Types of errors in Raven tests in a population with Down syndrome: An online assessment

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe the types of visuoperceptual errors on Raven tests in a sample of Mexican people with Down syndrome (DS), and to explore whether these errors were related to mental age (MA) or chronological age (CA). Participants included 50 people with DS, with a mean CA of 19.47 years and a mean MA of 7.40 years. The Raven Colored Progressive Matrices test was used to obtain the MA and also to analyze four types of errors: 1) difference, 2) figure repetition, 3) inadequate individuation, and 4) incomplete correlates. The study was carried out online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants made an average of 22.84 errors on a total of 36 items. No predominance was found of any of the four types of errors. However, MA was negatively correlated with three error types. Because there are similar proportions of the four errors, the results do not allow us to define a specific perceptual deficit profile; errors on the test could be the result of general difficulties in the organization of perceptual information. Future studies could investigate whether this pattern of results is related to cognitive abilities such as working memory or executive functions.