title: Conjunctive visual search in individuals with and without mental retardation.
abstract: A comprehensive understanding of the basic visual and cognitive abilities of individuals with mental retardation is critical for understanding the basis of mental retardation and for the design of remediation programs. We assessed visual search abilities in individuals with mild mental retardation and in MA- and CA-matched comparison groups. Our goal was to determine the effect of decreasing target-distracter disparities on visual search efficiency. Results showed that search rates for the group with mental retardation and the MA-matched comparisons were more negatively affected by decreasing disparities than were those of the CA-matched group. The group with mental retardation and the MA-matched group performed similarly on all tasks. Implications for theory and application are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences Division, Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Waltham, MA 02452, USA. michael.carlin@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carlin
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chrysler
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sullivan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003118:Color Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values