Higher Mental Age Research Articles

Predictors of Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) outcomes.

Although the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) has been demonstrated to be an effective intervention to teach people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder a functional communication system, the research indicates variability in PECS outcomes across people and studies. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore child characteristics and treatment variables that may explain the variation in, and potentially predict, PECS outcomes. A total of 22 children and youth diagnosed with autism or a related developmental disorder, all of whom scored substantially below average on standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive abilities, participated in a PECS intervention. Participants who achieved high phases of PECS (≥PECS phase IIIb) differed significantly from those who mastered lower PECS phases (≤PECS phase IIIa) in terms of overall, verbal, and nonverbal mental age, matching abilities, and adaptive behavior level. Stimulus generalization was also associated with significant variation in PECS outcome. PECS outcomes could be predicted with good accuracy using a combination of these child characteristics and treatment variables. The findings from the current study suggest that children with relatively higher cognitive and adaptive skill levels are more likely to achieve higher phases of PECS; further, approaches to generalization training also play a role. Factors such as autism symptom severity and parental ratings of maladaptive behavior were not associated with significant differences in PECS outcomes. However, more research is needed. Gaining a better understanding of predictors of PECS outcomes is important to inform intervention, provide more accurate outcome expectations for families, and guide PECS teaching procedures. Although participants were more likely to achieve higher phases of PECS if they had a higher mental age, adaptive skill level, and matching skills, the average scores for these measures were well below those expected for same age peers. These results indicate that PECS is appropriate for use with children with clinically significant deficits in cognitive and/or adaptive abilities. Further, results suggest that even children who demonstrate more severe symptoms of autism and exhibit more challenging behavior can achieve higher phases of PECS.

Narrative skill and testimonial accuracy in typically developing children and those with intellectual disabilities.

SummaryChildren must describe maltreatment coherently for their testimony to be influential in court. We know little about how well children with intellectual disabilities (CWID) describe their experiences relative to typically developing (TD) children, despite CWID's vulnerability to maltreatment. We investigated children's reports of an experienced event and compared coherence in CWID (mild to moderate impairment: 7–11 years) with TD children matched for mental (4–10 years) or chronological age (7–11 years). All children included important markers of narrative coherence in their reports. Children with lower mental ages, particularly those with an intellectual disability, included fewer markers of narrative coherence in their reports than children with higher mental ages. Individual markers of narrative coherence, particularly recall of content, predicted accuracy of testimony and resistance to suggestion even when disability and mental age were taken into account. These findings highlight the importance of helping children to describe their experiences coherently.

Developmental trajectories of executive functions in young males with fragile X syndrome

BackgroundExecutive functions (EF) have been identified as impaired in FXS, but few studies have examined their developmental trajectories. AimsThe primary aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the development of EF in young males with FXS compared to Mental Age (MA)-matched controls. Methods and ProceduresThe sample comprised 56 boys with FXS (ages 7–13 years), and 48 MA-matched typical boys (ages 4–8 years). EF tasks included measures of inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility/set-shifting, problem solving/planning, and processing speed. Tasks were administered at three time points over five-years. Outcomes and ResultsThe MA-Matched Typical boys significantly outperformed the FXS boys on all EF tasks, with the FXS Group showing a pattern of slow, but positive growth on most EF tasks. For working memory tasks, significant interactions were noted between MA and autism symptom severity, and MA and medication status. The probability of task completion increased with higher MA. Conclusions and ImplicationsThese findings contribute to our understanding of the development of EF in this population. They also lay the foundation for use of EF tasks in treatment efforts, particularly with respect to documenting improvements and practice effects, and in understanding associations with targeted developmental outcomes.

Cardiovascular and Behavioral Response to Auditory Stimuli in Boys With Fragile X Syndrome

The aim of this study was to determine whether young boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS) exhibit abnormal physiological or behavioral responses to a moderately intense auditory stimulus, as heightened sensory reactivity is believed to contribute to problem behaviors in this population. We examined the physiological basis, via heart activity, of auditory startle in young boys with FXS (n = 22) compared with typically developing controls (n = 27). Associations with mental age, behavioral reactivity, and chronological age were examined. Results suggest that older boys with FXS display increased cardiac reactivity to auditory input than younger boys with FXS that distinguishes them from typically developing controls. Higher mental age was associated with decreased latency to react. Results contribute to increased understanding of the pathology in sensory processing in boys with FXS, which can inform refinement of the phenotype in young children with FXS and aid in the development of efficacious psychopharmacological and/or behavioral interventions.

