Evaluation du langage des enfants et adolescents handicapés mentaux

in Lepot-Froment, Christiane (Ed.) Education spécialisée : recherches et pistes d'action (1996)

Short-term memory, articulation rate and subvocal rehearsal in Down's syndrome

Poster (1995, May 12)

Gathercole (1994) show that in normal young children there is no significant link between articulation rate and immediate memory span, but that these variables are closely related in adults. These results ... [more ▼]

Gathercole (1994) show that in normal young children there is no significant link between articulation rate and immediate memory span, but that these variables are closely related in adults. These results are in contradiction with the short-term memory development hypotheses stated by the working memory model. According to these hypotheses, children are sensitive to word-length effect providing that stimuli are presented auditorily. We also know that word-length effect is strongly related to articulation rate and to subvocal rehearsal. This conception of mnemonic development has been recently challenged. Some authors show that, in adults, word-length effect can be a consequence of the delay at recall. According to Gathercole, the same conclusion can be applied to results obtained with children : word-length effect can be due to delay at recall of long words rather than to the utilization of subvocal rehearsal. Previous studies seem to confirm this hypothesis by showing that children are not affected by articulatory suppression. These results have clear implications for the short-term memory development hypothesis. It seems that in spite an strong word-length effect, children do not rehearse during auditory memory span tasks. The following experiments are based: (1) on the assumption that mental retarded individuals do not rehearse and (2) on the highly significant word-length effect in our Down's syndrome subjects. Our hypothesis, as Gathercole's one, is that if subjects really rehearse, then memory span and articulation rate will be highly correlated. [less ▲]

Working memory in Down syndrome : Training the rehearsal strategy

Poster (1994, September 23)

Verbal short-term memory skills of Down's syndrome subjects are very poor (Hulme & MacKenzie, 1992; Bower & Hayes, 1994). The poster reports on the verbal short-term memory skills in Down syndrome and on ... [more ▼]

Verbal short-term memory skills of Down's syndrome subjects are very poor (Hulme & MacKenzie, 1992; Bower & Hayes, 1994). The poster reports on the verbal short-term memory skills in Down syndrome and on the possibility of increasing durably memory span by using a rehearsal training strategy. Three tasks (letters span, digits span and words span) have been presented to two groups of 12 Down's syndrome subjetcs as a pre-test. Each group contained 4 chilren, 4 teenagers and 4 young adults. The groups had similar memory span and mental age at the beginning of the study. None of these subjects seemed to rehearse. One group has been exposed to an intensive rehearsal training during 8 weeks (half an hour / week) (methodology inspired from Hulme & MacKenzie, 1992, and Broadley & MacDonald, 1993). The other group did not receive any training. After the training, the 3 initial memory tasks have been presented to the 2 groups as a post-test. The trained subjects significatively improved their memory span (on the 3 measures and on a global measure) whereas the non-trained subjects did not improve at all. We must notice that the young adults needed a longer training (10 weeks) in order to show a signifiant improvement for the three measures. Only the trained subjects showed, at this time, clear signs of systematic rehearsal. Six weeks after the first post-test a second post-test has been conducted. The trained subjects did not seem to rehearse systematically anymore, their memory performances felt significantly lower than after the first post-test but remained significatively higher than at the beginning of the study [less ▲]

Working memory in Down's syndrome: Training the rehearsal strategy

in Down's Syndrome, Research and Practice : The Journal of the Sarah Duffen Centre (1994), 2(3), 123-126

This study reports on the verbal short term memory skills of individuals with Down's syndrome and on the possibility of increasing memory span durably by using a rehearsal strategy

L'apprentissage précoce des langues étrangères par la méthode 'immersive'

in Rééducation Orthophonique (1993), 31

Apprendre une langue étrangère avant neuf ans

in Français dans le Monde [=FDLM] : Revue Internationale et Francophone des Professeurs de Français (1992), 32(250), 63-65

Compréhension et production des prépositions spatiales topologiques et projectives chez les sujets handicapés mentaux modérés

in Revue Francophone de Déficience Mentale (1992), 3(2), 91-116

Echelle d'évaluation spatiale des élèves de l'enseignement spécial de type II

Report (1990)

Compréhension de la voix passive chez l'adulte trisomique 21 : évaluation et perspectives d'intervention

Master's dissertation (1989)

Les adultes porteurs de la trisomie 21 peuvent-il comprendre des structures morpho-syntaxiques complexes maîtrisées au début de l'adolescence par les personnes en développement normal. Ce travail étudie ... [more ▼]

Les adultes porteurs de la trisomie 21 peuvent-il comprendre des structures morpho-syntaxiques complexes maîtrisées au début de l'adolescence par les personnes en développement normal. Ce travail étudie la compréhension de la voix passive par 30 adultes trisomiques 21. Des perspectives d'intervention et de rééducation sont également envisagées. [less ▲]