The Journal of Psychology
ISSN: 0022-3980 (Print) 1940-1019 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjrl20
Cognitive Tempo in Educable Mentally Retarded Children Anthony Rotatori , Douglas Cullinan , Michael H. Epstein & John Lloyd To cite this article: Anthony Rotatori , Douglas Cullinan , Michael H. Epstein & John Lloyd (1978) Cognitive Tempo in Educable Mentally Retarded Children, The Journal of Psychology, 99:2, 135-137, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1978.9921452 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1978.9921452
Published online: 02 Jul 2010.
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Date: 06 November 2015, At: 23:47
Published as a separate and in T ~ Jorrrnol P of Psyrholugy. 1978, 99. 135-137
COGNITIVE T E M P O I N EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN*’
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:47 06 November 2015
Norlhern Illinois Universily
ANTHONYROTATORI, DOUGLASCULLINAN, MICHAELH. EPSTEIN,A N D JOHN LLOYD SUMMARY The present study investigated the relationship of time and errors on the Matching Familiar Figures test to the mental age of 40 Caucasian male, educable mentally retarded (EMR) children. The children, who ranged in age from six to 18 years, had intelligence test scores of less than 80, were exhibiting problems in adaptive behavior, and were all receiving special education services. An ANOVA revealed that with increasing mental age, elapsed time to first response increased and errors decreased, thus indicating a mental age developmental decrease in impulsivity. For all subjects, time was inversely related to errors. The data suggest that the development of cognitive tempo in EMR children parallels that of nonhandicapped children. The reflection-impulsivity dimension set forth by Kagan, Rosman, Day, Albert, and Phillips (1) describes one set of individual differences among children. In problem-solving situations which involve response uncertainty, some children characteristically respond rapidly but make many errors and, hence, are identified as “impulsive.” On the other hand, children who are slower to respond and make fewer errors are referred to as “reflective.” Messer (2) summarized developmental research regarding the reflectionimpulsivity issue with normals. The review indicated that children typically become more reflective with age; for example, older children tend to take more time and err less on the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test. Such a pattern has not been systematically investigated with educable
* Received in the Editorial Office on April 12, 1978, and published immediately at Provincetown, Massachusetts. Copyright by The Journal Press. I This research was supported in part by a (COO 7700642) grant irom the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped to the Department of Learning and Development at Northern Illinois University. 135
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mentally retarded children, however, even though it is apparent that investigation of developmental changes in reflection-impulsivity of retarded learners could produce findings relevant to their education. Thus, the purposes of this research were (a) to determine whether a relationship between MFF time and errors exists with educable mentally retarded children, (b) to ascertain the relationships of M F F time and MFF errors to the mental age of this population, and (c) to compare obtained relationships to those exhibited by normal children on the basis of prior research. Subjects were 40 educable mentally retarded boys (age 6 to 18 years) who were receiving public school special education services. The students were divided into four groups based on mental age: Group I, ?i = 60.6 months; Group 11, = 83.8 months; Group 111, H = 111.9 months; Group IV, X = 140.5 months. The four groups did not differ significantly on IQ, but were significantly different with respect to M.4 [F (3, 36) = 16.33, p < .001] and C.4 [F (3, 36) = 46.15. p < .OOl]. Two female graduate students individually administered the MFF to all children. The experimenters recorded “time” (i.e., mean of response times for all trials) and iierrors” (i.e., total number of errors for all trials). An analysis of variance on time revealed an overall significant difference among groups [F (3. 36) = 4.22, p < ,011. Follow-up Newman-Keuls tests indicated that the following pairs of means were significantly different a t the .05level: Group I vs. Group 111, Group I vs. Group IV, Group I1 1’s. Group IV. An analysis of variance on errors indicated an overall significant difference among groups [F (3, 36) = 15.59, p < .001]. Follow-up Newman-Keuls tests revealed that the following pairs of means were significantly different at the .05 level: Group I vs. Group 111, Group Ivx. Group IV, Group I1 vs. Group IV. For the entire collection of 40 subjects, time was inversely related to errors (Y = - . 5 7 , p < .01). Although there are no generally available standardization data for the M F F, Messer has reviewed previously published M F F time and error data. Among the consistent trends reported were that M F F time and M F F errors are inversely related, and that as chronological age increases, time increases and errors decrease. The present findings were compatible with these trends in that an inverse relationship of time to errors was found, and across groups of increasing mental age, time increased and errors decreased. Thus, the present results suggest that the development of cognitive tempo in educable mentally retarded children parallels that of nonretarded children.
x
A N T H O N Y ROTATOR1 P t
al.
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REFERENCES 1. 2.
D A Y ,D . . ALBERT,J , & PHILLIPS, W . Information processing in the child. Psyrhol. Monog., 1964, 78, Whole No. 578. MESSER,S . Reflection-impulsivity: A reblew. P s y r h o l . B u U , 1976, 83 (6), 1026-1052. &GAS,
J..
ROS%IAs, B . .
