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Research Interests

My main research interests are in language and cognition in individuals with intellectual disabilities. I look for areas of strength as well as areas of specific weakness, how they impact higher-level cognitive/language function, and what implications there are for intervention. I have a special focus on Down syndrome. 

Current and Recent Graduate Students

• Marie Moore Channell, Ph.D. in Developmental Science (2012), Associate Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Susan Loveall, Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and Developmental Science (2013), Assistant Professor of Special Education and Communication Sciences at University of Nebraska
• Allyson Phillips, Ph.D. in Developmental Science (2014), Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology at Ouachita Baptist University
• Gayle Graham Faught, Ph.D. in Developmental Science (2017), Assistant Professor at University of Alabama
• Andrew Tungate, Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology (2018), Data Scientist, US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
• Jenna Reardanz, Ph.D. in Developmental Science (2021), Senior Policy Analyst, American Medial Association
• Kristina Baggett, M. A. in Developmental Science (2022). Analyst at Simmons Bank, Little Rock, AR

Current Funding

• The role of syntax in reading comprehension in Down syndrome (2019-2023, incl NCE). R15 grant funded by NIH/NICHD involving University of Nebraska and University of Alabama (Conners, PI). 
• Spatial malleability in Down syndrome (2020-2023). R15 grant funded by NIH/NICHD involving Montclair State University and University of Alabama (Merrill, PI). 
• Early cognitive decline in Down syndrome (2020-2025). R01 grant funded by NIH/NICHD involving University of California Davis and University of Alabama (Conners, PI). 
• Early cognitive decline in Down syndrome – Supplement (2021-2022). Supplement grant funded by NIH/NICHD involving University of California Davis and University of Alabama (Conners, PI). 
• Early cognitive decline in Down syndrome – Neuroimaging supplement (2022-2023). Supplement grant funded by NIH/NICHD involving University of California Davis and University of Alabama (Conners, PI). 

Recent Publications

Faught, G. G., Phillips, B. A., & Conners, F. A. (2022). Permissive ­­­parenting mediates parental stress and child emotions in families of children with Down syndrome. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 1-11.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.13031

Yang, Y., Himmelberger, Z. M., Robinson, T., Davis, M., Conners, F., & Merrill, E. (2021). Everyday memory in people with Down syndrome. Brain Sciences, 11, 551.https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050551

Tungate, A., S., & Conners, F. A. (2021). Executive function in Down syndrome: A meta-analysis. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 108, 103802.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103802

Faught, G. G., Himmelberger, Z. M., Tungate, A. S., & Conners, F. A. (2021). Sustained attention to response task performance trajectories in Down syndrome. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 65, 230-235.https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12805

Himmelberger, Z. M., Merrill, E. C., Conners, F. A., Roskos, B., Yang, Y., & Robinson, T. (2020). The acquisition of survey knowledge by individuals with Down syndrome. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14, 256. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00256

Reardanz, J., Conners, F. A., McDonald, K. L., & Singh, N. (2020). Peer victimization and communication skills in adolescents with Down syndrome: Preliminary findings. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 50, 349-355. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04238-z

Faught, G. G., & Conners, F. A. (2019). Modeling the relationships among sustained attention, short-term memory, and language in Down syndrome. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 124, 293-308. https://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-124.4.293 

Loveall, S. J., Channell, M. M., Abbeduto, L., & Conners, F. A. (2019). Verb production by individuals with Down syndrome during narration. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 85, 82-91.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2018.11.007

Conners, F. A., Tungate, A. S., Abbeduto, L., Merrill, E. C., & Faught, G. G. (2018). Growth and decline in language and phonological memory over two years in adolescents with Down syndrome. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 123, 103-118. https://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-123.2.103

Channell, M. M., Loveall, S. J., Conners, F. A., Harvey, D., & Abbeduto, L. (2018). Narrative language sampling in typical development: Implications for intellectual and developmental disabilities. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 27, 123-135. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2017_AJSLP-17-0046 

