Williams Syndrome (WS), aka Williams Beuren Syndrome, is a developmental disorder that we know about for some forty years. The cause for WS was detected only recently: a micro deletion on chromosome 7, more specifically at the region of chromosome 7q11.23. The cognitive and behavioral profile in WS is characterized by a marked discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal skills combined with relatively spared linguistic skills. Recent research has shown considerable progress defining the areas of intactness in linguistic abilities. This volume builds on that research, giving an overview of the psycholinguistic research undertaken and opening up new perspectives and insights through new data and analyses. This book is of interest to researchers of applied cognitive science and to linguists more occupied with theoretical research.

Table of contents

Tables and figures vii List of contributors ix Williams syndrome: An introduction Susanne Bartke and Julia Siegmüller 1–6 I. Phenotype and genotype in Williams syndrome Williams syndrome from a clinical perspective Julia Siegmüller and Susanne Bartke 9–37 Genetics of Williams-Beuren syndrome Karl-Heinz Grzeschik 39–59 II. Language development and language competence in WS Relations between language and cognition in Williams syndrome Carolyn B. Mervis, Byron F. Robinson, Melissa L. Rowe, Angela M. Becerra and Bonita P. Klein-Tasman 63–92 Spared domain-specific cognitive capacities? Syntax and morphology in Williams syndrome and Down syndrome: 1 Chris Schaner-Wolles 93–124 Phonological processing in Williams syndrome Steve Majerus 125–142 Fast mapping in Williams syndrome: A single case study Marita Böhning, Franziska Starke and Jürgen Weissenborn 143–161 Language in preschool Italian children with Williams and Down syndromes Virginia Volterra, Olga Capirci, Maria Cristina Caselli and Stefano Vicari 163–186 Language in Hungarian children with Williams syndrome Ágnes Lukács, Csaba Pléh and Mihály Racsmány 187–220 Lexical and morphological skills in English-speaking children with Williams syndrome Harald Clahsen, Melanie Ring and Christine Temple 221–244 Regular and irregular inflectional morphology in German Williams syndrome Martina Penke and Marion Krause 245–270 Emergent linguistic competence in children with Williams syndrome: A study of Hebrew speaking toddlers Yonata Levy 271–293 Wh-questions in Greek children with Williams syndrome: A comparison with SLI and normal development Stavroula Stavrakaki 295–318 The comprehension of complex wh-questions in German-speaking individuals with WS: A multiple case study Julia Siegmüller and Jürgen Weissenborn 319–343 Passives in German children with Williams syndrome Susanne Bartke 345–370 Index of tests 371 Index of subjects