and Impact on Parents. These children used more medications than children without CP from a national sample. Fifty-nine children used feeding tubes. Children in GMFCS level V who used a feeding tube had the lowest estimate of mental age, required the most health care resources, used the most medications, had the most respiratory problems, and had the lowest Global Health scores. Children with the most severe motor disability who have feeding tubes are an especially frail group who require numerous health-related resources and treatments. Also, there is a relationship among measures of health status such as the CHQ, functional abilities, use of resources, and mental age, but each appears to measure different aspects of health and well-being and should be used in combination to reflect children's overall health status. [source]

Links between social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism: behavioral and electrophysiological measures

DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2005
Patricia K. Kuhl
Data on typically developing children suggest a link between social interaction and language learning, a finding of interest both to theories of language and theories of autism. In this study, we examined social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing chronologically matched (TDCA) and mental age matched (TDMA) children. The social measure was an auditory preference test that pitted ,motherese' speech samples against non-speech analogs of the same signals. The linguistic measure was phonetic discrimination assessed with mismatch negativity (MMN), an event-related potential (ERP). As a group, children with ASD differed from controls by: (a) demonstrating a preference for the non-speech analog signals, and (b) failing to show a significant MMN in response to a syllable change. When ASD children were divided into subgroups based on auditory preference, and the ERP data reanalyzed, ASD children who preferred non-speech still failed to show an MMN, whereas ASD children who preferred motherese did not differ from the controls. The data support the hypothesis of an association between social and linguistic processing in children with ASD. [source]

Visual search in typically developing toddlers and toddlers with Fragile X or Williams syndrome

DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004
Gaia Scerif
Visual selective attention is the ability to attend to relevant visual information and ignore irrelevant stimuli. Little is known about its typical and atypical development in early childhood. Experiment 1 investigates typically developing toddlers' visual search for multiple targets on a touch-screen. Time to hit a target, distance between successively touched items, accuracy and error types revealed changes in 2- and 3-year-olds' vulnerability to manipulations of the search display. Experiment 2 examined search performance by toddlers with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) or Williams syndrome (WS). Both of these groups produced equivalent mean time and distance per touch as typically developing toddlers matched by chronological or mental age; but both produced a larger number of errors. Toddlers with WS confused distractors with targets more than the other groups; while toddlers with FXS perseverated on previously found targets. These findings provide information on how visual search typically develops in toddlers, and reveal distinct search deficits for atypically developing toddlers. [source]

Attention and Vigilance in Children with Down Syndrome

JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 6 2008
Kim L. Trezise
Background, Down syndrome (DS) has been the focus of much cognitive and developmental research; however, there is a gap in knowledge regarding sustained attention, particularly across different sensory domains. This research examined the hypothesis that children with DS would demonstrate superior visual rather than auditory performance on a sustained attention task and that this modality difference would not be seen in children with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID). Materials and Methods, Eleven children with DS and 16 children with NSID were compared on two versions of the sustained attention to response test (SART), varying only in presentation modality (visual or auditory). Errors of commission (failure to withhold response to target) and errors of omission (failure to respond to non-target distractors) were recorded. Results, Significant group differences were found in the visual modality and mental age was also found to effect error rates in the visual condition. No effect of group or mental age was observed in the auditory SART. Conclusions, Results suggest that, for individuals with DS, presentation of education material in a visual medium may facilitate sustained attention and thus learning. Further research using tools such as the SART to explore modality differences in sustained attention and additional cognitive domains is recommended. [source]

Executive functions in individuals with Williams syndrome

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2010
D. Menghini
Abstract Background The present study was aimed at investigating working memory (WM) and executive functions capacities in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) as compared with mental-age matched typically developing (TD) children. Method In order to serve the study goal, a sizeable battery of tasks tapping WM as well as attention, memory, planning, categorisation, shifting and inhibition abilities was administered to 15 individuals with WS (mean chronological age of 19.11 and mean mental age of 6.10), and to a group of 15 TD children (mean chronological age of 7.6 and mean mental age of 6.9). Results Participants with WS showed deficits in both verbal and visual-spatial modalities for selective and sustained attention, short-term memory and WM, planning and inhibition. However, considering categorisation and shifting abilities, relatively unimpaired performance emerged on those tasks relying on verbal materials. Conclusions These findings are both relevant to improve our knowledge about certain qualitative aspects of the anomalous cognitive development in WS as well as for its eventual clinical implications. [source]

