Ruth Campos

To Look or Not to Look? Typical and Atypical Development of Oculomotor Control

The ability to inhibit saccades toward suddenly appearing peripheral stimuli (prosaccades) and direct them to contralateral locations instead (antisaccades) is a crucial marker of eye movement control. Typically developing infants as young as 4-month-olds can learn to inhibit reflexive saccades to peripheral stimuli, but they do not produce antisaccades, whose development later in infancy and its underlying neural computations remain unexplored. Here we tested oculomotor control in typically developing toddlers and toddlers with fragile X syndrome (FXS), a disorder of known genetic origin that allows the investigation of the neuro-computational properties contributing to the development of saccadic control. Typically developing toddlers decreased looking toward peripheral cues that predicted contralateral rewards, whose appearance they anticipated. Furthermore, this correlated with age, indicating a gradual development of saccadic control. In contrast with the typical case, toddlers with FXS did not decrease their looks to peripheral onsets that predicted contralateral events. Importantly, the atypical pattern of performance was also evident in the elimination of the correlation with mental or chronological age found in controls. Taken together, the findings suggest that control of saccades and its developmental trajectory is atypical in toddlers with FXS, consistent with inhibitory deficits previously shown at later ages in this condition. Potential implications for the neural mechanisms underlying the typical and atypical development of oculomotor control are discussed.

Narrowing perceptual sensitivity to the native language in infancy: exogenous influences on developmental timing

The infancy literature situates the perceptual narrowing of speech sounds at around 10 months of age, but little is known about the mechanisms that influence individual differences in this developmental milestone. We hypothesized that such differences might in part be explained by characteristics of mother-child interaction. Infant sensitivity to syllables from their native tongue was compared longitudinally to sensitivity to non-native phonemes, at 6 months and again at 10 months. We replicated previous findings that at the group level, both 6- and 10- month-olds were able to discriminate contrasts in their native language, but only 6-month-olds succeeded in discriminating contrasts in the non-native language. However, when discrimination was assessed for separate groups on the basis of mother-child interaction—a ‘high contingency group’ and a ‘moderate contingency’ group—the vast majority of infants in both groups showed the expected developmental pattern by 10 months, but only infants in the ‘high contingency’ group showed early specialization for their native phonemes by failing to discriminate non-native contrasts at 6-months. The findings suggest that the quality of mother-child interaction is one of the exogenous factors influencing the timing of infant specialization for speech processing.

Prosodic abilities of Spanish-speaking adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome

In spite of the relevant role of prosody in communication, and in contrast with other linguistic components, there is paucity of research in this field for Williams syndrome (WS). Therefore, this study performed a systematic assessment of prosodic abilities in WS. The Spanish version of the Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech—Communication battery was administered to 27 Spanish-speaking adolescents and adults with WS and a control group of 54 typically developing participants matched for chronological age (CA). Participants with WS presented prosodic deficits, relative to their CA, to comprehend and express prosodic cues both on a function and a form level. These difficulties were mainly due to their cognitive impairments. In addition, the areas of understanding and expressing the prosodic function of segmentation and the expression of the nonfinal contrastive focus were found to be particularly impaired in WS.

Do individuals with Williams syndrome possess absolute pitch

Although absolute pitch (AP) is a rare skill in typical development, individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) are often referred to as possessing this musical ability. However, there is paucity of research on the topic. In this article, 2 studies were conducted to evaluate AP in WS. In Study 1, seven musically trained individuals with WS, 14 musically trained typically developing controls matched for chronological age, and 2 experienced musicians with AP completed a pitch-identification task. Although the task was a classical assessment of AP, it required participants to have musical knowledge, and the availability and accessibility of musically trained individuals with WS is very low. In Study 2, a paradigm suitable for evaluating AP in individuals without musical training was used, which made it possible to evaluate a larger group of participants with WS. A pitch memory test for isolated tones was presented to 27 individuals with WS, 54 typically developing peers matched for chronological age, and the 2 musicians with AP. Both individuals with WS and their controls obtained low results in the two studies. They showed an arbitrary pattern of response, and their performance was far from that of musicians with AP. Therefore, participants with WS did not appear to possess AP. Unlike what is usually claimed, results suggest that AP is not a remarkable ability in WS and that, as in the typically developing population, this musical ability is also rare in individuals with WS.

