Texture segmentation in Williams syndrome.

Full Abstract

Williams syndrome (WS) is a developmental disorder in which visuo-spatial cognition is poor relative to verbal ability. At the level of visuo-spatial perception, individuals with WS can perceive both the local and global aspects of an image. However, the manner in which local elements are integrated into a global whole is atypical, with relative strengths in integration by luminance, closure, and alignment compared to shape, orientation and proximity. The present study investigated the manner in which global images are segmented into local parts. Segmentation by seven gestalt principles was investigated:
proximity, shape, luminance, orientation, closure, size (and alignment:
Experiment 1 only). Participants were presented with uniform texture squares and asked to detect the presence of a discrepant patch (Experiment 1) or to identify the form of a discrepant patch as a capital E or H (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, the pattern and level of performance of the WS group did not differ from that of typically developing controls, and was commensurate with the general level of non-verbal ability observed in WS. These results were replicated in Experiment 2, with the exception of segmentation by proximity, where individuals with WS demonstrated superior performance relative to the remaining segmentation types. Overall, the results suggest that, despite some atypical aspects of visuo-spatial perception in WS, the ability to segment a global form into parts is broadly typical in this population. In turn, this informs predictions of brain function in WS, particularly areas V1 and V4.

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Author information

Author/s: Farran, Emily K (EK); Wilmut, Kate (K);

Affiliation: School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AL, UK. E.K.Farran(-atsign-)reading.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Neuropsychologia (Neuropsychologia), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 45 (issue 5) : pp 1009-18

Dates: Created 2006/12/25; Completed 2007/04/26;

PMID: 17045621, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Analysis of Variance
Child
Child Development - physiology
Child, Preschool
Humans
Matched-Pair Analysis
Mental Processes - physiology

Mental Processes - physiology
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Perceptual Disorders - complications; physiopathology
Reaction Time - physiology
Reference Values
Surface Properties
Visual Perception
Williams Syndrome - complications; physiopathology

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