Implicit theories concerning the intelligence of individuals with Down syndrome

Abstract

Studies over the past three decades have shown that learning difficulties are not only determined by neurological disorders, but also by motivational and/or socio-cognitive factors Among these factors, implicit theories of intelligence (also referred to as conceptions, mindsets or beliefs about intelligence) are key elements. The belief that intelligence is fixed (entity theory), as opposed to malleable (incremental theory), is generally associated with negative teaching practices and poorer student outcomes, yet beliefs about the intelligence of individuals with intellectual disabilities have not received much attention. We propose the first study on conceptions of intelligence of persons with intellectual disabilities, here people with Down syndrome. Participants were 55 professionally qualified people working with individuals with intellectual disabilities and 81 adults from the community. We compared what both groups of participants believe about intelligence of typical people and what they believe about the intelligence of individuals with Down syndrome. We also investigated implicit theories of intelligence as predictors of explicit judgments about intelligence and implicit attitudes toward people with Down syndrome. Whatever the work experience in the field of intellectual disability, implicit theories of intelligence were found to be less incremental when considering people with Down syndrome than when considering typical people; and the stronger the belief in entity theory, the more negative (and less positive) the judgments expressed explicitly. Implicit theories of intelligence were also found to be predictors of negative implicit attitude but only in adults from the community. These findings offer prospects for improving practices by people working in the field of intellectual disability. They might interest a wide range of people caring for people with intellectual disabilities, such as teachers, but also other professional caregivers, and other scientists focusing on intellectual disabilities or social cognition.

Attitudes towards offenders with intellectual disability

“…H1 was supported, with participants showing more entity views of intelligence towards those with ID and greater incremental views of intelligence towards those without ID. This lends support to the limited previous research, which likewise found participants to hold more entity views of intelligence in people with IDspecifically Down's syndrome (Enea-Drapeau et al, 2017).…”

“…To date, very few studies have used TOI to examine attitudes towards offenders, with none examining attitudes towards offenders with ID. Enea-Drapeau et al (2017) investigated the impact of TOI on explicit judgements and implicit attitudes towards clients with Downs syndrome. They found that both professionals and the general population had higher entity views of intelligence for people with ID and greater entity views correlated with more negative explicit judgements.…”

Teaching as Social Influence: Empowering Teachers to Become Agents of Social Change

“…Indeed, in general teachers report they do perceive student intelligence as malleable more than they report believing it to be fixed. However certain exceptions exist: teachers working with disabled persons (Enea-Drapeau, Carlier, & Huguet, 2017) for example. Furthermore, mathematics teachers are more likely to report that they believe intelligence is fixed than teachers in the domains of languages, sciences and practical disciplines (Jonsson, Beach, Korp, & Erlandson, 2012.…”

Cambio de teorías subjetivas docentes ante sus primeras experiencias con estudiantes con síndrome de Down

“…Respecto a nuestra primera pregunta ¿Cuáles son las teorías subjetivas que tienen los profesores que enseñan por primera vez a estudiantes con síndrome de Down? se puede concluir que se evidencia consenso en cuatro temáticas y disenso en dos, hay diversos factores que pueden aportar en la comprensión de estas diferencias en sus TS, uno de los que ha destacado la literatura es la experiencia profesional previa del docente (MacFarlane y Woolfson, 2013), por ejemplo se ha evidenciado cómo la experiencia profesional con niños con SD modifica las concepciones de inteligencia (Enea-Drapeau et al, 2017). El análisis permitió visualizar que las TS de ambas docentes evolucionaron de manera similar al concordar en el cambio de cuatro ejes: percepción del SD, apoyo laboral, estrategias pedagógicas y dificultades percibidas; mientras que se aprecia disenso en las creencias sobre la inclusión escolar y la visión del estudiante con SD.…”