What standardized tests ignore when assessing individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Abstract In this article we critique the use of traditional standardized tests for the cognitive assessment of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Limitations stem from the lack of integrating (a) results from research into the psychological functioning of these populations, and (b) the main arguments underlying models of human development. We identify four secondary issues in this discussion: (1) these instruments cannot be used with children who have particularly low cognitive functioning; (2) little or no variance in the scores obtained by individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, because all are at floor, prevent adequate interpretations; (3) measurements do not provide information useful for the design of intervention strategies; and (4) different cognitive and/or neural processes may underlie behavioural scores ‘in the normal range’. Rethinking traditional assessment methods in favour of technologically-mediated games yields new cognitive assessment possibilities.

Lenguaje y teoría de la mente: el caso del síndrome de Williams

Resumen A partir del análisis de las características psicológicas de las personas con síndrome de Williams se revisa su perfil psicolingúístico y las relaciones entre éste y los resultados en pruebas mentalistas. Se toman algunos resultados de lenguaje y “teoría de la mente” en personas con síndrome de Williams como pretexto para reflexionar sobre las relaciones entre ambos ámbitos. Se sugiere la necesidad de adoptar una perspectiva ontogenética para el estudio conjunto de ambos procesos.

Cognición social en el síndrome de Williams

Resumen Frente a una concepción neuropsicológica estática, que entiende la arquitectura cognitiva como un conjunto de sistemas específicos de funcionamiento independiente de origen innato, este trabajo asume una perspectiva neu-roconstructivista, que contempla la especialización y localización progresiva de las funciones, enfatizando la necesidad de atender desde el desarrollo a los distintos niveles de explicación del funcionamiento psicológico, y en el que la relación con las bases genéticas o neurobiológicas también va a estar mediada por un ambiente dinámico. Desde estos argumentos se revisa la evidencia experimental sobre el funcionamiento de las personas con síndrome de Williams (SW) en distintos aspectos vinculados con la cognición social (competencias mentalistas, procesamiento de rostros y lenguaje). Se concluye en contra de la propuesta de que el perfil psicológico de las personas con SW evidencia la existencia de un módulo para la cognición social, se sugiere la necesidad de atender a las trayectorias de desarrollo y se plantean algunas implicaciones del modelo para la intervención psicológica.

Developmental trajectories of pitch-related music skills in children with Williams syndrome

The study of music cognition in Williams syndrome (WS) has resulted in theoretical debates regarding cognitive modularity and development. However, no research has previously investigated the development of music skills in this population. In this study, we used the cross-sectional developmental trajectories approach to assess the development of pitch-related music skills in children with WS compared with typically developing (TD) peers. Thus, we evaluated the role of change over time on pitch-related music skills and the developmental relationships between music skills and different cognitive areas. In the TD children, the pitch-related music skills improved with chronological age and cognitive development. In the children with WS, developmental relationships were only found between several pitch-related music skills and specific cognitive processes. We also found non-systematic relationships between chronological age and the pitch-related music skills, stabilization in the level reached in music when cognitive development was considered, and uneven associations between cognitive and music skills. In addition, the TD and WS groups differed in their patterns of pitch-related music skill development. These results suggest that the development of pitch-related music skills in children with WS is atypical. Our findings stand in contrast with the views that claim innate modularity for music in WS; rather, they are consistent with neuroconstructivist accounts.

Eye-tracking measures in audiovisual stimuli in infants at high genetic risk for ASD: challenging issues

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have shown difficulties to integrate auditory and visual sensory modalities. Here we aim to explore if very young infants at genetic risk of ASD show atypicalities in this ability early in development. We registered visual attention of 4-month-old infants in a task using audiovisual natural stimuli (speaking faces). The complexity of this information and the attentional features of this population, among others, involves a great amount of challenges regarding data quality obtained with an eye-tracker. Here we discuss some of them and draw possible solutions.

If you want to get ahead, get a good master. Annette Karmiloff-Smith: the developmental perspective / Si quieres avanzar, ten una buena maestra. Annette Karmiloff-Smith: la mirada desde el desarrollo

Abstract Annette Karmiloff-Smith’s perspective places development at the very core of of the explanation of psychological functioning. Her neuroconstructivist model involves several fundamental assumptions, as follows: (a) functional specificity is acquired through interactive experience with the environment through a process of progressive specialization; (b) the influence of each level of explanation in human development (i.e., genetic, cellular, neural, cognitive, behavioural and environmental) inter-depends on the others; (c) there is no one-to-one correspondence between the level of observable behaviours and the level of cognitive processes and mental representations; and (d) interaction with caregivers is the privileged development context. There is an urgency to translate these assumptions into practices that enable the optimization of developmental contexts; this paper addresses this urgency by suggesting the implications of this neuroconstructivist model for the assessment and design of support for children at risk of atypical development.