Visuo-spatial and linguistic abilities in a twin with Williams syndrome.

The present study reports a case of dizygotic twins, one boy with Williams syndrome (WS) and one typically developing girl, and compares their neuropsychological profiles. The goal of the present authors was to verify whether the child with WS displayed a cognitive profile which is unique to the syndrome. Several tests designed to assess visuo-perceptual, visuo-motor, linguistic and memory abilities were administered to both children when they were 10.9 years old. Compared to his sister, the boy with WS displayed a homogeneous developmental delay in both non-verbal and verbal abilities. He achieved a level of performance similar to his sister only in facial recognition, phonological word fluency and memory for phonologically similar words. Furthermore, despite the overall delayed performance of the boy, both the twins displayed a cognitive profile characterized by strength in lexical comprehension and relative weakness in visuo-motor abilities.

Development of internal body image from childhood to early adolescence.

The study aimed at providing a psychogenetic characterization of the developmental patterns through which the graphic representations of the inside of the body progress, and at testing the developmental hypothesis of a progressive integration of genital parts into the internal body image. The drawings of the inside of the body by 360 children of both sexes and of age 5 to 10 yr., and by 213 early adolescents, boys and girls of ages 11 to 14 yr., were analyzed on the basis of a series of qualitative and quantitative criteria. The relationship between age and type of drawing corresponds to expectations in children and appears less linear for early adolescents. Further, data support the developmental process of integration of genitals into the body image and show differential aspects in boys and girls.