Biomaterial Database

Acquisition of conversational response skills by young Down syndrome and nonretarded young children. 1984

J S Leifer, and M Lewis

The acquisition of conversational response skills by young retarded and nonretarded children matched for chronological age (CA) and expressive linguistic ability was compared. Retarded children showed delayed response performance in comparison with CA-matched nonretarded peers. When matched for language level, however, retarded children demonstrated significantly greater response abilities than did nonretarded children. These findings indicate that the language development process of retarded children is developmentally delayed and different with respect to the synchrony of syntactic development and communicative competence. The findings further suggest that the acquisition of conversational response rules is not determined by the child's expressive language ability as measured by a mean length of utterance score, but is directly influenced by social-experiential factors as measured by the child's age.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D007804	Language Development	The gradual expansion in complexity and meaning of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by the individual through a maturational and learning process. Stages in development include babbling, cooing, word imitation with cognition, and use of short sentences.	Language Acquisition,Acquisition, Language,Development, Language
D008297	Male		Males
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D004314	Down Syndrome	A chromosome disorder associated either with an extra CHROMOSOME 21 or an effective TRISOMY for chromosome 21. Clinical manifestations include HYPOTONIA, short stature, BRACHYCEPHALY, upslanting palpebral fissures, epicanthus, Brushfield spots on the iris, protruding tongue, small ears, short, broad hands, fifth finger clinodactyly, single transverse palmar crease, and moderate to severe INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY. Cardiac and gastrointestinal malformations, a marked increase in the incidence of LEUKEMIA, and the early onset of ALZHEIMER DISEASE are also associated with this condition. Pathologic features include the development of NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES in neurons and the deposition of AMYLOID BETA-PROTEIN, similar to the pathology of ALZHEIMER DISEASE. (Menkes, Textbook of Child Neurology, 5th ed, p213)	Mongolism,Trisomy 21,47,XX,+21,47,XY,+21,Down Syndrome, Partial Trisomy 21,Down's Syndrome,Partial Trisomy 21 Down Syndrome,Trisomy 21, Meiotic Nondisjunction,Trisomy 21, Mitotic Nondisjunction,Trisomy G,Downs Syndrome,Syndrome, Down,Syndrome, Down's
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012660	Semantics	The relationships between symbols and their meanings.	Semantic
D014825	Vocabulary	The sum or the stock of words used by a language, a group, or an individual. (From Webster, 3d ed)	Vocabularies