Clinical and psychological typology of mental retardation in preschoolers

Context and relevance. Nowadays, school education in Russia aims to develop a child’s ability to independently solve learning tasks, which requires a deep understanding of patterns of mental development. Russian psychology has paid a lot of attention to the study of intellectual disability, but the clinical and psychological classification of its different types remains a crucial task for developing effective intervention programs. Objective. The purpose of the research is to identify the main clinical and psychological types of mental retardation among preschool children in order to understand better the correctional tasks involved in preparing them for school. The hypothesis was that mental retardation is a heterogeneous condition and the nature of the cognitive dysfunction determines specific forms of delayed development. Methods and materials. To test the hypothesis, we used an experimental psychological method aimed at solving the mental problem and called “Sequence of Events” by A.N. Bernstein. We examined 105 preschoolers aged 5 years old with mental retardation of various origins. Cognitive functions have become the basis for identifying different types of mental retardation: voluntary attention, gnosis, speech, volitional regulation, verbal and logical memory, and the operational component of thinking. Results. The study identified the leading clinical and psychological forms of mental retardation in preschool children: dysoperative, dysregulatory, and dysarticulatory. Conclusions. The results of the study confirm the heterogeneity of the clinical and psychological forms of mental retardation and indicate the necessity for a differentiated approach in the construction of correctional and developmental work.

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