Aronson M, Fällström K
Dev Med Child Neurol. 1977 Aug;19(4):489-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1977.tb07942.x.
The aim of the present experiment was to determine whether the rate of develoment of a group of mentally retarded children could be improved by early, systematic mental training. Eight children with Down's syndrome, aged from 21 to 69 months, were trained systematically, following the pattern of normal development, over a period of 1 1/2 years. The mental age of the trained children was compared with that of eight matched controls before, during and after the training period. Both groups were living in a small institution, offering a homogeneous environment. Results showed that training had a significant effect on the mental age of the trained children. However, in a follow-up study one year after the completion of training, the good effect was reduced in the trained group, although still higher over-all than the control group. This finding indicates that while early training is effective for mentally retarded children, it must be a continuous process to achieve long-term benefit.
本实验的目的是确定一组智力发育迟缓儿童的发育速度能否通过早期系统的智力训练得到提高。八名年龄在21至69个月之间的唐氏综合征患儿，按照正常发育模式接受了为期1年半的系统训练。在训练期之前、期间和之后，将接受训练儿童的智力年龄与八名匹配的对照组儿童的智力年龄进行比较。两组儿童都生活在一个提供同质环境的小型机构中。结果表明，训练对接受训练儿童的智力年龄有显著影响。然而，在训练结束一年后的随访研究中，训练组的良好效果有所降低，尽管总体上仍高于对照组。这一发现表明，虽然早期训练对智力发育迟缓儿童有效，但必须是一个持续的过程才能获得长期益处。
