Visuospatial Working Memory in Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities under Simultaneous and Sequential Presentation

Visuospatial working memory in individuals with non-specific intellectual disabilities (NSID) was investigated under different modes of presentation. Individuals with NSID and mental-age-matched controls were asked to remember locations presented either simultaneously or sequentially. Results showed that individuals with NSID outperformed mental-age-matched controls in the simultaneous task. Their performance in the sequential task was comparable. Furthermore, the advantage of simultaneous over sequential presentation was greater in individuals with NSID than in the mental-age-matched controls. On the whole, the results suggest that visuospatial working memory in individuals with NSID is preserved. Furthermore, simultaneous and sequential processes in visuospatial working memory are not developed homogeneously. Further evidence for visuospatial working memory in individuals with NSID and the benefits of distinguishing between simultaneous and sequential processes in visuospatial working memory was revealed.