scholarly journals Do children with Williams syndrome really have good vocabulary knowledge? Methods for comparing cognitive and linguistic abilities in developmental disorders

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 673-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Brock ◽  
Christopher Jarrold ◽  
Emily K. Farran ◽  
Glynis Laws ◽  
Deborah M. Riby
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge

LANGUAGE AND WILLIAMS SYNDROME

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 191-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching-fen Hsu ◽  
Annette Karmiloff-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Functional Brain ◽  
Functional Brain Networks ◽  
Overt Language Production ◽  
The Brain

Most aspects of human life—from gene expression, to brain structure/function, to underlying linguistic and cognitive processes, through to overt language production and comprehension behaviors—are the result of dynamic developmental processes, in which timing plays a crucial role. So, the study of language acquisition in developmental disorders such as Williams syndrome (WS) needs to change from the still widely held view that developmental disorders can be accounted for in terms of spared versus impaired modules to one that takes serious account of the fact that the infant cortex passes from an initial state of high regional interconnectivity to a subsequent state of progressively increasing specialization and localization of functional brain networks. With such early interconnectivity in mind, developmental neuroscientists must explore the possibility that a small perturbation in low-level processes in one part of the brain very early in development can result in serious deficits in higher-level processes in another part of the brain later in development. Therefore, in profiling developmental disorders of language such as in WS, it is vital to start in early infancy, from which to trace the full trajectory of the interactions of language and other cognitive processes across infancy, toddlerhood, and childhood, through to adolescence and adulthood.

scholarly journals What can developmental disorders tell us about the neurocomputational constraints that shape development? The case of Williams syndrome

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 969-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNETTE KARMILOFF–SMITH ◽  
MICHAEL THOMAS
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Genetic Disorders ◽  
Actual Process ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Cognitive Modularity ◽  
Genetically Determined ◽  
The Brain

The uneven cognitive phenotype in the adult outcome of Williams syndrome has led some researchers to make strong claims about the modularity of the brain and the purported genetically determined, innate specification of cognitive modules. Such arguments have particularly been marshaled with respect to language. We challenge this direct generalization from adult phenotypic outcomes to genetic specification and consider instead how genetic disorders provide clues to the constraints on plasticity that shape the outcome of development. We specifically examine behavioral studies, brain imaging, and computational modeling of language in Williams syndrome but contend that our theoretical arguments apply equally to other cognitive domains and other developmental disorders. While acknowledging that selective deficits in normal adult patients might justify claims about cognitive modularity, we question whether similar, seemingly selective deficits found in genetic disorders can be used to argue that such cognitive modules are prespecified in infant brains. Cognitive modules are, in our view, the outcome of development, not its starting point. We note that most work on genetic disorders ignores one vital factor, the actual process of ontogenetic development, and argue that it is vital to view genetic disorders as proceeding under different neurocomputational constraints, not as demonstrations of static modularity.

Expressive language style among adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLE A. CRAWFORD ◽  
LISA R. EDELSON ◽  
DANIELA PLESA SKWERER ◽  
HELEN TAGER-FLUSBERG
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Social Communication Skills ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
Global Ratings ◽  
Standardized Measure ◽  
Description Task

ABSTRACTLanguage samples elicited through a picture description task were recorded from 38 adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome (WS) and one control group matched on age, and another matched on age, IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. The samples were coded for use of various types of inferences, dramatic devices, and verbal fillers; acoustic analyses of prosodic features were carried out, and an independent group of judges provided global ratings of the overall expressiveness of the language. In addition, a standardized measure of social adaptive functioning was administered to the parents of the participants with WS. The findings revealed distinctive developmental trends in the use of expressive content and prosodic patterns by adolescents and adults with WS that were not evident among the controls. Ratings of expressiveness by naive judges of the speech samples produced by the participants with WS were related to parent evaluations of adaptive social communication skills; however, the verbal productions of this group were not judged to be significantly more expressive than those of controls.

scholarly journals The interface between spoken and written language: developmental disorders

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1634) ◽  
pp. 20120395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Hulme ◽  
Margaret J. Snowling
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Phoneme Awareness ◽  
Rapid Automatized Naming ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Learning To Read

We review current knowledge about reading development and the origins of difficulties in learning to read. We distinguish between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading for meaning (reading comprehension). At a cognitive level, difficulties in learning to read appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. The development of decoding skills appears to depend critically upon phonological language skills, and variations in phoneme awareness, letter–sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming each appear to be causally related to problems in learning to read. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be critically dependent on a range of oral language comprehension skills (including vocabulary knowledge and grammatical, morphological and pragmatic skills).

scholarly journals Language symptoms of developmental language disorders: An overview of autism, Down syndrome, fragile X, specific language impairment, and Williams syndrome

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
MABEL L. RICE ◽  
STEVEN F. WARREN ◽  
STACY K. BETZ
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Fragile X ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Full Picture

Language deficits occur in a variety of developmental disorders including autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, specific language impairment, and Williams syndrome. This paper describes the specific pattern of linguistic deficits in each of these disorders in terms of speech production, semantic, and syntactic abilities as well as the relationship between cognitive and linguistic skills and the presence of a deviant or delayed pattern of development. In the spirit of synthesis across diverse literatures, preliminary comparisons among the language profiles of these disorders are made. The full picture, however, is incomplete given the current state of the literature, which tends to focus on the analysis of a narrow range of linguistic phenomena within a single disorder. The field is in need of research that systematically compares these disorders and leads to detailed descriptions of linguistic phenotypes of each disorder.

scholarly journals Dissociation of chromatic discrimination ability in developmental disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams Syndrome.

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 645
Author(s):  
Matthew Cranwell ◽  
Deborah Riby ◽  
Ann Le Couteur ◽  
Brad Pearce ◽  
Anya Hurlbert
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Discrimination Ability

scholarly journals Sleep-dependent consolidation in children with comprehension and vocabulary weaknesses: It’ll be alright on the night?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma James ◽  
M. Gareth Gaskell ◽  
Lisa Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Picture Naming ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Stem Completion ◽  
New Words ◽  
Poor Comprehenders ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Background: Vocabulary is crucial for an array of life outcomes and is frequently impaired in developmental disorders. Notably, ‘poor comprehenders’ (children with comprehension deficits but intact word-reading) often have vocabulary deficits, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Prior research suggests intact encoding but difficulties consolidating new word knowledge. We test the hypothesis that poor comprehenders’ sleep-associated vocabulary consolidation is compromised by their impoverished lexical-semantic knowledge.Methods: Memory for new words was tracked across wake and sleep to isolate processes of encoding and consolidation in 8-to-12-year-old good and poor comprehenders. Each child participated in two sets of sessions in which they were taught 12 new words either at the start (AM-encoding) or end (PM-encoding) of the day, alongside training on a nonverbal declarative task. Memory was assessed immediately, 12-, and 24- hours later via stem-completion, picture-naming, and definition tasks to probe different aspects of new word knowledge. Long-term retention was assessed 1-2 months later. Results: Recall of word-forms improved over sleep and post-sleep wake, as measured in both stem-completion and picture-naming tasks. Counter to hypotheses, deficits for poor comprehenders were not observed in consolidation but instead were seen across measures and throughout testing, suggesting an encoding deficit. Variability in vocabulary knowledge across the whole sample predicted sleep-associated consolidation, but only when words were learned early in the day and not when sleep followed soon after learning.Conclusions: Poor comprehenders showed weaker encoding of new word knowledge than good comprehenders, but sleep-associated consolidation benefits were comparable between groups. Sleeping soon after learning had long-lasting benefits for memory, and may be especially beneficial for children with weaker vocabulary. These results provide new insights into the breadth of poor comprehenders’ vocabulary weaknesses, and ways in which learning might be better timed to remediate vocabulary difficulties.

Development, Music, and Social Contact

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Schulkin
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Social World ◽  
First Year ◽  
Musical Expression ◽  
Epigenetic Events ◽  
The Social ◽  
First Year Of Life

This chapter examines normal neonatal orientation to sounds as well as developmental disorders that affect musical sensibility, including Williams syndrome, a form of hypersocial expression coupled with a liking for music. It first explains how a sense of music begins very early in infancy, noting that the discrimination of pitch and other perceptual capabilities are expressed within the first year of life, events believed to be fundamentally linked to social capabilities. It is the social world, gaining a foothold in the life of others, which makes this knowledge essential. Rhythmic engagement also begins in infancy, generating movement. This musical expression is linked to affective needs and diverse forms of social contact. The chapter proceeds by discussing hypersocial and hyposocial behaviors among individuals with Williams syndrome, along with the evolution of social behavior that underlies musical expression. Finally, it considers epigenetic events and lifelong learning changes in relation to music.

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