The general objective of the proposed research is to delineate the developmental relations between language and cognition. The research will focus on early linguistic and cognitive development by three groups of children: children with William syndrome, children with Down syndrome, and normally developing children. Previous researchers have argued that children with Williams syndrome have language skills that exceed their cognitive skills, whereas children with Down syndrome have cognitive skills that are more advanced than their language skills; in general, normally developing children have equivalent levels of linguistic and cognitive skills. Because of the differences in the general nature of the relations between language and cognition for the three populations, inclusion of all three in a single study provides a unique opportunity to investigate the universality or non-universality of specific relations among language and cognition. The proposed research consists of a five year longitudinal study with supplemental studies conducted at specific points in development. Both observational and experimental methodologies will be used. There are four specific objectives. First, a series of general and specific relations between language and cognition will be examined. Second, the reference of children's earliest words will be explored, using observational, quasi- experimental, and experimental procedures. Third, the development and use of lexical operating principles by children with mental retardation will be considered. Finally, general issues of development by children with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome will be addressed. The research will have implications both for theoretical models of the relation between language and cognition and for the design of early cognitive and language intervention for children with developmental disabilities.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD029957-10
Application #
6520912
Study Section
Human Development and Aging Subcommittee 3 (HUD)
Program Officer
Hanson, James W
Project Start
1993-03-01
Project End
2004-05-31
Budget Start
2002-06-01
Budget End
2003-05-31
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$322,415
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Louisville
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Louisville
State
KY
Country
United States
Zip Code
40292
Edgin, Jamie O; Pennington, Bruce F; Mervis, Carolyn B (2010) Neuropsychological components of intellectual disability: the contributions of immediate, working, and associative memory. J Intellect Disabil Res 54:406-17
Somerville, Martin J; Mervis, Carolyn B; Young, Edwin J et al. (2005) Severe expressive-language delay related to duplication of the Williams-Beuren locus. N Engl J Med 353:1694-701
Mervis, Carolyn B; Klein-Tasman, Bonita P (2004) Methodological issues in group-matching designs: alpha levels for control variable comparisons and measurement characteristics of control and target variables. J Autism Dev Disord 34:7-17
Mervis, Carolyn B; Morris, Colleen A; Klein-Tasman, Bonita P et al. (2003) Attentional characteristics of infants and toddlers with Williams syndrome during triadic interactions. Dev Neuropsychol 23:243-68
Morris, Colleen A; Mervis, Carolyn B; Hobart, Holly H et al. (2003) GTF2I hemizygosity implicated in mental retardation in Williams syndrome: genotype-phenotype analysis of five families with deletions in the Williams syndrome region. Am J Med Genet A 123A:45-59
Mervis, Carolyn B (2003) Williams syndrome: 15 years of psychological research. Dev Neuropsychol 23:1-12
Klein-Tasman, Bonita P; Mervis, Carolyn B (2003) Distinctive personality characteristics of 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds with Williams syndrome. Dev Neuropsychol 23:269-90
Robinson, Byron F; Mervis, Carolyn B; Robinson, Bronwyn W (2003) The roles of verbal short-term memory and working memory in the acquisition of grammar by children with Williams syndrome. Dev Neuropsychol 23:13-31
Mervis, C B; Klein-Tasman, B P; Mastin, M E (2001) Adaptive behavior of 4- through 8-year-old children with Williams syndrome. Am J Ment Retard 106:82-93
Mervis, C B; Robinson, B F (2000) Expressive vocabulary ability of toddlers with Williams syndrome or Down syndrome: a comparison. Dev Neuropsychol 17:111-26

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