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Lai J, Chan A, Kidd E. Relative clause comprehension in Cantonese-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288021. [PMID: 37934774 PMCID: PMC10629646 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), present in 2 out of every 30 children, affects primarily oral language abilities and development in the absence of associated biomedical conditions. We report the first experimental study that examines relative clause (RC) comprehension accuracy and processing (via looking preference) in Cantonese-speaking children with and without DLD, testing the predictions from competing domain-specific versus domain-general theoretical accounts. We compared children with DLD (N = 22) with their age-matched typically-developing (TD) children (AM-TD, N = 23) aged 6;6-9;7 and language-matched (and younger) TD children (YTD, N = 21) aged 4;7-7;6, using a referent selection task. Within-subject factors were: RC type (subject-RCs (SRCs) versus object-RCs (ORCs); relativizer (classifier (CL) versus relative marker ge3 RCs). Accuracy measures and looking preference to the target were analyzed using generalized linear mixed effects models. Results indicated Cantonese children with DLD scored significantly lower than their AM-TD peers in accuracy and processed RCs significantly slower than AM-TDs, but did not differ from the YTDs on either measure. Overall, while the results revealed evidence of a SRC advantage in the accuracy data, there was no indication of additional difficulty associated with ORCs in the eye-tracking data. All children showed a processing advantage for the frequent CL relativizer over the less frequent ge3 relativizer. These findings pose challenges to domain-specific representational deficit accounts of DLD, which primarily explain the disorder as a syntactic deficit, and are better explained by domain-general accounts that explain acquisition and processing as emergent properties of multiple converging linguistic and non-linguistic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane Lai
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Angel Chan
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Peking University Research Centre on Chinese Linguistics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Evan Kidd
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, Australia
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Zapparrata NM, Brooks PJ, Ober T. Developmental Language Disorder Is Associated With Slower Processing Across Domains: A Meta-Analysis of Time-Based Tasks. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:325-346. [PMID: 36603228 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-22-00221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) often exhibit slower processing on time-based tasks in comparison with age-matched peers. Processing speed has been linked to various linguistic skills and might serve as a global indicator of individual differences in language abilities. Despite an extensive literature on processing speed in DLD, it remains unclear whether slower processing is domain general or restricted to linguistic and/or auditory tasks. METHOD This meta-analysis used robust variance estimation to compare response/reaction times (RTs) of DLD and age-matched groups (N = 812 DLD, 870 neurotypical; M age [DLD] = 8.9 years, range: 4.3-22.7 years). Moderators included task (simple RT, choice RT, naming, congruent/baseline conditions of interference control tasks), stimulus type (linguistic/nonlinguistic), stimulus modality (auditory/nonauditory), and response modality (verbal/nonverbal). Age and publication year were covariates. RESULTS The overall effect based on 46 studies and 144 estimates indicated longer mean RTs in DLD groups (g = .47, p < .001, 95% CI [.38, .55]). Moderator analyses indicated larger effects when tasks required verbal as opposed to nonverbal responses. No other moderators approached significance. All subgroup analyses were significant, indicating longer mean RTs in DLD groups across tasks, stimulus types, stimulus modalities, and response modalities. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with DLD exhibit longer RTs across verbal and nonverbal tasks, which may contribute to observed difficulties in language, motor skills, and executive functioning. Simple processing speed measures should be included in screening for language delays but may not be suitable for differential diagnosis, given that slower processing may occur across multiple disorders. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21809355.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patricia J Brooks
- Program in Educational Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY
- Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, NY
| | - Teresa Ober
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, IN
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Kautto A, Jansson-Verkasalo E, Mainela-Arnold E. Generalized Slowing Rather Than Inhibition Is Associated With Language Outcomes in Both Late Talkers and Children With Typical Early Development. