Language and Cognition: Insights From Williams Syndrome

What is the relation between spatial language and spatial cognition? Is the way we talk about space based on our non-linguistic spatial representations? Presently, there are at least two major hypotheses about the nature of this relation. On the one hand, there is a cognitive hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, spatial language is grounded on spatial cognition. Our non-linguistic spatial representations constrain the acquisition of spatial language during ontogeny. On the other hand, contrary to the first assumption, there is a so-called Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. According to it, spatial language constrains spatial cognition. Languages with different frames of spatial reference induce speakers to different spatial reasoning. Today, there is a broad debate on this topic with empirical data supporting both hypotheses. We can try to evaluate these ideas by looking at the interaction between spatial language and spatial cognition in cases where the latter is impaired. This is the case of Williams syndrome. Williams syndrome is a rare neuro-developmental disorder with a genetic origin. Individuals with Williams syndrome show an uneven cognitive profile. They have severe visuo-spatial deficits in spite of apparently good language skills. Lately, several studies have been carried out on spatial language in Williams syndrome showing evidence of a selective deficit in linguistic encoding of spatial relations. The study of spatial language in Williams syndrome could show that spatial language is, in a complex way, grounded on spatial cognition.