"Welcome to the 6th annual Undergraduate Research Conference at Minnesota State University, Mankato. This conference provides an exciting opportunity for the University to showcase the research and creative activity of our undergraduate students. These projects, submitted by 141 students representing four colleges, are the result of collaboration between talented and motivated undergraduate students and their dedicated faculty mentors . . . . The entire University community celebrates the achievements of these outstanding undergraduate students and congratulates all participating students and their faculty mentors." Richard Davenport, President, Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Jill Carey, Cassandra Tepe, April Lundberg, Heather Hannigan, Amanda Sigler, Leisa Schmidt, Ann Schimmel, Melia Danielson, Amy Kruse, Margaret Kaufmann, Brianne Linaman Faculty mentor, Patricia Hargrove
This study examined several linguistic characteristics of stories within conversations (intraconversational narratives) of speakers with Williams syndrome and their typically developing (age matched) peers. (Williams syndrome is a genetic disorder generally accompanied by specific physical characteristics, developmental delay, and unique communication skills.) Trained judges transcribed audiotapes of the stories and then collected and analyzed four measures: frequency, antecedent events, content, and form. The antecedent events yielded the only significant differences with the speakers with Williams syndrome using independent narratives more frequently and the typically developing speakers using dependent narratives more frequently. This suggests that speakers with Williams syndrome are more likely to speak "off topic." However, for the most part, the intraconversational narratives of speakers with Williams syndrome appear similar to those of their typically developing peers.
