Long-term memory for verbal and visual information in Down syndrome and Williams syndrome: performance on the Doors and People test.
Previous studies have suggested that Williams syndrome and Down syndrome may be associated with specific short-term memory deficits. Individuals with Williams syndrome perform relatively poorly on tests of visuo-spatial short-term memory and individuals with Down syndrome show a relative deficit on verbal short-term memory tasks. However, these patterns of impairments may reflect the impact of generally impaired visuo-spatial processing skills in Williams syndrome, and verbal abilities in Down syndrome. The current study explored this possibility by assessing long-term memory among 15 individuals with Williams syndrome and 20 individuals with Down syndrome using the Doors and People test, a battery which assesses recall and recognition of verbal and visual information. Individuals' performance was standardised for age and level of intellectual ability with reference to that shown by a sample of 110 typically developing children. The results showed that individuals with Down syndrome have no differential deficits in long-term memory for verbal information, implying that verbal short-term memory deficits in this population are relatively selective. Instead both individuals with Down syndrome and with Williams syndrome showed some evidence of relatively poor performance on tests of long-term memory for visual information. It is therefore possible that visuo-spatial short-term memory deficits that have previously been demonstrated in Williams syndrome may be secondary to more general problems in visuo-spatial processing in this population.
Jarrold
Christopher
C
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. C.Jarrold@bristol.ac.uk
Baddeley
Alan D
AD
Phillips
Caroline
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D018980:Williams Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology