Relationships between visual-motor and cognitive abilities in intellectual disabilities.
The neurobiological hypothesis supports the relevance of studying visual-perceptual and visual-motor skills in relation to cognitive abilities in intellectual disabilities because the defective intellectual functioning in intellectual disabilities is not restricted to higher cognitive functions but also to more basic functions. The sample was 102 children 6 to 16 years old and with different severities of intellectual disabilities. Children were administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test, and the Developmental Test of Visual Perception, and data were also analysed according to the presence or absence of organic anomalies, which are etiologically relevant for mental disabilities. Children with intellectual disabilities had deficits in perceptual organisation which correlated with the severity of intellectual disabilities. Higher correlations between the spatial subtests of the Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the Performance subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children suggested that the spatial skills and cognitive performance may have a similar basis in information processing. Need to differentiate protocols for rehabilitation and intervention for recovery of perceptual abilities from general programs of cognitive stimulations is suggested.
IRCCS 'Oasi' Institute for Research and Care on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging Department of Psychology and Pedagogy Service, Troina, Italy. fdiblasi@oasi.en.it
Francesco D
FD
Di Blasi
Flaviana
F
Elia
Serafino
S
Buono
Ger J A
GJ
Ramakers
Santo F
SF
Di Nuovo
D000293:Adolescent; D001538:Bender-Gestalt Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data