Short-term memory deficits and Down syndrome: A comparative study

Abstract

This study provides an evaluation of the short-term memory performance of children with Down syndrome (DS) and children with intellectual disability of other etiologies (ID/OE) on the Stanford-Binet 4th Edition (SB4). Results revealed a significant difference between the two groups for short term memory scores on the SB4, indicating that on short-term memory tasks children with Down syndrome function at a significantly lower level, than a group of intellectually disabled peers with other etiologies. Differences between visual and auditory short-term memory sub-scores for the two groups also were identified, with significantly lower scores for auditory short-term memory for the group with Down syndrome. Finally it was established that while the SB4 appears to be a suitable instrument for the identification of intellectual disability, the test is limited in its range of short-term memory subtests for young children with Down syndrome.