Atypical representational change: Conditions for the emergence of atypical modularity

Introduction A number of developmental disorders have been observed to display uneven cognitive profiles in their developmental endstates, with areas of relative strength and relative weakness. For example, relative weakness has been observed in various aspects of language in Specific Language Impairment and in developmental dyslexia, compared with relative strength in non-verbal abilities. Disorders showing differential performance in numerical cognition, face recognition, and motor coordination have also been identified. Neurogenetic developmental disorders can display more complex patterns of uneven performance, such as the cases of Williams syndrome (relatively background of low IQ) and autism (a central triad of deficits in communication,