Language, cognition, and short-term memory in individuals with Down syndrome

Abstract

The developmentally emerging phenotype of language and cognition in individuals with Down syndrome is summarized on the basis of the project's prior work. Identified are a) the emerging divergence of expressive and receptive language, b) the emerging divergence of lexical and syntactic knowledge in each process, and c) the emerging divergence within cognitive skills of auditory short-term memory and visuospatial short-term memory from other visuospatial skills. Expressive syntax and auditory short-term memory are identified as areas of particular difficulty. Evidence for the continued acquisition of language skills in adolescence is presented. The role of the two components of working memory, auditory and visual, in language development is investigated in studies of narrative and longitudinal change in language skills. Predictors of individual differences during six years of language development are evaluated through hierarchical linear modelling. Chronological age, visuospatial short-term memory, and auditory-short term memory are identified as key predictors of performance at study entry, but not individual change over time, for expressive syntax. The same predictors account for variation in comprehension skill at study outset; and change over the six years can be predicted by chronological age and the change in visuospatial short-term memory skills.