Executive function in adolescents with Down Syndrome

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 4 2010
S. Lanfranchi
Abstract Background The present work is aimed at analysing executive function (EF) in adolescents with Down Syndrome (DS). So far, EF has been analysed mainly in adults with DS, showing a pattern of impairment. However, less is known about children and adolescents with this syndrome. Studying adolescents with DS might help us better understand whether performances on EF tasks of individuals with DS are determined by age or by Alzheimer disease, as some studies suggest, or whether their performances are directly related to DS cognitive profile. Method A battery of EF tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory, inhibition/perseveration and fluency, as well as a tasks assessing sustained attention has been administered to a group of 15 adolescents with DS and 15 typically developing children matched for mental age. All EF tasks were selected from previous studies with individuals with intellectual disabilities or from developmental literature and are thought to be useful for the samples considered. Results The present results revealed that the group of individuals with DS performed at a significantly lower level on tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory and inhibition/perseveration, but not on the tasks assessing fluency. In addition, individuals with DS demonstrated a greater number of errors and less strategy use for the sustained attention task. Conclusions The results suggest a broad impairment in EF in adolescents with DS, and are consistent with several similar studies conducted with adults with DS. We assume that EF deficit is a characteristic of DS. [source]

Social approach in pre-school children with Williams syndrome: the role of the face

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2010
H. F. Dodd
Abstract Background Indiscriminate social approach behaviour is a salient aspect of the Williams syndrome (WS) behavioural phenotype. The present study examines approach behaviour in pre-schoolers with WS and evaluates the role of the face in WS social approach behaviour. Method Ten pre-schoolers with WS (aged 3,6 years) and two groups of typically developing children, matched to the WS group on chronological or mental age, participated in an observed play session. The play session incorporated social and non-social components including two components that assessed approach behaviour towards strangers; one in which the stranger's face could be seen and one in which the stranger's face was covered. Results In response to the non-social aspects of the play session, the WS group behaved similarly to both control groups. In contrast, the pre-schoolers with WS were significantly more willing than either control group to engage with a stranger, even when the stranger's face could not be seen. Conclusion The findings challenge the hypothesis that an unusual attraction to the face directly motivates social approach behaviour in individuals with WS. [source]

Fathers' play with their Down Syndrome children

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 6 2008
S. De Falco
Abstract Background In children with Down Syndrome (DS), as in other groups of special needs children, development depends crucially on the degree to which parents provide appropriate stimulation and effective support. The majority of recent studies investigating interactions between parents and children with DS have been conducted on mothers. Method Through observation of child solitary play, child collaborative play with their father, and father play with their child, the current study focused on paternal contributions to child play in association with the effective quality of father,child interactions. A total of 19 children (M chronological age = 35.32 months, SD = 10.35; M mental age = 19.58, SD = 5.43) with DS and their fathers participated in the study. Two 10-min sessions, of child solitary play and collaborative play with their father, were videorecorded. A coding system for exploratory and symbolic play was applied to both sessions, and the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales were independently applied to the collaborative play session as a measure of the effective quality of the father,child interaction. Results Children showed more symbolic play during collaborative sessions compared with solitary sessions. Bivariate correlations showed positive associations between father play and child exploratory and symbolic play. Cluster analysis identified dyads in low, medium and high EA groups, which differed in terms of each partner's play. Specifically, both fathers and children of high EA dyads were more likely to show more symbolic play and less exploratory play than those with low EA dyads. Conclusions Our findings enrich the theoretical perspective that dyadic interactions based on emotional involvement may lead to enhanced cognitive functioning in children with DS. [source]

