Past Tense Formation in Williams Syndrome

Authors

Michael S.C. Thomas, University College London
Julia Grant, University of Cambridge
Zita Barham, University College London
Marisa Gsödl, University College London
Emma Laing, University College London
Laura Lakusta, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Lorraine K. Tyler, University College London
Sarah Grice, University College London
Sarah Paterson, University College London
Annette Karmiloff-Smith, University College London

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2001

Journal / Book Title

Language and Cognitive processes

Abstract

It has been claimed that in the language systems of people with Williams syndrome (WS), syntax is intact but lexical memory is impaired. Evidence has come from past tense elicitation tasks with a small number of participants where individuals with WS are said to have a specific deficit in forming irregular past tenses. However, typically developing children also show poorer performance on irregulars than regulars in these tasks, and one of the central features of WS language development is that it is delayed. We compared the performance of 21 participants with WS on two past tense elicitation tasks with that of four typically developing control groups, at ages 6, 8, 10, and adult. When verbal mental age was controlled for, participants in the WS group displayed no selective deficit in irregular past tense performance. However, there was evidence for lower levels of generalisation to novel strings. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the WS language system is delayed because it has developed under different constraints, constraints that perhaps include atypical phonological representations. The results are discussed in relation to dual-mechanism and connectionist computational models of language development, and to the possible differential weight given to phonology versus semantics in WS development.

DOI

10.1080/01690960042000021

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Thomas, Michael S.C.; Grant, Julia; Barham, Zita; Gsödl, Marisa; Laing, Emma; Lakusta, Laura; Tyler, Lorraine K.; Grice, Sarah; Paterson, Sarah; and Karmiloff-Smith, Annette, "Past Tense Formation in Williams Syndrome" (2001). Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 359.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubs/359

Published Citation

Thomas, M. S., Grant, J., Barham, Z., Gsödl, M., Laing, E., Lakusta, L., ... & Karmiloff-Smith, A. (2001). Past tense formation in Williams syndrome. Language and Cognitive processes, 16(2-3), 143-176.