Short-term memory in children with Williams syndrome: A reduced contribution of lexical-semantic knowledge to word span

Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic syndrome of abnormal neurodevelopment, characterised by a specific linguistic pattern. Comparing performances of WS subjects with those of normal children in a word span task, we found that WS subjects revealed normal phonological similarity and length effects but...

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Published inNeuropsychologia Vol. 34; no. 9; pp. 919 - 925
Main Authors Vicari, Stefano, Carlesimo, Giovanni, Brizzolara, Daniela, Pezzini, Grazia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.1996
Subjects
Child
Female
Humans
Language Disorders - complications
Language Disorders - diagnosis
Language Tests
Male
Memory Disorders - complications
Memory Disorders - diagnosis
Semantics
short-term memory
Vocabulary
Williams syndrome
Williams Syndrome - complications
working memory's mental retardation
short-term memory
working memory's mental retardation
Williams syndrome
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Summary:Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic syndrome of abnormal neurodevelopment, characterised by a specific linguistic pattern. Comparing performances of WS subjects with those of normal children in a word span task, we found that WS subjects revealed normal phonological similarity and length effects but a reduced frequency effect. Our results suggest comparable phonological encoding mechanisms in WS and normal controls and, at the same time, it provides evidence for an impaired access to lexical-semantic knowledge in WS subjects. This dissociation fits well with the particular pattern of linguistic abilities of these subjects.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0028-3932
1873-3514
DOI:10.1016/0028-3932(96)00007-3