Valuation of arbitrary auditory-verbal memory in school students with mental disorders in different time periods (1990s, 2000s, 2010s)

Abstract

Arbitrary auditory-verbal memory is fundamental in learning. It is a criterion of readiness to school and an important component of successful learning. Mental disorders have a different effect on the development and features of arbitrary auditory-verbal memory. Depending on the time period, memory development in school students with mental disorders is influenced by social factors, new educational technologies, and new methods of therapy to facilitate social adaptation of such children. The pathology of schizophrenia is a common form of dysontogenesis in children. Such children need adaptation and special programmes to identify their schooling capabilities. The study aimed to evaluate the parameters of auditory-verbal memory in normal and schizophrenic school students in different time periods (1990s, 2000s, 2010s) using the Ten Words method. The study involved 284 participants (aged 7 to 17 years): the clinical sample of 174 patients (116 boys and 58 girls) of Children’s Clinical Department of Mental Health Research Center tested at different time periods (51, 48 and 75 patients); and the control group of 110 normal children and adolescents (62 boys and 48 girls, 2010s–2020s). The study analyzed the protocols of how normal and schizophrenic primary, middle and high school students memorized ten words. Statistical and comparative analysis of the two samples (diagnosis, age, time period of testing) showed that the results of the clinical sample do not differ by time periods, i.e., the results do not depend on the years of testing. The factors of age and diagnosis were analyzed separately. Here, the comparison revealed statically significant differences, which are especially pronounced in primary and middle school students. The study found reliable differences in the characteristics of practical normality in patients with childhood schizophrenia type (F20). Besides, the study revealed differences between childhood schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder (F21). To conclude, as regards the development of auditory-verbal memory, the obtained data point at a larger contribution of such factors as patients’ age and diagnosis than the time factor of a testing period.