PERCEPTUAL AND VISUO-CONSTRUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IN CHILDREN WITH WILLIAMS SYNDROME

Written by Cecilie RONDAN, Josette MANCINI, Marie-Odile LIVET, Christine DERUELLE on 15 December 2006. Posted in Special issue: Social, Cognitive And Neural Perspectives, Guest Editors: Thea IONESCU, Oana BENGA, Volume VII, Nr. 2

ABSTRACT

Traditional standardized tests reveal a heterogeneous profile in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) with poor nonverbal abilities and stronger verbal skills. Significant scatters are also observed within these areas. Within the nonverbal domain, recent studies have suggested that visuo- perceptual tasks seem preserved whereas visuo-constructive tasks are poorly performed in the WS population. In this current study, we wished to evaluate if these visuo-constructive deficits could be sourced in the use of atypical perceptual strategies as earlier put forward in the literature. Our results showed that though children with WS were severely compromised on the Block Design Task, they performed comparably to age-matched controls on the perceptual component of this same task.

KEYWORDS: Williams Syndrome, visuo-constructive abilities, Block Design Task