Psychometric evaluation of a working memory assessment measure in young children with Down syndrome.
Miranda E Pinks, Kaylyn Van Deusen, Mark A Prince and 9 others
PMID 37451184WHAT IT FOUND
The Garage Game is a feasible working memory task for children with Down syndrome aged 2.5 to 8.67 years.
It successfully measured performance differences linked to chronological age, with minimal practice effects. It is recommended for future intervention studies.
Key findings
0192.3% of participants demonstrated attention to the task, and 89.7% of those who started the first test set successfully located all three cars.
02Working memory performance, measured by the rate of repetitive searches, improved significantly with chronological age but was not related to mental age.
03Preliminary test-retest reliability over two weeks was moderate for repetitive search rates (ICC = 0.60) but poor for correct searches (ICC = 0.14).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Test-retest reliability was based on a small subsample (n=22) due to pandemic-related dropouts, making these findings preliminary. The task did not demonstrate construct validity against other working memory measures. Mental age scores were derived from two different assessments (Bayley-4 and SB-5) due to floor effects, requiring data to be binned into one-year age bands. Approximately 29% of the sample exhibited either floor or ceiling effects, limiting the range of measurable performance. The study did not evaluate the task's sensitivity to change over longer periods, which is critical for intervention studies.
Declared interests
Not reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this measure is valid for tracking intervention outcomes over time. While feasible, the test-retest reliability was only moderate and based on a small sample, and the study did not evaluate sensitivity to change over longer periods.