Memory Strategies for Serial Recall in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

This study was conducted to investigate the memory strategy for serial recall in adults with general intellectual disability (ID) using the picture memory span task. Relations between memory strategies and two aspects of intellectual abilities, i.e., verbal and nonverbal abilities, were investigated. Study participants were 19 adults with general ID (i.e., ID of unknown etiologies). The picture memory span task, which can assess features of memory coding, was administered under four conditions: control, visually similar, phonologically similar, and long-name condition. The picture vocabulary test – revised (PVTR) and Raven color progressive matrices (RCPM) were conducted. Performance on the picture memory span task revealed that participants with ID used visual and verbal strategies for memory coding. Individual differences in verbal ability were interrelated with the degree of verbal strategy use. Results of this study suggest that features of memory coding of adults with ID do not contradict their level of intellectual development

End-state comfort effects in adults with intellectual disabilities: A pilot study

This study investigated the end-state comfort (ESC) effect in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The ESC effect represents a tendency to maximize comfortable hand and arm postures at the end of an object manipulation task. Participants were 22 adults with non-specific ID. The ESC effect was assessed using a simple object manipulation task. Difficulties were found with manifestation of the ESC effect in adults with non-specific ID. Only four participants displayed the ESC effect. The participants' intellectual function was correlated with expression of the ESC effect. These results were assessed in terms of competition between a goal-directed system and habitual systems in adults with ID

Reduced Nogo-P3 in adults with developmental coordination disorder (DCD)

Nogo-N2 is associated with the premotor cognitive process that precedes motor response (e.g., conflict monitoring), whereas Nogo-P3 is related to the inhibition of the actual motor response. We examined the influence of motor clumsiness of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) on components of the event-related potential in a Go/Nogo task. Participants were healthy adults (N = 81) that were classified into control and DCD groups based on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children Second Edition. We manipulated the difficulty in stopping a response by varying the frequency of Nogo stimuli in a response task into rare (20%) and frequent (80%) conditions, and Nogo-N2 and Nogo-P3 were calculated from electroencephalograms (EEGs) during the Go/Nogo tasks. The commission error rate in the rare condition was significantly higher in the DCD group than in the control group, indicating that motor clumsiness decreases task performance. There were no differences in Nogo-N2 between DCD and control groups. However, Nogo-P3 in the rare condition was reduced in the DCD group compared to the control group. These results suggest that the influence of motor clumsiness is limited to the cognitive process after the initiation of the actual motor response.Peer reviewe

The Structure of Working Memory and Its Relationship with Intelligence in Japanese Children

There is a host of research on the structure of working memory (WM) and its relationship with intelligence in adults, but only a few studies have involved children. In this paper, several different WM models were tested on 170 Japanese school children (from 7 years and 5 months to 11 years and 6 months). Results showed that a model distinguishing between modalities (i.e., verbal and spatial WM) fitted the data well and was therefore selected. Notably, a bi-factor model distinguishing between modalities, but also including a common WM factor, presented with a very good fit, but was less parsimonious. Subsequently, we tested the predictive power of the verbal and spatial WM factors on fluid and crystallized intelligence. Results indicated that the shared contribution of WM explained the largest portion of variance of fluid intelligence, with verbal and spatial WM independently explaining a residual portion of the variance. Concerning crystallized intelligence, however, verbal WM explained the largest portion of the variance, with the joint contribution of verbal and spatial WM explaining the residual part. The distinction between verbal and spatial WM could be important in clinical settings (e.g., children with atypical development might struggle selectively on some WM components) and in school settings (e.g., verbal and spatial WM might be differently implicated in mathematical achievement)

Applicability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) for Japanese Children Aged 3–6 Years: A Preliminary Investigation Emphasizing Internal Consistency and Factorial Validity

This study investigated the applicability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children – Second Edition (MABC-2) for 3- to 6-year-old Japanese children, particularly addressing its internal consistency and factorial validity. The MABC-2 test set for 3- to 6-year-old children was administered to 252 children. Differences between Japanese children and those of the original normative sample (i.e. United Kingdom children) were investigated along with sex differences. The Japanese children aged 3–6 years were found to have higher Manual Dexterity and Balance component scores than children of the normative sample. Girls scored higher than boys on the Balance component. Results of several analyses showed good internal consistency of the MABC-2. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a theoretical three-component model of the MABC-2 was not fitted to Japanese children aged 3–6 years. Instead, a new three-component model was postulated and discussed. The new three-component model of the MABC-2, with Manual Dexterity, Static Balance and Ball Skills, and Dynamic Balance, has high factorial validity in Japanese children aged 3–6 years

End-state comfort effects in adults with intellectual disabilities: A pilot study

This study investigated the end-state comfort (ESC) effect in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The ESC effect represents a tendency to maximize comfortable hand and arm postures at the end of an object manipulation task. Participants were 22 adults with non-specific ID. The ESC effect was assessed using a simple object manipulation task. Difficulties were found with manifestation of the ESC effect in adults with non-specific ID. Only four participants displayed the ESC effect. The participants’ intellectual function was correlated with expression of the ESC effect. These results were assessed in terms of competition between a goal-directed system and habitual systems in adults with ID

Role of Inner Speech on Serial Recall in Children with ASD: A Pilot Study Using the Luria Hand Test

This study was conducted to investigate the relation between the effect of articulatory suppression on the serial recall and severity of social impairments among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Luria hand test (LHT) was administered to evaluate the capacity for serial recall in 13 children with ASD. The LHT was administered under three conditions: control, under articulatory suppression, and under spatial suppression. Performance on the LHT of children with ASD was significantly lower in terms of both articulatory suppression and the spatial suppression condition. Moreover, the severity of social impairment in children with ASD was related to individual differences of effects of articulatory suppression on the LHT, but not with effects of spatial suppression. These results support the notion that dialogic inner speech which mediates complex cognitive abilities has inherently social origins

Role of inner speech on the Luria hand test

This study was conducted to investigate the psychological characteristics of the Luria hand test (LHT), a well-known neuropsychological assessment. We investigated the role of inner speech in LHT using the dual-task paradigm. Additionally, we investigated the relation between LHT and Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised (WMS-R) scores. Performance of the 21 university student participants on the LHT decreased significantly in the articulatory suppression condition, but not in spatial suppression. This result indicates that the inner speech or phonological loop of working memory plays an important role in the LHT. Moreover, only the verbal memory score of the WMS-R was correlated significantly with LHT performance. Based on these results, psychological characteristics of the LHT were discussed

Relationship between magnitude of body sway and basic motor ability in community-dwelling older persons

Etude effectuée chez 637 personnes âgées entre 67 et 91 an