Doerr Elizabeth Maria, Carretti Barbara, Toffalini Enrico, Lanfranchi Silvia, Meneghetti Chiara
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2021 May 10;11(5):610. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11050610.
The analysis of developmental trajectories of visuospatial abilities in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) remains an unexplored field of investigation to examine in depth. The study aimed to fill such a gap by examining changes in two visuospatial abilities: spatial visualization (the ability to manage spatial stimuli) and mental rotation (the ability to rotate spatial stimuli).
Eighty-seven participants with DS, aged between 7 and 53 years (forty-seven males and forty females), completed spatial visualization and mental rotation tasks. Changes in these two abilities were analyzed in relation to chronological age and developmental level, the latter derived from Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices.
Chronological age was linearly associated with spatial visualization performance, whereas mental rotation performance increased until 14 years of age and then decreased. Developmental level was linearly associated with increased performance in spatial visualization, the trend in mental rotation was segmented with an increase after 5 years of age. Furthermore, developmental trajectories in mental rotation depended on the rotation degree.
Chronological age explains a modest quote of variance. Developmental level better describes changes in spatial visualization and mental rotation of individuals with DS.
对唐氏综合征（DS）患者视觉空间能力发展轨迹的分析仍是一个有待深入研究的未探索领域。本研究旨在通过考察两种视觉空间能力的变化来填补这一空白：空间视觉化（处理空间刺激的能力）和心理旋转（旋转空间刺激的能力）。
八十七名年龄在7至53岁之间的DS患者（四十七名男性和四十名女性）完成了空间视觉化和心理旋转任务。分析了这两种能力的变化与实际年龄和发育水平的关系，后者由瑞文彩色渐进矩阵得出。
实际年龄与空间视觉化表现呈线性相关，而心理旋转表现直到14岁时增加，之后下降。发育水平与空间视觉化表现的提高呈线性相关，心理旋转的趋势在5岁后增加呈分段变化。此外，心理旋转的发展轨迹取决于旋转程度。
实际年龄解释了适度的方差比例。发育水平能更好地描述DS患者空间视觉化和心理旋转的变化。
