Universität zu Köln

Dolscheid, Sarah ORCID: 0000-0001-9104-6386 and Penke, Martina ORCID: 0000-0003-4686-7673 (2018). Quantifier comprehension is linked to linguistic rather than to numerical skills. Evidence from children with Down syndrome and Williams syndrome. PLoS One, 13 (6). SAN FRANCISCO: PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Comprehending natural language quantifiers (like many, all, or some) involves linguistic and numerical abilities. However, the extent to which both factors play a role is controversial. In order to determine the specific contributions of linguistic and number skills in quantifier comprehension, we examined two groups of participants that differ in their language abilities while their number skills appear to be similar: Participants with Down syndrome (DS) and participants with Williams syndrome (WS). Compared to rather poor linguistic skills of individuals with DS, individuals with WS display relatively advanced language abilities. Participants with WS also outperformed participants with DS in a quantifier comprehension task while number knowledge did not differ between the two groups. When compared to typically developing (TD) children of the same mental age, participants with WS displayed similar levels regarding quantifier abilities, but participants with DS performed worse than the control group. Language abilities but not number skills also significantly predicted quantifier knowledge in a linear regression analysis, stressing the importance of linguistic abilities for quantifier comprehension. In addition to determining the skills that are relevant for comprehending quantifiers, our findings provide the first demonstration of how quantifiers are acquired by individuals with DS and WS, an issue not investigated so far.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Dolscheid, Sarah UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-9104-6386 UNSPECIFIED Penke, Martina UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-4686-7673 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-182534
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0199743
Journal or Publication Title:	PLoS One
Volume:	13
Number:	6
Date:	2018
Publisher:	PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN FRANCISCO
ISSN:	1932-6203
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Heilpädagogik und Rehabilitation
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language SEMANTIC DEMENTIA; LANGUAGE; ACQUISITION; NUMBER; ADOLESCENTS; COUNT Multiple languages Multidisciplinary Sciences Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/18253