Performance of learning‐disabled and non‐learning‐disabled children on the Rey‐Osterrieth Complex Figure: Validation of the developmental scoring system

Abstract

We evaluated performance on the Rey‐Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test of 323 children between 7 and 14 years old who were referred for evaluation as learning disabled (LD) as well as 353 non‐LD controls. The Waber‐Holmes developmental scoring system (Waber & Holmes, 1985, 1986), which quantifies organization, style, accuracy (organizational scheme [OS], incidental feature [IF]), and errors, was employed. There were reliable group differences for all outcomes, the magnitude of which was age related. Children in the non‐LD group showed marked improvement between 8 and 9 years old in organization, style (more configurational), and the number of organizational‐structure components reproduced, with steady but more gradual improvement at older ages. Frequency of errors among non‐LD children declined with age. There were no age‐related effects for any outcome for the LD group, whose performance remained at the normative 8‐year level through age 14. For LD children, the ROCF is sensitive to metacognitive skills that might reflect neurodevelopmental events occurring during middle childhood involving frontal brain systems.