{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T18:03:02Z","timestamp":1767895382987,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[1997,10,1]],"date-time":"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":875664000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Child Lang."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental \ndisorder, is of \nspecial interest to developmental psycholinguists because \nof its uneven \nlinguistico-cognitive profile of abilities and deficits. \nOne proficiency \nmanifest in WS adolescents and adults is an unusually \nlarge vocabulary \ndespite serious deficits in other domains. In this paper, \nrather than focus \non vocabulary size, we explore the processes underlying \nvocabulary acquisition, i.e. how new words are learned. A \nWS group was compared \nto groups of normal MA-matched controls in the range \n3\u20139 years in four \ndifferent experiments testing for constraints on word \nlearning. We show \nthat in construing the meaning of new words, normal \nchildren at all ages \ndisplay fast mapping and abide by the constraints tested: mutual \nexclusivity, whole object and taxonomic. By contrast, while the WS \ngroup showed fast mapping and the mutual exclusivity \nconstraint, they \ndid not abide by the whole object or taxonomic constraints. This \nsuggests that measuring only the size of WS vocabulary can distort \nconclusions about the normalcy of WS language. Our \nstudy shows that \ndespite equivalent behaviour (i.e. vocabulary test age), \nthe processes \nunderlying how vocabulary is acquired in WS follow a somewhat \ndifferent path from that of normal children and that the \natypically developing brain is not necessarily a window on \nnormal development.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/s0305000997003279","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2002,7,27]],"date-time":"2002-07-27T13:29:39Z","timestamp":1027776579000},"page":"737-765","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["Word learning in a special population: do individuals \nwith Williams syndrome obey lexical constraints?"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"TASSOS","family":"STEVENS","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"ANNETTE","family":"KARMILOFF-SMITH","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1997,10,1]]},"container-title":["Journal of Child Language"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S0305000997003279","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,11]],"date-time":"2019-05-11T20:09:35Z","timestamp":1557605375000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0305000997003279\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1997,10]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,10]]}},"alternative-id":["S0305000997003279"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/s0305000997003279","relation":{},"ISSN":["0305-0009","1469-7602"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0305-0009","type":"print"},{"value":"1469-7602","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1997,10]]}}}