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:1222-1234. [PMID: 33769831 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose While most of the children who are identified as late talkers at the age of 2 years catch up with their peers before school age, some continue to have language difficulties and will later be identified as having developmental language disorder. Our understanding of which children catch up and which do not is limited. The aim of the current study was to find out if inhibition is associated with late talker outcomes at school age. Method We recruited 73 school-aged children (ages 7-10 years) with a history of late talking (n = 38) or typical development (n = 35). Children completed measures of language skills and a flanker task to measure inhibition. School-age language outcome was measured as a continuous variable. Results Our analyses did not reveal associations between inhibition and school-age language index or history of late talking. However, stronger school-age language skills were associated with shorter overall response times on the flanker task, in both congruent and incongruent trials. This effect was not modulated by history of late talking, suggesting that a relationship between general response times and language development is similar in both children with typical early language development and late talkers. Conclusions Inhibition is not related to late talker language outcomes. However, children with better language outcomes had shorter general response times. We interpret this to reflect differences in general processing speed, suggesting that processing speed holds promise for predicting school-age language outcomes in both late talkers and children with typical early development. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14226722.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kautto
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
| | | | - Elina Mainela-Arnold
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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King MR, Romski M, Sevcik RA. Language Differentiation Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication: An Investigation of Spanish-English Bilingual Children With and Without Language Impairments. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2021; 30:89-104. [PMID: 33290088 DOI: 10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Children with severe speech and language impairments growing up in dual language environments may communicate in more than one language using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This study investigated predictors of bilingual children's ability to differentiate between Spanish and English using an AAC iPad app during a cued language-switching task and examined whether switching between languages using AAC incurred a cognitive cost. Method Participants were 58 Spanish-English bilingual children ages 4;0-6;11 (years;months; 23 with language impairments). Children received standardized language and cognitive assessments and completed an experimental language-switching task in which they were asked to differentiate between languages using an AAC iPad app containing English and Spanish vocabulary layouts paired with voice output. Results Results of a binary logistic regression indicated that, when controlling for age, processing speed significantly predicted whether children were classified as high or low performers on the experimental task. Nonparametric tests indicated that switching between languages did not incur a cognitive cost as evidenced by similar response times on trials where participants were required to switch between languages compared to trials where they did not switch. Conclusion This study contributes to the understanding of how young bilingual children with and without language impairments conceptualize and discriminate between languages represented in a visual-graphic modality paired with speech output. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13289330.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marika R King
- Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education, Utah State University, Logan
| | - MaryAnn Romski
- Department of Communication, Georgia State University, Atlanta
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta
| | - Rose A Sevcik
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta
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Park JS, Miller CA, Sanjeevan T, van Hell JG, Weiss DJ, Mainela-Arnold E. Bilingualism and Processing Speed in Typically Developing Children and Children With Developmental Language Disorder. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:1479-1493. [PMID: 32379528 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Purpose The aim of the current study was to investigate whether dual language experience modulates processing speed in typically developing (TD) children and in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). We also examined whether processing speed predicted vocabulary and sentence-level abilities in receptive and expressive modalities. Method We examined processing speed in monolingual and bilingual school-age children (ages 8-12 years) with and without DLD. TD children (35 monolinguals, 24 bilinguals) and children with DLD (17 monolinguals, 10 bilinguals) completed a visual choice reaction time task. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Expressive Vocabulary Test were used as language measures. Results The children with DLD exhibited slower response times relative to TD children. Response time was not modified by bilingual experience, neither in children with typical development nor children with DLD. Also, we found that faster processing speed was related to higher language abilities, but this relationship was not significant when socioeconomic status was controlled for. The magnitude of the association did not differ between the monolingual and bilingual groups across the language measures. Conclusions Slower processing speed is related to lower language abilities in children. Processing speed is minimally influenced by dual language experience, at least within this age range. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12210311.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Sook Park
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Carol A Miller
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Pennsylvania State University, State College
| | - Teenu Sanjeevan
- Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Janet G van Hell
- Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, State College
| | - Daniel J Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, State College
| | - Elina Mainela-Arnold
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology and Speech and Language Pathology, University of Turku, Finland
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So WC, Cheng CH, Lam WY, Wong T, Law WW, Huang Y, Ng KC, Tung HC, Wong W. Robot-based play-drama intervention may improve the narrative abilities of Chinese-speaking preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2019; 95:103515. [PMID: 31670026 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2019.103515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have deficits in their narrative skills and gestural communication. Very few intervention studies have been conducted with the aim of improving these skills. AIMS We examined whether children with ASD who received the robot-based drama intervention had better narrative abilities and gestured more often than their peers who did not receive the intervention. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Preschool children were randomly assigned to the intervention group (N = 13) and waitlist control group (N = 13). Children in the intervention group watched three robot dramas and engaged in roleplays with both robots and human experimenters. Children in both groups took the pre-tests, immediate post-tests, and, two week later, delayed post-tests, in which they narrated three stories. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS There were significant improvements in various narrative measures, including narrative length, syntactic complexity, narrative structure, and cognitive inferences, in the intervention group. There was also an improvement in the average number of overall gestures per clause in this condition. These learning outcomes were maintained in the delayed post-test. These patterns were not found in the waitlist control group. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS A robot-based play-drama intervention can enhance the narrative abilities and gestural communication of children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wing-Chee So
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
| | - Chun-Ho Cheng
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Wan-Yi Lam
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Tiffany Wong
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Wing-Wun Law
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Ying Huang
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Ka-Ching Ng
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Hiu-Ching Tung
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Wing Wong
- Department of Educational Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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Zoutenbier I, Zwitserlood R. Exploring the Relationship between Native Language Skills and Foreign Language Learning in Children with Developmental Language Disorders. CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2019; 33:641-653. [PMID: 30773063 DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2019.1576769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Learning English as a foreign language (FL) is mandatory for children with developmental language disorders (DLD) in elementary education in the Netherlands. Because of their difficulties in acquiring their first language, learning an FL at school can be challenging. To date, almost no literature on children with DLD and FL learning exists. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between language proficiency in Dutch of monolingual and multilingual children with DLD and learning English as an FL. A cross-sectional study was conducted in four special education schools for children with DLD. Thirty-five sixth graders (mean age 12;3 years) participated in this study. Twenty-two children were monolingual, and 13 children were multilingual. Correlation analyses between scores on standardised Dutch language tests and a standardised test for English proficiency were performed. Because the English proficiency test partly relies on reading skills, scores on a Dutch word decoding test were included in the analyses. Results show that the children with DLD performed poorly on the FL proficiency test when compared to typically developing children. Significant positive relationships were found between Dutch and English language skills of children with DLD, with no significant differences in FL proficiency between the monolingual and multilingual groups. Possibly, children with DLD cannot achieve acceptable proficiency levels of English as an FL, because of poor word decoding skills and impaired morphosyntactic skills in Dutch. Future research should focus on oral English proficiency of the children, because the English proficiency test only uses written and auditory presented tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inge Zoutenbier
- a Clinical Language , Speech and Hearing Sciences, programme in Clinical Health Sciences , Faculty of Medicine , Utrecht University, The Netherlands
- b Royal Dutch Auris Group , Rotterdam , The Netherlands
| | - Rob Zwitserlood
- b Royal Dutch Auris Group , Rotterdam , The Netherlands
- c Research Group Speech and Language Therapy , HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht , Utrecht , The Netherlands
