title: The development of the interpersonal construct system in educable mentally retarded children.
abstract: The development of the interpersonal construct system of educable mentally retarded children was studied using three measures: cognitive complexity, construct abstractness and egocentricity. Ten mentally retarded children in the mental age groups of 6, 8, 10 and 12 were compared with nonretarded children of the same mental ages. The mentally retarded children used a limited number of constructs with less abstractness than the nonmentally retarded children. In terms of egocentricity, the nonretarded children used more other-oriented constructs than did the retarded children. For all measures, there were significant differences between the age levels of 6 and 8 versus 12 years, suggesting developmental trends.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003210:Concept Formation; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D007360:Intelligence; D007398:Interpersonal Relations