What is it about?
Down syndrome is associated with relative difficulties in verbal short-term memory, which other research would suggest should lead on to problems in new word learning. However, here we show unimpaired word learning in individuals with Down syndrome relative to typically developing children of the same level of existing vocabulary knowledge.
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Why is it important?
The findings of this work are a challenge for the claim that verbal short-term memory drives vocabulary acquisition. However, given the large body of other evidence that already exists to support this view, we suggest that individuals with Down syndrome compensate for any effects of verbal short-term memory problems, and that there is more than one route to new word learning.
Perspectives
This paper also challenges my own thinking on these issues - it shows that previous claims I have made for a link between verbal short-term memory and vocabulary acquisition need to be nuanced, and has given me a broader perspective on the processes involved in word learning.
Prof Christopher Jarrold
University of Bristol
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Evidence for Preserved Novel Word Learning in Down Syndrome Suggests Multiple Routes to Vocabulary Acquisition, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, August 2011, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0244).
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