College of Charleston Study on Down Syndrome and Williams Syndrome

Online research is a new way of collecting data in psychology. This letter is to inform
you about research we are currently conducting on Down Syndrome and Williams Syndrome
that will be accessible through the World Wide Web. 

The project consists of two parts: 1) a survey, completed by an adult who has a relationship
with an individual with Down Syndrome or Williams Syndrome and 2) an experiment,
completed by the person with Down Syndrome or Williams Syndrome, with the assistance of a
helper. The survey will ask questions about your background, your child’s temperament, and
your home setting (e.g., your age? your child's activity level? type of computer in your home?).
The experiment will be somewhat like a game and will gather information about your child’s
auditory and visual short-term memory. You may participate in either or both parts. There are,
of course, no costs. Your data will be completely anonymous and will be used solely for
research purposes. A summary of the results will be posted online at Dr. Marcell’s web page
later this fall, once the data are collected. Our goal is to assess the feasibility of online data
collection with special populations. 

If you would like to participate, please click on the following link:
http://www.cofc.edu/~marcellm/testaw.htm. We are affiliated with the College of Charleston in
Charleston, South Carolina (USA), and can be contacted by phone at 843-953-5590 if there
are any questions. Our hope is that you will help us by participating or by forwarding the e-mail
to other individuals who might be interested. Thank you for your time and assistance. 

Sincerely, 

Dr. Michael Marcell, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology 

Ms. Mandy Falls, Undergraduate Psychology Major Dr. Michael Marcell, Ph.D. 
Department of Psychology 
College of Charleston 
Charleston, South Carolina 29407 USA 
phone: 843-953-5590 
email: marcellm@cofc.edu 
web page: http://www.cofc.edu/~marcellm/