Cognitive flexibility in children with mild intellectual disability

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to determine the developmental level of cognitive flexibility in children with mild intellectual disability. The sample consisted of 84 children with mild intellectual disability, ages 10-14. They attend elementary school for children with intellectual disability in Belgrade. The sample encompasses 37 (44%) girls and 47 (56%) boys. The participants IQ ranges from 50 to 70 (AS=60.33, SD=7.36). The cognitive flexibility was assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Trail Making Test (form B). In the domain of the number of categories completed at WCST, the majority of participants (62.5%) solves task lower than their peers with typical development. Average task-solving time for the Trail Making Test is 278.58 seconds, which significantly exceeds the task-solving time of children with typical development. The statistically significant differences (p>0.05) have not been obtained by comparing the arithmetic means scores of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Trail Making Test (form B). The significant differences were determined in the development of cognitive flexibility in the participants who belong to lower and higher IQ categories, although, based on the participant test scores analysis as a whole, it can be concluded that age, among the selected independent variables, is the only significant cognitive flexibility factor in children with intellectual disability.

Osnovni cilj istraživanja je utvrđivanje nivoa razvoja kognitivne fleksibilnosti kod dece sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošću. Uzorkom je obuhvaćeno 84-oro dece sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošću, uzrasta 10-14 godina. Ispitanici pohađaju osnovne škole za decu sa intelektualnom ometenošću u Beogradu. U uzorku je 37 (44% ) devojčica i 47 (56%) dečaka. IQ ispitanika je u rasponu od 50 do 70 (AS=60,33, SD=7,36). Kognitivna fleksibilnost je procenjena primenom Viskonsin testa sortiranja karata (WCST) i Testa markiranja traga (forma B). U domenu broja postignutih kategorija na WCST, većina ispitanika (62,5%) rešava zadatak nešto slabije nego njihovi vršnjaci tipičnog razvoja. Prosečno vreme za dovršavanje zadatka na TMT-B je 278,58 sekundi, što znatno prevazilazi vreme za koje zadatak rešavaju deca tipičnog razvoja. Poređenjem aritmetičkih sredina rezultata WCST i TMT -B nisu dobijene statistički značajne razlike (p>0.05). Iako se na osnovu analize rezultata uzorka kao celine može zaključiti da je, među odabranim nezavisnim varijablama, uzrast jedini značajan činilac kognitivne fleksibilnosti kod dece sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošču, utvrđene su značajne razlike u dinamici razvoja kognitivne fleksibilnosti ispitanika koji pripadaju kategorijama nižeg i višeg IQ-a.