Jennifer G. Wishart. Social Understanding: A Strength or Weakness in Down Syndrome?

Jennifer G. Wishart, PhD., CPsychol
University of Edinburgh
SCOTLAND

Social understanding is often thought to be relatively ‘protected’ in children with Down syndrome and to underlie the outgoing and friendly personality that is characteristically attributed to them. Findings from a range of past and recent studies looking at the children’s skills when interacting with peers and with adults will be overviewed and the implications for learning assessed. Data from our own most recent work on the development of social cognition in Down syndrome will also be presented, including findings from studies looking at the children’s understanding of facial expressions of emotion and at how they interact with other children when working together on a joint task. The aim of these studies has been to investigate how children with Down syndrome make use of their interpersonal understanding in learning contexts, to identify any relative strengths and weaknesses in that understanding, and to try to tie what is known about social understanding and developmental trajectories in Down syndrome to what is known about the underlying neurobiology of Down syndrome.