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

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Debbie Riby

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Abstract

The comparison of cognitive and linguistic skills in individuals with developmental disorders is fraught with methodological and psychometric difficulties. In this paper, we illustrate some of these issues by comparing the receptive vocabulary knowledge and non‐verbal reasoning abilities of 41 children with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder in which language abilities are often claimed to be relatively strong. Data from this group were compared with data from typically developing children, children with Down syndrome, and children with non‐specific learning difficulties using a number of approaches including comparison of age‐equivalent scores, matching, analysis of covariance, and regression‐based standardization. Across these analyses children with Williams syndrome consistently demonstrated relatively good receptive vocabulary knowledge, although this effect appeared strongest in the oldest children.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Brock J, Jarrold C, Farran EK, Laws G, Riby DM

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics

Year: 2007

Volume: 21

Issue: 9

Pages: 673-688

ISSN (print): 0269-9206

ISSN (electronic): 1464-5076

Publisher: Informa Healthcare

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699200701541433

DOI: 10.1080/02699200701541433

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