Predictors of academic attainments of young people with Down's syndrome

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2008
S. Turner
Abstract Background Earlier studies of young people with Down's syndrome have investigated a relatively limited range of variables which may influence their academic attainment. The relative strength of such influences and how they may vary during the school career, has also been under-researched. Aims The aim of the paper is to identify the contemporary and antecedent predictors of the level of academic attainment achieved by a representative sample of young people with Down's syndrome. Sample The paper reports data from three studies of 71 young people with Down's syndrome and their families. Mean IQ at the time of the first study (t1) was 40.4. Mean chronological age was 9 years at t1, 14 at t2, and 21 at t3, when all the young people had left school. Methods The outcome measure was the 58-item Academic Attainments Index (AAI), comprising three sub-scales covering reading, writing and numeracy. Predictors of the outcome were derived from questionnaires and interviews from tutors, mothers and fathers. A path analysis approach was used to investigate the pattern of predictors of the outcome over the three studies. Results Factors predicting greater progress in this measure between t2 and t3 were lower chronological age and attendance at mainstream school. Progress from t1 to t2 was also associated with attendance at mainstream school, as well as with higher t1 mental age, mother's practical coping style and higher child attentiveness. Background factors predicting higher t1 AAI scores were higher mental age, attendance at mainstream school and father's internal locus of control. The path analysis model predicted 48% of the variance in t3 outcome scores. Severity of intellectual impairment was by far the most significant predictor. Conclusion Limitations to the study include evidence of attrition bias towards more able children, and the need to obtain the t3 outcome measure from tutors for some young people and parents for others. Parents may have over-estimated abilities. Results are broadly in agreement with other studies, and confirm the pattern reported earlier with this group. Mainstream school attendance had a modest beneficial effect on AAI scores throughout the school career of the children, independently of level of intellectual disability. Identification of predictors of attainment levels and of improvement over time may help parents, teachers and other professionals involved with families of children and young people with Down's syndrome optimise the attainment of such skills. [source]

Implicit memory is independent from IQ and age but not from etiology: evidence from Down and Williams syndromes

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 12 2007
S. Vicari
Abstract Background In the last few years, experimental data have been reported on differences in implicit memory processes of genetically distinct groups of individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID). These evidences are relevant for the more general debate on supposed asynchrony of cognitive maturation in children with abnormal brain development. This study, comparing implicit memory processes in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS), was planned to verify the ,etiological specificity' hypotheses pertaining to the skill learning abilities of individuals with ID. Method A modified version of Nissen and Bullemer's (1987) Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task was used. The performances of three group were evaluated. The first group consisted of thirty-two people with WS (18 males and 14 females). The second group was comprised of twenty-six individuals with DS (14 males and 12 females). The two groups of individuals with ID were selected so that the groups were comparable as for mental age and chronological age. The third group consisted of forty-nine typically developed children with a mental age similar to that of the groups with WS and DS. Results The two groups of individuals with ID demonstrated different patterns of procedural learning. WS individuals revealed poor implicit learning of the temporal sequence of events characterizing the ordered blocks in the SRT task. Indeed, differently from normal controls, WS participants showed no reaction time (RT) speeding through ordered blocks. Most importantly, the rebound effect, which so dramatically affected normal children's RTs passing from the last ordered to the last block, had only a marginal influence on WS children's RTs. Differently from the WS group, the rate of procedural learning of the participants with DS was comparable to that of their controls. Indeed, DS and typically developed individuals showed parallel RT variations in the series of ordered blocks and, more importantly, passing from the last ordered to the last block. Therefore, a substantial preservation of skill learning abilities in this genetic syndrome is confirmed. Conclusions The results of the present study document that procedural learning in individuals with ID depends on the aetiology of the syndrome, thus supporting the etiological specificity account of their cognitive development. These results are relevant for our knowledge about the qualitative aspects and the underlying neurobiological substrate of the anomalous cognitive development in mentally retarded people. [source]

Performance of young people with Down syndrome on the Leiter-R and British picture vocabulary scales

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 4 2005
S. Glenn
Abstract Background The British picture vocabulary scales (BPVS-II) and the Leiter international performance scales (Leiter-R), both restandardised in 1997, are often used in experimental studies to match individuals with intellectual impairment. Both provide a brief measure of mental age, and cover a wide ability range using a simple format. The BPVS-II assesses verbal comprehension and the Leiter nonverbal abilities. The issue is which to choose. People with Down syndrome (DS), for example, have particular problems in language and so the BPVS may provide an underestimation of ability. Method The present study investigated this by comparing the performance of 46 young people with DS (21 females, 25 males, mean age 19 years 10 months) on the BPVS-II (verbal mental age , VMA) and the Leiter-R brief IQ (nonverbal mental age , NVMA). Results Contrary to expectations VMAs were significantly higher than NVMAs (6 years 6 months and 5 years 2 months, respectively). There was a significant correlation of 0.61 between the VMA and NVMA, and both discriminated participants at all levels of ability. However, the Leiter-R brief IQ scores provided poor discrimination at the bottom end of the IQ range (IQ 36). Conclusion Both the BPVS-II and the Leiter-R provide mental age equivalent scores that are useful for plotting developmental progress, although absolute mental ages may differ. [source]

