Memory skills of boys with fragile X syndrome.

Multiple aspects of memory were examined in 42 boys with fragile X syndrome and a comparison group of 42 typically developing boys matched on MA. Working memory, incidental memory, and deliberate memory were assessed with a battery that included both free-recall and recognition tasks. Findings indicated that boys with fragile X syndrome performed more poorly than their matches on most measures. The exception was free recall, in which their accuracy was equal to that of the control participants. Results from analyses of a subset of boys with fragile X syndrome who exhibit characteristics of autism and their MA matches, though preliminary, support the conclusion that memory deficits are especially marked in boys who have fragile X syndrome and evidence autistic behaviors.