No abstract

We would like to show our gratitude to the ADAPEI 41 (institutions supports to people with intellectual disabilities) and more specifically Mr Barragan for his permission to propose our experimentation in this association. We are also immensely grateful to all the participants Research funding is academic, with no restrictions on access or publication of data. No financialconflicts of interest have been declared and finally, all authors have contributed to, seen, and

Purpose Studies on intellectual disabilities describe difficulties at the cognitive level but little about the other factors that can impact the individual’s performance. The aim of this research was thus to assess the effects of the socio-emotional context on the performance of adults with intellectual disabilities in a cognitive task. The main hypothesis was that people with intellectual disabilities will not have the cognitive ability to see the socioemotional environment as a potential resource, and that they could not use it to mobilize their cognitive resources to try and improve their performance and adopt more positive behavior. Design/methodology/approach A total of 32 people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities were recruited. They performed a categorization task and were then given their results. Throughout the test, the psychologist observed the participants’ behavior and, more specifically, their emotional expressions, their pro-social behavior and their respect for social rules. Findings The results support the hypotheses, with better performance among participants who adopted pro-social behaviors, respected the rules and displayed positive emotional expressions. These results highlight the central role played by others in the ability of adults with intellectual disabilities to adapt to a given situation. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted by a psychologist, which could have biased the relationship with the participants. A complementary study is in progress to measure the effects. Practical implications These findings have implications for cognitive remediation tasks aimed at mobilizing the cognitive resources of adults with intellectual disabilities. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study to evaluate the role of the socio-emotional environment on the performance of adults with intellectual disabilities.

Patients with severe stage of dementia present several psycho-behavioral disorders, caused by an altered perception of their environment and a feeling of isolation. Most of them are bedridden because of the advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease which causes cognitive dysfunctions and physical disorders, including coordination movement problems. Consequently, their freedoms of movement are limited as well as the quality of their communication. In this study, a new care support using activities on the ground is proposed to compensate for the massive cognitive and psychological losses and enhance their communication skills. The results of this study show that ground activities seem to be a promising way to reduce psycho-behavioral disorders and recreate communication link of the patients presenting with a severe stage of dementia.

Background Few studies have evaluated the explanatory factors of poor performance and the effects of context in adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study is to assess the role of a familiar experimenter on their cognitive performance, well-being, metacognitive experiences, and social behaviors. Method Participants with moderate to severe intellectual disability were recruited into two groups, one with a familiar and one with an unfamiliar experimenter. They carried out a categorization task. Before and after they reported their metacognitive experiences and level of well-being. The experimenter observed their pro-social behavior. Results Performance and some social behaviors were better when the participant knew the experimenter. However, he did not affect the level of well-being. The participants’ metacognitive experiences were poor, whether or not they knew the experimenter. Conclusions The familiarity of the experimenter plays a determining role, both on the participants’ performance, and on their compliance with certain pro-social behavior.