Predictors of academic attainments of young people with Down's syndrome

Earlier studies of young people with Down's syndrome have investigated a relatively limited range of variables which may influence their academic attainment. The relative strength of such influences and how they may vary during the school career, has also been under-researched. The aim of the paper is to identify the contemporary and antecedent predictors of the level of academic attainment achieved by a representative sample of young people with Down's syndrome. Sample The paper reports data from three studies of 71 young people with Down's syndrome and their families. Mean IQ at the time of the first study (t1) was 40.4. Mean chronological age was 9 years at t1, 14 at t2, and 21 at t3, when all the young people had left school. The outcome measure was the 58-item Academic Attainments Index (AAI), comprising three sub-scales covering reading, writing and numeracy. Predictors of the outcome were derived from questionnaires and interviews from tutors, mothers and fathers. A path analysis approach was used to investigate the pattern of predictors of the outcome over the three studies. Factors predicting greater progress in this measure between t2 and t3 were lower chronological age and attendance at mainstream school. Progress from t1 to t2 was also associated with attendance at mainstream school, as well as with higher t1 mental age, mother's practical coping style and higher child attentiveness. Background factors predicting higher t1 AAI scores were higher mental age, attendance at mainstream school and father's internal locus of control. The path analysis model predicted 48% of the variance in t3 outcome scores. Severity of intellectual impairment was by far the most significant predictor. Limitations to the study include evidence of attrition bias towards more able children, and the need to obtain the t3 outcome measure from tutors for some young people and parents for others. Parents may have over-estimated abilities. Results are broadly in agreement with other studies, and confirm the pattern reported earlier with this group. Mainstream school attendance had a modest beneficial effect on AAI scores throughout the school career of the children, independently of level of intellectual disability. Identification of predictors of attainment levels and of improvement over time may help parents, teachers and other professionals involved with families of children and young people with Down's syndrome optimise the attainment of such skills.

Development of an outerdirected style of problem solving in individuals with and without mental retardation

Outerdirected behavior in a discrimination learning task was examined in 55 individuals with mental retardation at three CA levels: children, adolescents, and adults. These groups were compared to each other and to 55 mental age (MA)-matched individuals without mental retardation. Adults with mental retardation required more trials to reach criterion and showed higher levels of outerdirectedness than did mentally retarded children and adolescents despite adults having a higher MA. Nonretarded students showed the reverse trend, with the highest MA group requiring fewer trials to reach criterion and showing lower levels of outerdirectedness than the lowest MA group. These findings focus attention on the genesis of outerdirectedness and the possibility of preventing or remediating this unproductive style of problem solving.

Targets and Cues: Gaze‐following in Children with Autism

Children with autism are known to have difficulties in sharing attention with others. Yet one joint attention behaviour, the ability to follow another person's head turn and gaze direction, may be achieved without necessarily sharing attention. Why, then, should autistic children have difficulties with it? In this study we examined the extent of this difficulty by testing school-aged autistic children across three different contexts; experiment, observation, and parent interview. We also tested whether the ability to orient to another person's head and gaze could be facilitated by increasing children's attention to environmental targets and social cues. Results for experiment and observation demonstrate that a sizeable proportion of children with autism did not have difficulties with following another's head turn. There was a difference between children with high and low verbal mental ages, however. Whereas children with higher mental ages (over 48 months) were able to orient spontaneously to another person's head turn, children with lower mental ages had difficulties with this response. When cues were added (pointing, language) or when feedback from targets was given, however, their performance improved. Parent interview data indicated that children with autism, whatever their mental age, began to follow head turn and gaze direction years later than typically developing children. Developments in attention and language are proposed as possible factors to account for this developmental delay.

