Relationship between working memory and intellectual functioning in children with mild intellectual disability

Abstract

The research was aimed to determine the relationship between working memory and intelligence in children with mild intellectual disability (MID), ages 10 to 14. The sample encompassed 53 children with MID, 47.2% of girls and 52.8% of boys. Their IQ ranges from 50 to 70 (AS=63.17; SD=6.56). The tasks that assess the Central Executive aspect of the working memory system, namely in verbal and non-verbal modality, have been selected. The obtained results indicate that working memory ('central executor') and intelligence are the constructs that significantly correlate in the range of 0.29 to 0.41, depending upon the working memory modality. It was determined that IQ category explains about 19% of the variability of the verbal and non-verbal working memory results, grouped in the unified model (p lt 0.05). However, the statistically significant relation was determined by means of the individual variables analysis only between IQ and non-verbal working memory (p lt 0.01). The statistically significant differences have also been determined in the non-verbal working memory development in the participants belonging to lower and higher IQ categories (p lt 0.05).

Istraživanje je usmereno na utvrđivanje povezanosti radne memorije i inteligencije kod dece sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošću (LIO), uzrasta od 10 do 14 godina. Uzorkom je obuhvaćeno 53-oje dece sa LIO, 47,2% devojčica i 52,8% dečaka. IQ ispitanika se kreće u rasponu od 50 do 70 (AS=63,17; SD=6,56). Odabrani su zadaci koji procenjuju centralni egzekutivni aspekt sistema radne memorije, i to u verbalnom i neverbalnom modalitetu. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju na to da su radna memorija ('centralni izvršitelj') i inteligencija konstrukti koji značajno koreliraju u rasponu od 0,29 do 0,41, u zavisnosti od modaliteta radne memorije. Utvrđeno je da kategorija IQ-a objašnjava ukupno oko 19% varijabilnosti rezultata procene verbalne i neverbalne radne memorije, grupisane u jedinstven model (p lt 0,05). No, analizom pojedinačnih varijabli, statistički značajan odnos utvrđen je samo između IQ-a i neverbalne radne memorije (p lt 0,01). Uočene su i značajne razlike u dinamici razvoja neverbalne radne memorije kod ispitanika koji pripadaju kategorijama nižeg i višeg IQ-a (p lt 0,05).