What am I doing in Timbuktu: person-environment picture recognition for persons with intellectual disability.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of familiarity of depicted persons and environments in recognition of photographs for pupils with different degrees of intellectual disability (ID).


METHODS
Forty-five pupils with ID participated.


RESULTS
An interaction effect between the two variables, person and environment, was found in addition to main effects for both the variables. Pictures of the test person himself or herself in familiar environments were easier to recognize than in unfamiliar environments, whereas the opposite was found for pictures of other familiar persons. No interaction effects of degree of ID were found.


CONCLUSIONS
The interaction pattern is explained in terms of absent, present or implausible semantic associations between the person and the environmental context. The results are discussed in relation to augmentative and alternative communication with photographs.
Danielsson
H
H
The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping, Sweden. henda@ibv.liu.se
Rönnberg
J
J
Andersson
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010781:Photography; D012931:Social Environment