Developmental disorders: what can be learned from cognitive neuropsychology?

Abstract

The discipline of cognitive neuropsychology has been important for informing theories of cognition and describing the nature of acquired cognitive disorders, but its applicability in a developmental context has been questioned. Here, we revisit this issue, asking whether the cognitive neuropsychological approach can be helpful for exploring the nature and causes of developmental disorders and, if so, how. We outline the key features of the cognitive neuropsychological approach, and then consider how some of the major challenges to this approach from a developmental perspective might be met. In doing so, we distinguish between challenges to the methods of cognitive neuropsychology and those facing its deeper conceptual underpinnings. We conclude that the detailed investigation of patterns of both associations and dissociations, and across both developmental and acquired cases, can assist in describing the cognitive deficits within developmental disorders and in delineating possible causal pathways to their acquisition.

Keywords: acquired disorders; associations; cognitive neuropsychology; developmental disorders; dissociations.

Figure 1.

Three hypothetical ways in which impaired phonological short-term memory (STM) might cause impaired nonword reading. Impaired components are in grey. (a) Impaired phonological short-term memory (buffer) directly affects online processing; (b) impaired phonological short-term memory affects the acquisition of letter-sound links; and (c) impaired phonological short-term memory affects the acquisition of letter-sound links and also directly affects online processing.