Understanding Social Adaptation in Children with Mental Retardation: A Social-Cognitive Perspective

Abstract

We examined two social-cognitive processes, social perception (the encoding and interpretation of social cues) and the generation of social strategies, in 117 children with and without mental retardation (MR) in Grades 1 through 5. Children responded to videotaped vignettes of social conflicts. Children with MR had difficulty recognizing benign intention social cues that accompanied a negative event. When benign intention social cues were present in social conflicts involving peer entry, children with MR resembled younger children without MR in misinterpreting the other child's intentions as “being mean.” Children with MR had difficulty varying their social strategies to fit the social conflict and often suggested the strategy of using an appeal to authority. Results suggest that children with MR have difficulty focusing simultaneously on multiple social cues which are incongruent and in selecting appropriate social strategies. Recommendations focus on instructional strategies for improving social perception and strategy generation skills in children with MR.