Planning ability in children with mild intellectual disability

Abstract

Planning is considered one of the most complex cognitive abilities, which involves creating a mental representation of problems, evaluating several possible ways of solving them and their consequences. The aim of this paper is to determine the developmental level of planning ability in children with mild intellectual disability (MID). The sample consists of 93 children of both sexes, aged between 10 and 14. The average IQ level in the sample is about 60 (AS=60.45, SD=7.26), while minimum and maximum values are within the defined levels for the category of mild intellectual disability (50-70). Data on age and the level of the students' intellectual functioning were taken from the school records. Tower of London test was used in the assessment of planning abilities. By analyzing the results, it was determined that most children with MID use insufficiently efficient strategies in problem solving. Most of the participants (57%) are uncertain in solving problems (intermediary level). A quarter of the participants successfully use higher strategies, while 16.1% use perceptive strategy, i.e. trial-error method. Significant negative correlation was determined between the IQ and the number of ball movements, and the time needed to perform the task. The correlation between the IQ and the total number of solved problems is positive. The variability of success in solving problems is not significantly related to the age and gender of the participants.

Planiranje se smatra jednom od najkompleksnijih kognitivnih sposobnosti, koja podrazumeva stvaranje mentalne reprezentacije problema, evaluaciju nekoliko mogućih načina rešavanja i njihovih posledica. Cilj ovog rada je utvrđivanje nivoa razvoja sposobnosti planiranja kod dece sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošću (LIO). Uzorkom je obuhvaćeno 93-oje dece sa LIO, oba pola, uzrasta od 10 do 14 godina. Prosečan koeficijent inteligencije u uzorku iznosi oko 60 IQ jedinica (AS=60,45, SD=7,26), dok se minimalne i maksimalne vrednosti kreću u okvirima definisanog raspona za kategoriju lake intelektualne ometenosti (50-70). Iz školske dokumentacije preuzeti su podaci o uzrastu i nivou intelektualnog funkcionisanja ispitanika. Za procenu sposobnosti planiranja upotrebljen je test Londonska kula. Analizom rezultata je utvrđeno da većina dece sa LIO koristi nedovoljno efikasne strategije za rešavanje problema. Način rešavanja zadataka kod većine ispitane dece (57%) karakteriše nestabilan/kolebajući pristup rešavanju problema (intermedijarni nivo). Četvrtina ispitanika uspešno koristi strategije višeg reda, dok 16,1% njih koristi perceptivnu strategiju, odnosno metod pokušaj-greška. Utvrđena je značajna negativna korelacija IQ-a i broja pomeranja kugli, kao i vremena rešavanja zadataka. Korelacija IQ-a i ukupnog broja rešenih zadataka je pozitivna. Varijabilnost uspešnosti rešavanja zadataka nije značajno povezana sa uzrastom i polom ispitanika.