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Drawing the line: Drawing and construction strategies for simple and complex figures in Williams syndrome and typical development
Author(s) -
Hudson Kerry D.,
Farran Emily K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1348/2044-835x.002000
Subject(s) - williams syndrome , psychology , cohesion (chemistry) , task (project management) , line drawings , population , cognitive psychology , group development , simple (philosophy) , developmental psychology , social psychology , cognition , sociology , epistemology , engineering drawing , engineering , philosophy , demography , organic chemistry , neuroscience , systems engineering , chemistry
In the typical population, a series of drawing strategies have been outlined, which progressively emerge during childhood. Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare genetic disorder, produce drawings that lack cohesion, yet drawing strategies in this group have hitherto not been investigated. In this study, WS and typically developing (TD) groups drew and constructed (from pre‐drawn lines and shapes) a series of intersecting and embedded figures. Participants with WS made use of the same strategies as the TD group for simple intersecting figures, though were less likely to use a typical strategy for more complex figures that contained many spatial relations. When replicating embedded shapes, the WS group used typical drawing strategies less frequently than the TD group, despite attempting to initiate a strategy that is observed in TD children. Results suggested that individuals with WS show a particular difficulty with replicating figures that include multiple spatial relations. The impact of figure complexity and task demands on performance are discussed.