Attraction to "good form" in Down's syndrome.

Abstract

Seventy-five children were examined in tasks involving matching figures in order to establish whether there exists a specific attraction to symmetrical or Gestalt type "good form" displays in mentally handicapped children and particularly in Down's Syndrome or if the tendency was towards image reversal. Twenty-five children with Down's Syndrome were matched on M.A. with twenty-five non-Down's Syndrome subnormals and twenty-five normal children. Symmetrical and asymmetrical displays were presented to the groups for reproduction and reproduction from memory. The results supported the hypothesis that mentally handicapped children have a significant attraction to symmetrical arrangements and that Down's Syndrome children are more significantly attracted than other handicapped children. Evidence is presented to show that what often is mistaken for a tendency to image reversal is in fact an attraction to "monotonicity" and is more related to "good form" than to reversal.