Toddlers with Williams Syndrome Process Upright but not Inverted Faces Holistically

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 43; no. 11; pp. 2549 - 2557
• Main Authors: Cashon, Cara H., Ha, Oh-Ryeong, DeNicola, Christopher A., Mervis, Carolyn B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.11.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescents; Adults; Autism; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child and School Psychology; Child, Preschool; Chromosome aberrations; Cognitive Processes; Congenital Impairments; Demographic aspects; Expertise; Extremes; Face; Female; Genetic aspects; Genetic Disorders; Habituation; Health aspects; Human Body; Humans; Infant; Male; Medical genetics; Medical sciences; Mental Retardation; Neurosciences; Orientation - physiology; Original Paper; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Pediatrics; Photic Stimulation; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Public Health; Recognition (Psychology); Risk factors; Toddlers; Visual Discrimination; Williams syndrome; Williams Syndrome - physiopathology; Williams Syndrome - psychology; Young Children; United States; Inversion effect; Face perception; Perceptual expertise; Developmental disability; Holistic processing; Williams syndrome; Chromosomal aberration; Human; Inversion; Infant; Cognition; Developmental disorder; Vision; Information processing; Perception; Face; Expertise
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1804-0

Holistic processing of upright, but not inverted, faces is a marker of perceptual expertise for faces. This pattern is shown by typically developing individuals beginning at age 7 months. Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare neurogenetic developmental disorder characterized by extreme interest in faces from a very young age. Research on the effects of inversion on holistic processing of faces by older children and adults with WS has produced mixed results. Younger children with WS were not included in these previous studies. Using the habituation switch paradigm, we demonstrated that 15–35-month-olds with WS process upright, but not inverted, faces holistically. This study provides evidence of perceptual expertise for faces in individuals with WS early in life.