Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) have received a minimal amount of research attention and have been studied in conjunction with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The present study intends to broaden the knowledge of BIF, by analyzing domains such as verbal memory and visual memory, as well as tasks that rely simultaneously on memory, executive functions, and language. A cross-sectional, comparison study was carried out between a group of 40 children with BIF (mean age = 10.03; 24 male and 16 female), and a control group of 40 normal children of the same age, gender, and socioeconomic level as the BIF group. The WISC-III Full Scale IQs of the BIF group ranged from 71 to 84. The following instruments were used: Word List, Narrative Memory, Rey Complex Figure, Face Memory, Rapid Naming (both RAN and RAS tests), and Verbal Fluency. The results showed deficits in children with BIF in verbal short-term memory, rapid naming, phonemic verbal fluency, and visual short-term memory, specifically in a visual recognition task, when compared with the control group. Long-term verbal memory was impaired only in older children with BIF and long-term visual memory showed no deficit. Verbal short-term memory stands out as a limitation and visual long-term memory as a strength. Correlations between the WISC-III and neuropsychological tests scores were predominantly low. The study expands the neuropsychological characterization of children with BIF and the implications of the deficits and strengths are stressed.

A base empírica relativa à caracterização do desempenho académico dos alunos com Funcionamento Intelectual Borderline (FIB) é muito restrita. O presente estudo teve como objetivo contribuir para aumentar o conhecimento sobre estes alunos, tendo-se realizado um estudo descritivo e correlacional, com uma amostra constituída por 40 crianças e adolescentes (7-15 anos) com FIB, do 2º ao 6º ano. Aplicaram-se os seguintes instrumentos: WISC-III e Inventário de Identificação de Dificuldades de Aprendizagem. Os resultados apontaram para a presença de dificuldades de aprendizagem generalizadas, nomeadamente no raciocínio, na matemática, na escrita e na leitura; e também que as dificuldades na matemática e no raciocínio estavam moderadamente associadas a notas escolares mais baixas na disciplina de Matemática, assim como as dificuldades no raciocínio e na linguagem recetiva e expressiva estavam moderadamente associadas a notas mais baixas na disciplina de Português. Concluiu-se que os alunos com FIB evidenciam dificuldades nas escolas portuguesas.