ATTENTION TO PEOPLE AND TOYS DURING SOCIAL AND OBJECT MASTERY IN CHILDREN WITH DOWN-SYNDROME

Attention to people versus objects by children with Down syndrome was examined. Subjects were presented with situations in which the primary focus alternated between an object stimulus (a toy) and a social stim ulus (a singing experimenter). The children with Down syndrome monitor ed their environment in the same manner as did MA-matched typically de veloping children during object mastery and had a more focused attenti on style during social mastery. Reasons for this difference in attenti on across the two situations were discussed.