Eyewitness testimony and perceived credibility of youth with mild intellectual disability

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 7 2004
M. Peled
Abstract Background Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are more vulnerable to abuse compared to individuals without disabilities yet have limited access to the legal system. This study examined perceived credibility of youth with mild intellectual disability (MID) who provide courtroom testimony. Method Participants, 187 undergraduates, were asked general questions about credibility. They also read eyewitness testimony and answered questions about a particular witness's credibility. Half the participants were informed that the youth has MID [chronological age (CA) 15 years, mental age (MA) 10 years] and the others were informed that the youth is a typically developing 10-year-old. Results When participants were asked general questions about credibility they rated 15-year-olds with MID (MA 10 years) as less credible than typically developing 15-year-olds and as less credible than typically developing 10-year-olds. However, when participants read eyewitness testimony and answered questions about a particular witness's credibility, no statistically significant differences were found between participants who were informed that the witness was a 15-year-old with MID (MA 10 years) and those who were informed that the witness was a typically developing 10-year-old. Conclusions The present study provided a preliminary investigation of perceived credibility of witnesses with MID and suggests directions for future research in this area. [source]

Verbal short-term memory in Down's syndrome: An articulatory loop deficit?

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 2 2004
S. Vicari
Abstract Background Verbal short-term memory, as measured by digit or word span, is generally impaired in individuals with Down's syndrome (DS) compared to mental age-matched controls. Moving from the working memory model, the present authors investigated the hypothesis that impairment in some of the articulatory loop sub-components is at the base of the deficient maintenance and recall of phonological representations in individuals with DS. Methods Two experiments were carried out in a group of adolescents with DS and in typically developing children matched for mental age. In the first experiment, the authors explored the reliance of these subjects on the subvocal rehearsal mechanism during a word-span task and the effects produced by varying the frequency of occurrence of the words on the extension of the word span. In the second experiment, they investigated the functioning of the phonological store component of the articulatory loop in more detail. Results A reduced verbal span in DS was confirmed. Neither individuals with DS nor controls engaged in spontaneous subvocal rehearsal. Moreover, the data provide little support for defective functioning of the phonological store in DS. Conclusions No evidence was found suggesting that a dysfunction of the articulatory loop and lexical-semantic competence significantly contributed to verbal span reduction in subjects with DS. Alternative explanations of defective verbal short-term memory in DS, such as a central executive system impairment, must be considered. [source]

Comorbidity in attention deficit,hyperactivity disorder

PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 5 2003
Takashi Ishii
Abstract Attention deficit,hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been noted for its high rate of comorbidity. The present study is the first report in Japan evaluating the proportion of comorbidity in ADHD cases presenting in the clinical setting, aiming at clarifying the picture of ADHD in Japan. The subjects consisted of 68 child and adolescent cases meeting criteria for ADHD (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn) under treatment at a child psychiatry clinic (IQ > 50, mental age , 4 years old). Disorders evaluated as comorbid disorders were mood disorders, anxiety disorders, elimination disorders, sleep disorders, tic disorders, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), school refusal, and epilepsy. Comorbidity with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ODD, and CD, were found to be lower than the high rates conventionally reported in North America. The lower age of the present subjects, primarily in infancy and elementary school age with few adolescent cases, and a bias towards milder cases from an outpatient clinic without inpatient facilities are believed to be factors accounting for this disparity. Furthermore, it was a notable fact that mentally delayed cases (IQ: 51,84) amounted to 34% of the cases, indicating the necessity to consider intelligence level when formulating a treatment strategy for ADHD. [source]

Orienting of visual attention among persons with autism spectrum disorders: reading versus responding to symbolic cues

