Thomas, Michael S.C. and Purser, Harry and Richardson, Fiona M. (2013) Modularity and developmental disorders. In: Zelazo, P.D. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology: Self and Other. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199958474.
Abstract
In this chapter, we consider the origin of uneven cognitive profiles in individuals with developmental disorders, including accounts from cognitive, brain, and genetic levels of description. We begin by introducing the main types of developmental disorder. We then discuss what is meant by the idea of modularity and the key issues surrounding it, outlining how modularity has been applied to explain deficits in developmental disorders. We illustrate competing theoretical positions by contrasting two developmental disorders, Williams syndrome (WS) and specific language impairment (SLI). In the first case, we consider cognitive deficits in WS with reference to modularity at a cognitive level and evidence from behavioral studies. In the second case, we consider SLI with reference to modularity at the neural level and evidence from brain imaging studies. We finish by considering the future for modular theories of atypical development, including the implication of recent findings from genetics and from computational modeling.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | modularity, developmental disorders, cognitive profiles, emergentism, Williams syndrome, specific language impairment, autism, dyslexia, brain imaging, genetics, computational modeling |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Educational Neuroscience, Centre for, Birkbeck Knowledge Lab, Brain and Cognitive Development, Centre for (CBCD) |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Hall |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Jan 2016 13:33 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:20 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/13885 |
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