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:47 06 November 2015
Department of Learning and Development North ern I11 i no is U n i t 1 e n it y DeKalb, Illinois 60115
ISSN: 0022-3980 (Print) 1940-1019 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjrl20
Cognitive Tempo in Educable Mentally Retarded Children Anthony Rotatori , Douglas Cullinan , Michael H. Epstein & John Lloyd To cite this article: Anthony Rotatori , Douglas Cullinan , Michael H. Epstein & John Lloyd (1978) Cognitive Tempo in Educable Mentally Retarded Children, The Journal of Psychology, 99:2, 135-137, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1978.9921452 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1978.9921452
Published online: 02 Jul 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 2
View related articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjrl20 Download by: [NUS National University of Singapore]
Date: 06 November 2015, At: 23:47
Published as a separate and in T ~ Jorrrnol P of Psyrholugy. 1978, 99. 135-137
COGNITIVE T E M P O I N EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN*’
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:47 06 November 2015
Norlhern Illinois Universily
ANTHONYROTATORI, DOUGLASCULLINAN, MICHAELH. EPSTEIN,A N D JOHN LLOYD SUMMARY The present study investigated the relationship of time and errors on the Matching Familiar Figures test to the mental age of 40 Caucasian male, educable mentally retarded (EMR) children. The children, who ranged in age from six to 18 years, had intelligence test scores of less than 80, were exhibiting problems in adaptive behavior, and were all receiving special education services. An ANOVA revealed that with increasing mental age, elapsed time to first response increased and errors decreased, thus indicating a mental age developmental decrease in impulsivity. For all subjects, time was inversely related to errors. The data suggest that the development of cognitive tempo in EMR children parallels that of nonhandicapped children. The reflection-impulsivity dimension set forth by Kagan, Rosman, Day, Albert, and Phillips (1) describes one set of individual differences among children. In problem-solving situations which involve response uncertainty, some children characteristically respond rapidly but make many errors and, hence, are identified as “impulsive.” On the other hand, children who are slower to respond and make fewer errors are referred to as “reflective.” Messer (2) summarized developmental research regarding the reflectionimpulsivity issue with normals. The review indicated that children typically become more reflective with age; for example, older children tend to take more time and err less on the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test. Such a pattern has not been systematically investigated with educable
* Received in the Editorial Office on April 12, 1978, and published immediately at Provincetown, Massachusetts. Copyright by The Journal Press. I This research was supported in part by a (COO 7700642) grant irom the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped to the Department of Learning and Development at Northern Illinois University. 135
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:47 06 November 2015
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mentally retarded children, however, even though it is apparent that investigation of developmental changes in reflection-impulsivity of retarded learners could produce findings relevant to their education. Thus, the purposes of this research were (a) to determine whether a relationship between MFF time and errors exists with educable mentally retarded children, (b) to ascertain the relationships of M F F time and MFF errors to the mental age of this population, and (c) to compare obtained relationships to those exhibited by normal children on the basis of prior research. Subjects were 40 educable mentally retarded boys (age 6 to 18 years) who were receiving public school special education services. The students were divided into four groups based on mental age: Group I, ?i = 60.6 months; Group 11, = 83.8 months; Group 111, H = 111.9 months; Group IV, X = 140.5 months. The four groups did not differ significantly on IQ, but were significantly different with respect to M.4 [F (3, 36) = 16.33, p < .001] and C.4 [F (3, 36) = 46.15. p < .OOl]. Two female graduate students individually administered the MFF to all children. The experimenters recorded “time” (i.e., mean of response times for all trials) and iierrors” (i.e., total number of errors for all trials). An analysis of variance on time revealed an overall significant difference among groups [F (3. 36) = 4.22, p < ,011. Follow-up Newman-Keuls tests indicated that the following pairs of means were significantly different a t the .05level: Group I vs. Group 111, Group I vs. Group IV, Group I1 1’s. Group IV. An analysis of variance on errors indicated an overall significant difference among groups [F (3, 36) = 15.59, p < .001]. Follow-up Newman-Keuls tests revealed that the following pairs of means were significantly different at the .05 level: Group I vs. Group 111, Group Ivx. Group IV, Group I1 vs. Group IV. For the entire collection of 40 subjects, time was inversely related to errors (Y = - . 5 7 , p < .01). Although there are no generally available standardization data for the M F F, Messer has reviewed previously published M F F time and error data. Among the consistent trends reported were that M F F time and M F F errors are inversely related, and that as chronological age increases, time increases and errors decrease. The present findings were compatible with these trends in that an inverse relationship of time to errors was found, and across groups of increasing mental age, time increased and errors decreased. Thus, the present results suggest that the development of cognitive tempo in educable mentally retarded children parallels that of nonretarded children.
x
A N T H O N Y ROTATOR1 P t
al.
137
REFERENCES 1. 2.
D A Y ,D . . ALBERT,J , & PHILLIPS, W . Information processing in the child. Psyrhol. Monog., 1964, 78, Whole No. 578. MESSER,S . Reflection-impulsivity: A reblew. P s y r h o l . B u U , 1976, 83 (6), 1026-1052. &GAS,
J..
ROS%IAs, B . .
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:47 06 November 2015
Department of Learning and Development North ern I11 i no is U n i t 1 e n it y DeKalb, Illinois 60115
