Self-Recognition by Toddlers with Williams Syndrome

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Self-Recognition by Toddlers with Williams Syndrome C. H. Cashon1*, A. E. John1 and C. B. Mervis1 1 University of Louisville, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, United States Background and Purpose: The development of self-recognition is considered an important marker of cognitive development (Howe & Courage, 1997) and language development (Lewis & Ramsay, 2004) and may also be related to the development of empathy (Bishof-Kohler, 1988). Self-recognition is traditionally tested with the Rouge Task (Amsterdam, 1972) in which a child, after a spot of rouge was unobtrusively placed on his or her nose, is positioned in front of a mirror. Children who reach for the spot on their face instead of reaching for the spot on the mirror or not reaching at all are considered to recognize themselves. Despite eventual relative strengths in verbal short-term memory and language and a gregarious and overly friendly personality, young children with WS are delayed in their language acquisition and evidence some socio-communicative difficulties that overlap those of children with autism spectrum disorders. Children with WS also have considerable difficulty with visuospatial construction and more generally, with eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. The present study explores selfrecognition in toddlers with WS. Because of the unusual developmental profile of children with WS, data from these children provide an important test of the universality of the relation between the development of selfrecognition and the development of symbolic (pretend) play. Method: Participants were 26 children with WS (mean chronological age = 29.85 months, range: 21.95 to 37.75 months) for selfrecognition using the Rouge Task. In addition, the children completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (mean = 59.19, SD = 9.54) and their parents completed the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP) Caregiver Questionnaire, which includes a measure of symbolic play. Results and Discussion: Children who passed the Rouge Task did not differ significantly from those who did not pass the Task on chronological age (29.67 months vs. 30.12 months, p = .67) or on overall Mullen Composite score ((61.80 vs. 54.91, p = .07). A Fisher’s Exact Test indicated a significant relation between success on the Rouge Task and the ability to engage in symbolic play involving “object-directed” actions (e.g., brushing a doll’s hair, feeding a teddy bear with a spoon) (Figure 1, p < .001). This finding is consistent with Lewis and Ramsay (2004)’s results for TD toddlers. Discussion: In sum, the present findings indicate that self-recognition, when tested by the Rouge Task, is delayed for children with WS. The results also suggest that selfrecognition is related to object-related symbolic play, as has been shown for TD children. Within the age range tested, chronological age and expressive vocabulary were not found to be significantly related to performance on the Rouge Task. Theoretical implications will be discussed. Conference: 12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome, Garden Grove,CA, United States, 13 Jul - 14 Jul, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: SESSION 7: Social Cognition and Social Phenotype of Williams Syndrome Citation: Cashon CH, John AE and Mervis CB (2009). Self-Recognition by Toddlers with Williams Syndrome. Conference Abstract: 12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.07.031 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 30 Apr 2009; Published Online: 30 Apr 2009. * Correspondence: C. H Cashon, University of Louisville, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Louisville, United States, cara.cashon@louisville.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis Google C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis Google Scholar C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis PubMed C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.