ABSTRACT
Cognition, as a major psychological function, includes the ability to regulate attention, remember process information with certain speed, solve problems, organize information, communicate, and act upon information. Cognition is a developmental psychological function in humans. Cognitive development is a synergetic result of interplay between biological qualities and environmental properties. Cognitive capacities of internationally adopted, post-institutionalized (IAPI) children are rather well-researched subjects. It’s important to note that general cognitive potential is only one, albeit essential, marker of an IAPI child’s cognitive ability to succeed in school and life. Other critical indicators were the quality of the specific cognitive processes and the effectiveness of executive functions. In the context of cognitive profiling, IAPI children with fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD) were specifically studied in the clinic. The executive functions constitute a major cognitive deficit in the IAPI children affected by FASD. The processing speed in simple visual tasks appears to be their relative strength, which is important for the future occupational training.