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 7 2009
Oriane Landry
Background:, Are persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) slower than typically developing individuals to read the meaning of a symbolic cue in a visual orienting paradigm? Methods:, Participants with ASD (n = 18) and performance mental age (PMA) matched typically developing children (n = 16) completed two endogenous orienting conditions in which the cue exposure time and response preparation time were manipulated within a consistent series of cue-target stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). Results:, Participants with ASD displayed facilitation effects at all SOAs, whereas typically developing children displayed facilitation effects only at shorter SOAs. The magnitude of the facilitation effect was greater for the group with ASD at 400ms SOA. Both groups showed similar effects of condition, with similar patterns of facilitation in both conditions. Conclusion:, Persons with ASD were not slower to read the symbolic cue, as the effect was elicited by brief cues within longer SOAs before target onset. The participants with ASD were also less efficient in using the predictability of the cues to guide responding. The difficulties of participants with ASD on endogenous orienting occur at the response selection level, not the perceptual level. [source]

Language abilities of siblings of children with autism

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 6 2003
Tammy Pilowsky
Background: Language abilities of siblings of children with autism were examined to explore the possibility that language abilities are behavioral markers specific to the genetic liability for autism, as part of the broader phenotype. Method: Language abilities were compared among 27 siblings of children with autism, 23 siblings of children with mental retardation of unknown etiology (MR), and 22 siblings of children with developmental language disorders (DLD). Groups were matched by siblings' age, gender, birth order, family size, ethnicity, family income and by probands' gender and mental age. Results: Siblings of children with autism achieved higher scores than siblings of children with DLD on receptive, expressive, and total language scales of the Children's Evaluation of Language Fundamentals and on verbal IQ. Moreover, within the DLD group, school problems in the domains of reading and arithmetic were more prevalent than within the other two groups. Only 2 siblings of children with autism received clinical diagnoses based on DSM-IV criteria compared to 3 siblings of children with MR and 7 siblings of children with DLD. Conclusions: After excluding data of the diagnosed siblings, no differences in language abilities could be discerned among the groups, except that more siblings in the DLD group were identified as having language difficulties. In summary, although language deficits characterize autism, siblings of children with autism were not found to demonstrate deficits in language skills assessed by formal language tests, IQ, or academic skills. [source]

Neurocognitive Function and Joint Attention Ability in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Versus Developmental Delay

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2002
Geraldine Dawson
Studies have shown that young children with autism are not impaired on prefrontal tasks relative to what would be expected for their mental age, raising questions about the executive dysfunction hypothesis of autism. These studies did not include ventromedial prefrontal tasks, however. The present study examined whether young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are impaired on ventromedial prefrontal tasks, and whether performance on such tasks is correlated with a core autism symptom, joint attention ability. Seventy-two 3- to 4-year-old children with ASD, 34 3- to 4-year-old developmentally delayed children, and 39 12- to 46-month-old typically developing children, matched on mental age, were administered ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal tasks and joint attention tasks. Children with ASD performed similarly to comparison groups on all executive function tasks, indicating that at this early age, there is no autism-specific pattern of executive dysfunction. Ventromedial, but not dorsolateral, prefrontal task performance was strongly correlated with joint attention ability, however. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is hypothesized to play a role in the development of joint attention and possibly some aspects of the autistic syndrome. [source]

Compulsive-like Behavior in Individuals with Down Syndrome: Its Relation to Mental Age Level, Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2000
David W. Evans
This study examined the nature of repetitive, ritualistic, and compulsive-like behaviors in 50 typically developing children and 50 individuals with Down syndrome (DS), matched on mental age (MA; M = 59.72 months). Parents reported on their children's compulsive-like behaviors , including ritualistic habits , and perfectionistic behaviors, as well as their children's adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. Results indicated that children with DS show similar MA-related changes in compulsive-like behaviors compared to the MA-matched comparison group. Younger children (both typical and DS) exhibited significantly more compulsive-like behaviors than older children. In general, children with and without DS did not differ from each other in terms of the number of compulsive-like behaviors they engaged in, although participants with DS engaged in more frequent, more intense repetitive behaviors. Compulsive-like behaviors were differentially related to adaptive and maladaptive behaviors across the MA and mental retardation groups. The results extend the "similar sequence" model of development to the construct of compulsive-like behaviors, and also suggest that some repetitive behaviors may be among the behavioral phenotype of individuals with DS. [source]