Visuo-spatial knowledge acquisition in individuals with Down syndrome: The role of descriptions and sketch maps.
Add a simple sketch map to verbal route directions to help clients with Down syndrome learn landmarks, though gains will be smaller than for typical peers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with 24 teens and adults who have Down syndrome.
Each person heard a short verbal route description.
Half also saw a simple sketch map while they listened.
Then everyone tried to point to landmarks on a blank screen.
The researchers compared accuracy between the two groups and to typical peers.
What they found
The map group scored higher than the words-only group.
Still, their gain was only about half the size seen in typical peers.
Sketch maps help, but they do not close the gap.
How this fits with other research
Tassé et al. (2013) showed that computerized visuospatial memory training boosts short-term memory scores in Down syndrome.
Chiara et al. extend that idea: you don’t need a computer to get a visuospatial boost; a paper map works too.
Ohan et al. (2015) found that kids with Down syndrome draw faster but sloppier, hinting at a speed-accuracy trade-off.
That motor slowness may explain why the map gain here is smaller: extra visual info helps, but fine-motor demands still slow them down.
Why it matters
When you teach community navigation or fire-drill routes, pair your spoken directions with a quick sketch map.
Keep the map simple: three landmarks and two turns.
Expect modest gains and give extra practice time; the boost is real but smaller than for typical learners.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Few studies on individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have explored how they learn space. The present study examines space learning from verbal descriptions in individuals with DS, and explores the role of external cues (such as a sketch map). Twenty-eight individuals with DS and 28 matched typically-developing (TD) children listened to route or survey descriptions with or without seeing a corresponding sketch map (Description+Sketch Map [D+SM] and Description alone [D], respectively). After hearing each description, they performed tasks that involved recognizing, arranging sequentially, and locating landmarks. The results showed that individuals with DS performed less well in recognizing landmarks and arranging them sequentially. The D+SM condition produced general benefits in both groups' accuracy, though the improvement in locating landmarks was greater in the TD than in the DS group. In both groups, the D+SM condition prompted a better performance than the D condition when participants arranged landmarks sequentially after hearing a description from a route perspective, but not from a survey perspective. Overall, our results show that individuals with DS benefited when a spatial description was associated with a corresponding sketch map, albeit to a lesser degree than TD children. The findings are discussed in the light of the literature on DS and on spatial cognition in the TD domain.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.02.013