Cognitive and social factors in the development of infants with Down syndrome

Abstract

-Infants and young children with Down syndrome can be engaging and affectionate. It seems that in the early months of life their personal relations may be relatively 'spared' the effects of limitations in their capacities for information-processing. Yet how far is this the case as development proceeds? In this paper we discuss some ways in which social and cognitive development interact and mutually influence one another over the first year or so of life, and present preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of infants with and without Down syndrome. The evidence suggests that the development of 'triadic' (person-person-world) social interactions may be affected by limited information-processing capacities in infants with Down syndrome, through a complex socially-mediated developmental trajectory.

Delineation of Behavioral Phenotypes in Genetic Syndromes: Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Affect and Hyperactivity

“…Evidence for gene-environment interactions for genetic syndromes is beginning to emerge Taylor and Oliver 2008) with transactional models suggesting complex relationships between cognitive and developmental variables and social exchanges (Moore et al 2002). The results of this study can only identify the broad profile for each syndrome relative to other syndromes given the previous and current environments which the participants have experienced.…”

Inferential language use by youth with Down syndrome during narration

“…It is reasonable to hypothesize that performance depends on the type of inference, with those requiring higher-level social reasoning or more complex linguistic structures to communicate the inference being more impaired. The literature on social cognition in DS supports this hypothesis, with several studies documenting early emerging social strengths (Fidler, 2006; Fidler, Most, Booth-LaForce, & Kelly, 2008; Moore, Oates, Hobson, & Goodwin, 2002), but deficits in higher-order social cognitive reasoning, such as theory of mind (Abbeduto et al, 2001; Zelazo, Burack, Benedetto, & Frye, 1996), interpreting others’ internal states (Beeghly & Cicchetti, 1997; Hesketh & Chapman, 1998), and understanding the intentions of others (Hahn, Fidler, Hepburn, & Rogers, 2013). It is likely, therefore, that these deficits will have an impact on, as well as be impacted by, at least some aspects of inference generation in DS (see Tager-Flusberg, 1992).…”

Emotion Knowledge in Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome: A New Methodological Approach

“…They also show signs of lower-order skills that are necessary for the development of social cognition. Specifically, infants with DS demonstrate unique interest in social stimuli (Berger & Cunningham, 1981;Carvajal & Iglesias, 2000;Cicchetti & Sroufe, 1976) and show appropriate responses to such stimuli (Cicchetti & Sroufe, 1976;Moore, Oates, Hobson, & Goodwin, 2002).…”