Conjunctive visual search in individuals with and without mental retardation.
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.
Carlin
Michael
M
Psychological Sciences Division, Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Waltham, MA 02452, USA. michael.carlin@umassmed.edu
Chrysler
Christina
C
Sullivan
Kate
K
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