Table Of ContentNEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
Interest in the fi eld of neurodevelopmental disorders has grown exponentially in recent
years across a range of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, education and
neuroscience. The research itself has become more sophisticated, using multidisciplinary
methods to probe interdisciplinary questions. Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Research
Challenges and Solutions provides a thorough overview of the key issues involved in
researching neurodevelopmental disorders.
The volume includes fourteen chapters, arranged over three sections. Chapters in
the fi rst section address general research challenges for the study of neurodevelopmental
disorders. The second section draws upon specifi c disorders (such as Williams syndrome,
Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, ADHD and
Language Disorders) to consider the syndrome-specifi c issues or challenges that may be
crucial to advancing our understanding of aspects of cognition and behaviour associated
with them. The fi nal section considers how research evidence may be translated into
practice to begin making an impact upon the lives of individuals who have
neurodevelopmental disorders and their families. Each chapter in the book also includes
‘practical tips’ for either conducting research with individuals who have
neurodevelopmental disorders or considering wider practical issues.
The book will be indispensable reading for advanced students, researchers and
practitioners in the fi elds of developmental psychology, developmental psychopathology,
special needs education, neuropsychology and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Jo Van Herwegen is a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Kingston
University, UK. She is coordinator of the Child Development and Learning Diffi culties
Unit. Her research focuses on language and number development in both typical and
atypical populations, including Williams syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down
syndrome, and Specifi c Language Impairment.
Deborah Riby is a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Durham
University, UK and is an honorary lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne,
Australia. She is coordinator of the Developmental Psychology Research Group and
head of the North East Williams Syndrome Research Group. Her research focuses on
syndrome-specifi c signatures of cognition and behaviour, primarily focusing on the
developmental disorders Williams syndrome and Autism.
Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
A Handbook Series
Research Methods in Developmental Psychology is a series of edited books focusing on
research challenges for conducting research in developmental psychology. Ideally
suited to both students coming to this area for the fi rst time and more experienced
researchers, each volume provides an invaluable overview of research in this
growing fi eld, and how it can inform both education and interventions. Volumes
include research challenges in neurodevelopmental disorders, child development
and gerontology.
Published titles:
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Research challenges and solutions
Edited by Jo Van Herwegen and Deborah Riby
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL
DISORDERS
Research challenges and solutions
Edited by Jo Van Herwegen
and Deborah Riby
First published 2015
by Psychology Press
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA
and by Psychology Press
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Psychology Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Jo Van Herwegen and Deborah Riby
The right of Jo Van Herwegen and Deborah Riby to be identifi ed as authors of this
part of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Neurodevelopmental disorders (Riby)
Neurodevelopmental disorders : research challenges and solutions / edited by
Deborah Riby and Jo Van Herwegen.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I. Riby, Deborah, editor. II. Van Herwegen, Jo, editor. III. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Developmental Disabilities--etiology. 2. Child Development Disorders,
Pervasive--psychology. 3. Child Development. 4. Developmental Disabilities--
psychology. 5. Intellectual Disability. 6. Neuropsychological Tests. WS 350.6]
RJ506.D47
616.85’88--dc23
2014027253
ISBN: 978-1-84872-328-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-84872-329-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73531-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo and ITC Stone Sans
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
CONTENTS
List of fi gures vii
List of contributors ix
About the editors xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xix
PART I
General research challenges 1
1 Neurodevelopmental disorders: defi nitions and issues 3
Jo Van Herwegen, Deborah Riby and Emily K. Farran
2 Why development matters in neurodevelopmental disorders 19
George Ball and Annette Karmiloff -Smith
3 Making use of brain–behavior links 34
Brian W. Haas
4 Researching the brain in neurodevelopmental disorders 48
Sarah Lloyd-Fox
5 Causal modelling of developmental disorders: insights from
animal and computational models of Specifi c Language
Impairment 70
Themis Karaminis
vi Contents
6 ACORNS: a tool for visual modelling of causes and
outcomes in neurodevelopmental disorders 93
Derek G. Moore and Rachel George
PART II
Neurodevelopmental disorders and their challenges
for researchers 115
7 Variability in neurodevelopmental disorders: evidence from
Autism Spectrum Disorders 117
Tony Charman
8 Diff erent profi les of development: evidence from children
with primary language impairment 141
Victoria Knowland and Nicola Botting
9 Comorbidity in neurodevelopmental disorders: evidence
from ADHD 162
Sinead Rhodes
10 Genetic disorders as models of high neurocognitive risk:
evidence from Fragile X syndrome 178
Brianna Doherty, Andria Shimi and Gaia Scerif
11 Experimental diffi culties in neurodevelopmental disorders:
evidence from Down syndrome 199
Harry Purser
12 Eye-tracking and neurodevelopmental disorders: evidence
from cross-syndrome comparisons 219
Mary Hanley
PART III
Applied issues in neurodevelopmental disorders 241
13 Uses of new technologies by young people with
neurodevelopmental disorders: motivations, processes and
cognition 243
Sue Fletcher-Watson and Kevin Durkin
14 Anxiety in neurodevelopmental disorders: phenomenology,
assessment and intervention 268
Victoria Grahame and Jacqui Rodgers
Index 289
FIGURES
2.1 General intelligence scores of HR, a child with partial
deletion WS, average general intelligence scores of typically
developing children and of children with WS (full deletion),
from chronological ages 28 to 108 months 22
3.1 Examples of data acquired from three diff erent types of
brain-imaging modalities 35
3.2 Diff usion tensor imaging research in Williams syndrome 42
4.1 Left: An infant wearing a Hydrocel Geodesic Sensor Net.
Right: An infant wearing the BBK-NIRS headgear 50
4.2 The relative degree of tolerance needed from the infant for
each method, and the spatial and temporal resolution of
NIRS compared with other infant functional neuroimaging
methods 50
4.3 Visual and auditory social selective responses during a
fNIRS study in infants with and without a familial risk of
Autism Spectrum Disorders 59
5.1 Research design for the causal modelling of SLI in English
and Greek 82
6.1 Showing the ACORNS frame and the mapping of factors
over diff erent points in time using diamond-shaped boxes 98
6.2 Illustrating how arrows are used to depict points along
trajectories within a domain of functioning causal pathways
within levels of functioning, and eff ects between levels of
functioning 100
6.3 Indicators of relative degree of functioning and relative
timing of emergence 103
viii Figures
6.4 Using ACORNS indicators to show change in development
at key points along trajectories 105
6.5 ACORNS indicators of patterns of variance 106
6.6 Combining two main indicators: arrows depicting causal
pathways and trajectories and adding other pictorial
elements to aid ease of understanding 107
6.7 Model with overlaid statistical associations between
measured factors 108
6.8 Causal model of early Down syndrome from Moore and
George (2011), including indicators of variance 110
7.1 DSM-5 criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorders 119
7.2 Modelled (A) communication, (B) social and (C) repetitive
behaviour symptom trajectories based on CDER scores by
age 127
13.1 Apps targeted at the autism community, by functional
category 244
13.2 Parent responses in a survey of attitudes to technology use
by children with autism 250
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
George Ball, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of
Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Nicola Botting, Division of Language and Communication Science, City
University London, UK
Tony Charman, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
Brianna Doherty, Attention, Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of
Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
Kevin Durkin, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of
Strathclyde, UK
Emily K. Farran, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute
of Education, University of London, UK
Sue Fletcher-Watson, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of
Edinburgh, UK
Rachel George, Institute for Research in Child Development, School of
Psychology, University of East London, UK
Victoria Grahame, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust,
UK
Brian W. Haas, Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, USA
