Detailed contribution information
| Contribution title | The Interplay of Morphosyntax and Verbal-Nonverbal Short-Term Memory in Children and Adolescents with Down Syndrome |
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| Contribution code | D1.126 |
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| Form of presentation | Poster |
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| Abstract |
Aims: Children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) often exhibit significant language and cognitive deficits, particularly in morphosyntax (grammar and syntax) and short-term memory (STM), affecting both verbal and visual domains. Previous research has outlined these difficulties; however, the relationship between STM deficits and morphosyntactic impairments remains inadequately explored.Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between morphosyntax and verbal and nonverbal STM in children and adolescents with DS, comparing their performances with mental age-matched typically developing (TD) peers. Methods: Twenty-two monolingual Turkish-speaking participants, including 12 with DS, were assessed across various language and STM measures. These included sentence comprehension, sentence production, morphological production, phonological STM, and visual and auditory digit span tasks. Statistical analysis employed Welch's t test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and multiple linear regression to compare performances between the DS and TD groups and to identify predictors of morphosyntactic abilities. Results and Conclusions: Individuals with DS showed significant deficits in both receptive and expressive morphosyntax, as well as in verbal and visual STM, compared to their TD peers. No significant difference was observed between receptive and expressive syntax within the DS group. Interestingly, noun morphology was more challenging for individuals with DS than verb morphology. Verbal STM impairments were found to predict difficulties in sentence comprehension and morphological production, whereas visual STM did not exhibit a significant predictive relationship. Individual-level analysis revealed considerable variability within the DS group, highlighting the heterogeneity of language and STM skills.The study confirms that children and adolescents with DS face pronounced challenges in morphosyntax and STM. It also underscores the complexity of the interplay between language and memory, advocating for targeted interventions that address both areas. The variability in individual performances suggests the need for personalized approaches in educational and therapeutic settings. |