Department of Psychology, Kingston University London, Kingston-Upon-Thames, UK.
Department of Psychology, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.
J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 2020 Sep;33(5):1080-1089. doi: 10.1111/jar.12730. Epub 2020 Apr 20.
Studies in Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS) have suggested that mathematical abilities are impaired. However, it is unclear which domain-general or domain-specific abilities impact on mathematical development in these developmental disorders.
The current study examined the foundations of mathematical development across participants with WS (n = 24) and DS (n = 26) compared to typically developing (TD) children (n = 26) in relation to domain-general (i.e., general intelligence and visuospatial abilities) and domain-specific abilities (non-symbolic and symbolic number abilities).
Developmental trajectories showed that mathematical abilities were delayed in line with overall mental age in DS and WS. Whilst visuospatial abilities predicted performance for DS and TD participants, this was not the case for the WS group, instead Approximate Number Sense abilities predicted mathematical development.
These findings suggest that those with DS and WS may benefit from different mathematical intervention programmes.
唐氏综合征（DS）和威廉姆斯综合征（WS）的研究表明，数学能力受损。然而，在这些发育障碍中，哪些领域一般性或领域特殊性能力会影响数学发展尚不清楚。
本研究比较了 WS（n=24）和 DS（n=26）患者与典型发育（TD）儿童（n=26）之间的数学发展基础，涉及领域一般性（即一般智力和空间能力）和领域特殊性能力（非符号和符号数字能力）。
发展轨迹表明，DS 和 WS 中的数学能力与整体心理年龄相匹配延迟。虽然空间能力预测了 DS 和 TD 参与者的表现，但 WS 组并非如此，而是近似数字感能力预测了数学发展。
这些发现表明，DS 和 WS 患者可能受益于不同的数学干预计划。