Loveall, S. J., Conners, F. A., Tungate, A., Hahn, L., & Osso, T. (2017). A cross-sectional analysis of executive function in Down syndrome from 2 – 35 years. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 61, 877-887. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jir.12396/abstract

Phillips, B. A., Conners, F. A., & Curtner-Smith, M.-E. (2017). Parenting children with Down syndrome: An analysis of parenting styles, partenting dimensions, and parental stress. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 68, 9-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.06.010 

Esbensen, A. J., Hooper, S. R., Fidler, D. J., Hartley, S., Edgin, J., d’Ardhuy, X….Urv, T. (2017). Outcome measures for clinical trials in Down syndrome. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 122, 247-281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-122.3.247

Faught, G.G., Conners, F. A., Barber, A., & Price, H. R. (2016). Addressing phonological memory in language therapy with clients who have Down syndrome: Perspectives of Speech-Language Pathologists. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 51, 703-714. http://doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12241

Loveall, S. J., Phillips, B. A., Channell, M. M., Abbeduto, L., & Conners, F. A. (2016). Receptive vocabulary analysis in Down syndrome. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 55, 161-172. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.03.018

Faught, G. G., Conners, F. A., & Himmelberger, Z. (2016). Auditory and visual sustained attention in Down syndrome. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 53-54, 135-146. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.01.021

Loveall, S. J., & Conners, F. A. (2016). Reading skills in Down syndrome: An examination of orthographic knowledge. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 121, 95-110.http://dx.doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-121.2.95

​Channell, M. M., Loveall, S. J., Phillips, B. A., Conners, F. A., Bussanich, P. M., & Klinger, L. G. (2015). Patterns of autism symptomology in youth with Down syndrome without comorbid autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 7(5), 1-6. www.jneurodevdisorders.com/content/7/1/5 

Davis, M., Merrill, E. C., Conners, F. A., & Roskos, B. (2014). Differences in route-learning performance and correlations among abilities between persons with and without Down syndrome. Frontiers in Psychology: Developmental Psychology, 5, 1446, 1-12. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01446

Channell, M. M., Conners, F. A., & Barth, J. M. (2014). Emotion knowledge in children and adolescence with Down syndrome: A new methodological approach. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 119, 405-421. http://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-119.5.405

Merrill, E. C., Conners, F. A., Yang, Y., & Weathington, D. (2014). Contextual cuing in young adults with intellectual disability. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 2341- 2351. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.05.026

Yang, Y., Conners, F. A., & Merrill, E. C. (2014). Spatial ability in Down syndrome: A relative strength? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 1473-1500. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.04.002

Phillips, B. A., Conners, F. A., Merrill, E. C., & Klinger, M. R. (2014). Rule-based category learning in Down syndrome. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 119, 220-234. http://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-119.3.220

Conners, F. A., Phillips, B. A., Rhodes, J. R., & Hamilton, J.C. (2014). Family experience in a regional participant contact registry for research on intellectual disability. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 52, 112-123. http://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-52.2.112

Phillips, B. A., Loveall, S. J., Channell, M. M., & Conners, F. A. (2014). Matching variables in Down syndrome research: Leiter vs. PPVT. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 429-438. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.11.016

Loveall, S. J., Channell, M. M., Phillips, B. A., & Conners, F. A. (2013). Phonological recoding, rapid automatized naming, and orthographic knowledge.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116, 738-746. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.05.009

Merrill, E. C., & Conners, F. A. (2013). Age-related interference from irrelevant distracters in visual feature search among heterogeneous distracters.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115, 640-654. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.03.013

Loveall, S. J., & Conners, F. A. (2013). Individuals with intellectual disability can self-teach in reading. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 118, 108-123. http://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-118.2.108

Merrill, E. C., Conners, F. A., Roskos-Ewoldsen, B., Klinger, M. R., & Klinger, L. G. (2013). Contextual cuing effects across the lifespan. Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 174, 387-402. http://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2012.694919

Channell, M. M., Loveall, S., & Conners, F. A. (2013). Strengths and weaknesses in reading skills of students with intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 776-787.  http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2012.10.010