Self-regulation and performance in problem-solving using physical materials or computers in children with intellectual disability.
For kids with ID, computers nudge self-checking while blocks nudge social looking—choose the tool that matches the target skill.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers watched the kids solve the same puzzle. Half had intellectual disability, half were neurotypical. Each child tried the puzzle twice: once on a computer, once with real blocks.
They filmed every move and coded how often kids checked their work, talked to themselves, or asked for help. These tiny acts are called self-regulation.
What they found
Both groups used the same total amount of self-regulation. Mental age, not calendar age, predicted which strategies kids picked.
Computers slightly boosted self-checking and self-talk. Real blocks slightly boosted joint attention—kids looked at the adult more.
How this fits with other research
Carmichael et al. (1999) showed calendar age drives vocabulary growth in ID. Nathalie’s team found mental age drives strategy use. The two studies don’t clash—they simply map different skills.
Vakil et al. (2011) also compared ID and neurotypical kids with mixed ages. They used eye-tracking; Nathalie used video coding. Both found strategy differences, strengthening the picture.
Samyn et al. (2015) warn that questionnaires and tasks measure different things. Nathalie adds a new twist: computer vs. hands-on tasks also measure different bits of self-regulation.
Why it matters
Pick your medium with intent. If the goal is self-monitoring, let the child use a tablet. If the goal is social engagement, stay with table-top blocks. Track mental age, not birth age, when you write goals.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study compares self-regulation in 29 children with intellectual disability and 30 typically developing children, who solved tasks using physical materials or computers. Their cognitive, linguistic levels were assessed in order to match the children of both groups. In the presence of their mothers and fathers, the children were asked to perform eight tasks presented using two types of medium (physical materials and computer). Performance and task completion time were recorded. Seven self-regulated strategies were analyzed: identification of objective, planning, self-attention, self-motivation, joint attention, behaviour regulation and self-evaluation. Children in the two groups did not differ in their self-regulation, and in each group, their chronological age had no significant effect on their self-regulation. However, whatever the medium used, their mental age had a significant effect on their overall self-regulation and on six self-regulated strategies: identification of objective, planning, self-attention, self-motivation, behaviour regulation, and self-evaluation. A positive link between overall self-regulation and language abilities was only obtained in the group of typical developers. In addition, although no significant effect of the medium on overall self-regulation was observed in each group, an effect of the type of medium was obtained concerning three specific self-regulated strategies, though not in the same direction: self-attention and self-evaluation are better with the computer than with physical materials, whereas joint attention is better with physical materials than with the computer. In both groups, overall self-regulation, whatever the medium, correlated positively and highly significantly with performance in different tasks (but not with completion time). In each group, variable correlational patterns were obtained between specific self-regulated strategies and performance in each task with each medium: inter-task variability of efficiency of distinct strategies was observed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.020