Fenfluramine and Methylphenidate in Children with Mental Retardation and ADHD: Clinical and Side Effects

Each of 28 nonautistic children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and mental retardation received placebo, methylphenidate (0.4 mg/kg/day), and fenfluramine (gradually increased to 1.5 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks each in a double-blind, crossover design. Teacher ratings indicated significant improvements with both active drugs on subscales designated as Conduct Problem, Hyperactivity, and Irritability, but methylphenidate alone produced improvements on an Inattention subscale. Parent ratings indicated significant improvements with both drugs on subscales labeled Hyperactivity, Motor Excess, and Conduct Problem. Fenfluramine alone caused improved parent ratings on Irritability and Inappropriate Speech, and on Conners' Abbreviated Symptom Questionnaire. Unlike a previous study, subgroup analyses failed to show a significantly better clinical response to methylphenidate for subjects with higher mental ages, although children with higher IQs responded better than those with IQs less than 45. The active drugs had contrasting effects on heart rate and blood pressure. Fenfluramine caused significant weight reductions relative to both placebo and methylphenidate. These findings suggest that both methylphenidate and fenfluramine have useful, but somewhat different, clinical effects in certain children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and mental retardation.

Effects of institutionalization on the self‐concept and outerdirectedness of adolescents with mental retardation

Abstract Some professionals have used empirical work indicating that institutions have deleterious effects on their mentally retarded residents to support deinstitutionalization. In the present study, we compared 17 institutionalized mentally retarded adolescents with 29 noninstitutionalized mentally retarded adolescents on measures of self‐image and outerdirectedness. We found no deleterious effects of institutionalization on the global self‐image or on self‐image scores in the cognitive, social, or physical abilities content areas. For both groups, however, global scores were higher than scores in the social and physical abilities domains. Overall, institutionalized adolescents were no more dependent on external cues in solving problems (i.e., outerdirected) than were noninstitutionalized adolescents. We found, however, an interaction effect indicating that at higher mental ages, institutionalized, relative to noninstitutionalized, adolescents relied more on external cues. The results suggest that the e...

Inspection time and IQ in young children

Three studies investigating the relationship between IQ, mental age (MA), chronological age (CA) and inspection time (IT) are reported. Forty-seven children participated: three age groups, 6, 8 and 10 yr, attending a London primary school and with IQs ranging from 75 to 141. The IT task was incorporated into a microcomputer-controlled video game and two measures of IT were obtained from two psychophysical procedures: method of limits and method of constant stimuli. All three studies found that a significant relationship was maintained for Ss over the full age range. Although, in general, IT decreased with increasing CA, bright 6-yr-olds had similar ITs to dull 10-yr-olds. Given that the latter have higher MA than the former and they have had more years experience of school, it is concluded that the IT/IQ relationship is primarily based on fundamental aspects of information processing, such as processing speed, rather than on task sophistication. The two psychophysical procedures produced different estimates of IT. However, it is concluded that using two methods can reduce the noisy effects of variability in responding of children. Reliabilities in the order of r = 0.45 are reported for the task.

Maternal responsivity in interactions with handicapped infants.

The present study investigated the influence of 3 infant characteristics on mothers' interactions with their handicapped young children. These 3 characteristics are chronological age, mental age, and handicapping condition. Maternal responsivity was hypothesized to increase with mental and chronological age and to be more closely linked to mental than chronological age. In addition, it was expected that handicapped group membership would be related to maternal behavior, but that many of these effects would be accounted for by mental age. 111 handicapped young children and their mothers were observed in a 15-min free-play session. The children ranged in age from 3 to 36 months of age and were classified as Down's syndrome (N = 56), developmentally delayed (N = 21), or cerebral palsied (N = 34). Maternal responsivity to their infants' behavior was explored for total behavior and for proximal and distal behaviors separately using proportion scores to control for overall levels of infant and maternal behavior exhibited. Infants but not mothers emitted more behavior in the free-play setting as the infants' mental and chronological age increased. As expected, mothers were more responsive proportionately to their infants' behavior as their children became more mature mentally and chronologically older, even after controlling for age-related increases in infant behavior. Since mental and chronological age were related, partial correlational analyses were performed. The age-related increases in maternal responsivity were accounted for by mental but not chronological age. Differences as a function of handicapped group membership also were found. Cerebral palsied infants exhibited less behavior than did the Down's syndrome and developmentally delayed infants. Mothers of developmentally delayed infants exhibited more responsive behavior proportionately than did mothers of the other 2 groups. However, this difference was due to the higher mental age of the infants.

