Genèse et structuration des marqueurs de relations spatiales : apport des observations chez les handicapés mentaux modérés

The acquisition of markers concerning spatial relations by 6- to 14-year-old children suffering from moderate mental deficiency has been studied within the framework concerning lexical psychosemantics elaborated by Pierart (1975a). Some of the children had been born severely premature, and some were trisomics. The special features of the acquisition of the spatial markers by the two samples are in line with the patterns of normally developing children and confirm the psychosemantic models. The dissociation of language structures due to the cognitive developmental pathology enhances the comprehension of normal developmental processes.