{"title":"Block Design Performance in Williams Syndrome: Visuospatial Abilities or Task Approach Skills?","authors":"Elisa Back, Emily K Farran, Jo Van Herwegen","doi":"10.1352/1944-7558-127.5.390","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The block design task (BDT) is a visuospatial measure that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) perform poorly on. However, it is unclear what underlies their impaired performance. This study investigated whether poorer performance is a result of visuospatial difficulties, executive function (EF) difficulties, atypical looking strategies, or a combination of these. Eleven individuals with WS participated alongside mental age (MA)- and chronological age (CA)-matched control groups. Eye movements were recorded while they took the BDT. Dwell times and visits to areas of interest in WS differed from CA, but not MA, groups. Findings suggest that BDT abilities of individuals with WS are delayed, but not atypical. Delays result from visuospatial and attention-switching difficulties rather than atypical looking strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51508,"journal":{"name":"Ajidd-American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities","volume":"127 5","pages":"390-399"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ajidd-American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-127.5.390","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SPECIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The block design task (BDT) is a visuospatial measure that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) perform poorly on. However, it is unclear what underlies their impaired performance. This study investigated whether poorer performance is a result of visuospatial difficulties, executive function (EF) difficulties, atypical looking strategies, or a combination of these. Eleven individuals with WS participated alongside mental age (MA)- and chronological age (CA)-matched control groups. Eye movements were recorded while they took the BDT. Dwell times and visits to areas of interest in WS differed from CA, but not MA, groups. Findings suggest that BDT abilities of individuals with WS are delayed, but not atypical. Delays result from visuospatial and attention-switching difficulties rather than atypical looking strategies.
期刊介绍:
The American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (Print ISSN: 1944–7515; Online ISSN: 1944–7558) is published by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It is a scientifi c, scholarly, and archival multidisciplinary journal for reporting original contributions of the highest quality to knowledge of intellectual disabilities, its causes, treatment, and prevention.