Object-related generativity in children with Down syndrome

•Children with Down syndrome produced fewer acts on new objects than developmentally matched peers.•Children with Down syndrome produced fewer novel functional acts on new objects than developmentally matched typically developing peers.•Frequency of acts on new objects was related to cognitive and language outcomes in Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome (DS) show challenges in some aspects of goal-directed behavior when compared to developmentally matched children (Daunhauer et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2011), particularly in the area of goal-directed action on objects (Fidler et al., 2005a,b). In this study, we examined one aspect of goal-directed action on objects, object-related generativity, in school-aged children with DS (n=52), a developmentally matched group of children with intellectual disability, but not Down syndrome (DD; n=21), and a group of chronologically younger, but developmentally matched typically developing children (TD; n=34). We administered the Leiter-R, the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS), and an Object-Related Generativity Task, which involved 2min of unstructured play with a variety of objects that have divergent usages. Children with DS generated significantly fewer instances of initiating actions on new objects than children in both comparison groups, were less likely to produce novel functional action on any object (new or familiar) than TD children, and they showed fewer instances of novel functional object engagement with new objects overall than TD children. Frequency of acts on new objects in DS was associated with Leiter-R Form Completion and Repeated Patterns Raw Scores and OWLS Listening Comprehension Raw Scores. These findings contribute to the growing knowledge base regarding goal-directed behavior and self-regulation in individuals with Down syndrome. Implications for education and intervention are discussed.