Effects of sign-language training on untrained sign use for single and multiple signing

Abstract In Experiment 1, children with deficient language development who could imitate sign-language signs were trained to select pictures, when given the associated signs by the trainer (sign-reception), and to sign-label other pictures, when shown by the trainer. The children were then tested for backward transfer: for production of the sign when the pictures were presented singly, or for selection of the pictures when shown their sign. Considerable transfer to reception occurred, for most children, and most also showed some transfer to production. Deaf children who had received previous sign-language training showed no greater transfer than normally hearing children who had not. In Experiment 2, children were given only receptive training (for single sign-picture pairs) and then tested for production of single-sign labels and for reception and production of double-sign labels for composite pictures. The composite pictures consisted of figure-ground compounds of the pictures used in training, so that the associated signs were analogous to noun-adjective descriptions. Abovechance receptive performance on the compounds was found, with considerable variation among children. Production of the noun-adjective double-signs was poor, with some children showing little or none. For these latter children, additional training was given to produce the sign-label for one picture or for one compound picture. Most children continued to show no double-sign production for untrained compounds. Better transfer was seen for children with higher mental ages. Implications for sign-language training are discussed. Transfer to production of signing, after receptive training, appears to occur to some degree, but there is little generalization to use of multiple signs. Training in receptive use of single signs seems to be inefficient if productive use is desired.

The influence of mental development on children's acceptance of dental treatment.

abstract— In order to investigate the influence of mental development on children's acceptance of dental treatment, the mental ages of 108 individuals with a chronologic age of 3–9 years were determined by a psychologist using Binet's, Cattell's, and Leiter's psychometric tests. The degree of acceptance in accordance with given definitions and the time spent for acceptance were recorded. Mental age as well as chronologic age influence children's acceptance of dental treatment, but mental age has the greater influence. A mental age of 29 months separated in this investigation distinctly between children with and without acceptance. Children with mental ages of 3 and 4 years needed 20% more time to accept treatment than did children with higher mental ages. The time‐span for acceptance was 20% greater for 3‐year‐old children than for older children when IQ values were ≥68. For the age classes 5–9 years the time span was 25–30% greater for children with IQ values <68 than for children with IQ values ≥68.

Discrimination learning and discrimination learning sets in subnormal children.

Summary. The aim of the enquiry was to establish whether subnormal children have more difficulty than normals of comparable mental age in learning a visual discrimination and in forming a discrimination set. Twenty‐eight older sub‐normal children and twenty‐four normal pre‐school children were required to solve six visual discrimination problems. Owing to imperfect matching, the normal group had a somewhat higher mean M.A. Nevertheless, little difference appeared either in the number of trials to master the first problem or in subsequent improvement attributable to the learning set.It was found that children who were rated as lacking in self‐confidence fared badly in the experiment.Spontaneous naming of the discriminanda was as frequent in the subnormal group as it was among the normals. Indeed, questioning children at the end of a problem as to their mode of solution elicited significantly more such “discriminating verbalisation” from the subnormals than it did from the normals. Nevertheless, such language appeared to be unrelated to the speed of learning.A comparison of the present results with others reported in the literature suggests that specific deficit is more likely to be found at higher mental ages when the role of language may be more decisive.

An Analysis of Scatter in Intelligence Test Results: A Review of the Literature

Clinical psychologists have long believed that the unevenness of attainment on different kinds of items in an intelligence test may be used to help recognize various mental illnesses. For almost 35 years attempts have been made to discover the relation between mental illness and such qualitative features of intelligence test results. Only within the past ten years have these attempts met with a measure of success. Diagnostic intelligence testing is now an indispensable tool of many clinical psychologists. In this review we shall trace the history of the use of scatter in intelligence and achievement test results. Scatter may be defined as unevenness in the level of attainment on different tests. For example, scatter is seen in a test like the Stanford-Binet in the subject's failing an item on a given mental age level, while he passes other items on higher mental age levels; or it can be seen in the comparison of the score obtained by a subject on a reading achievement test with the score obtained on an arithmetic achieve-