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Saletta M, Goffman L, Ward C, Oleson J. Influence of Language Load on Speech Motor Skill in Children With Specific Language Impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2018; 61:675-689. [PMID: 29484363 PMCID: PMC6195069 DOI: 10.1044/2017_jslhr-l-17-0066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2017] [Revised: 07/05/2017] [Accepted: 11/16/2017] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Children with specific language impairment (SLI) show particular deficits in the generation of sequenced action: the quintessential procedural task. Practiced imitation of a sequence may become rote and require reduced procedural memory. This study explored whether speech motor deficits in children with SLI occur generally or only in conditions of high linguistic load, whether speech motor deficits diminish with practice, and whether it is beneficial to incorporate conditions of high load to understand speech production. Method Children with SLI and typical development participated in a syntactic priming task during which they generated sentences (high linguistic load) and, then, practiced repeating a sentence (low load) across 3 sessions. We assessed phonetic accuracy, speech movement variability, and duration. Results Children with SLI produced more variable articulatory movements than peers with typical development in the high load condition. The groups converged in the low load condition. Children with SLI continued to show increased articulatory stability over 3 practice sessions. Both groups produced generated sentences with increased duration and variability compared with repeated sentences. Conclusions Linguistic demands influence speech motor production. Children with SLI show reduced speech motor performance in tasks that require language generation but not when task demands are reduced in rote practice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lisa Goffman
- Callier Center for Communication Disorders, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas
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Pauls LJ, Archibald LMD. Executive Functions in Children With Specific Language Impairment: A Meta-Analysis. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2016; 59:1074-1086. [PMID: 27653611 DOI: 10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 02/06/2016] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Mounting evidence demonstrates deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI) beyond the linguistic domain. Using meta-analysis, this study examined differences in children with and without SLI on tasks measuring inhibition and cognitive flexibility. METHOD Databases were searched for articles comparing children (4-14 years) with and without SLI on behavioral measures of inhibition or cognitive flexibility. Weighted average effect size was calculated using multilevel modeling to measure potential group differences. RESULTS The analysis included 46 studies. Of those, 34 included inhibitory control measures and 22 included cognitive flexibility tasks. Children with SLI performed below same-aged peers on both inhibitory control tasks (g = -.56) and cognitive flexibility tasks (g = -.27). Moderator analyses showed no effect of linguistic task demands, participant age, or severity of language impairment on the degree of difference between children with SLI and controls on measures of inhibitory control. CONCLUSION Reliable differences between children with and without SLI were found on inhibition and cognitive flexibility tasks. A moderate group effect was found for inhibition tasks, but there was only a small effect for cognitive flexibility tasks. Results of moderator analyses suggest that these deficits are present throughout development despite task demands or severity of linguistic impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J Pauls
- The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
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Poll GH, Miller CA, van Hell JG. Sentence Repetition Accuracy in Adults With Developmental Language Impairment: Interactions of Participant Capacities and Sentence Structures. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2016; 59:302-16. [PMID: 27272196 PMCID: PMC4972009 DOI: 10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-15-0020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2015] [Accepted: 08/12/2015] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE We asked whether sentence repetition accuracy could be explained by interactions of participant processing limitations with the structures of the sentences. We also tested a prediction of the procedural deficit hypothesis (Ullman & Pierpont, 2005) that adjuncts are more difficult than arguments for individuals with developmental language impairment (DLI). METHOD Forty-four young adults participated, 21 with DLI. The sentence repetition task varied sentence length and the use of arguments and adjuncts. We also administered measures of working memory and processing speed. Our regression models focused on these interactions: group and argument status; processing speed, length, and argument status; and working memory capacity, length, and argument status. RESULTS Language ability group was a significant predictor of sentence repetition accuracy but did not interact with argument status. Processing speed interacted with sentence length and argument status. Working memory capacity and its separate interactions with argument status and sentence length predicted sentence repetition accuracy. CONCLUSIONS Many adults with DLI may have difficulty with adjuncts as a result of their working memory limitations rather than their language ability. Cognitive limitations common to individuals with DLI are revealed more by particular sentence structures, suggesting ways to construct more diagnostically accurate sentence repetition tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Janet G. van Hell
- The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Rißling JK, Melzer J, Petermann F. Konstruktion eines Sprachstandserhebungsverfahrens für Kinder im Alter zwischen 3 und 5 Jahren. ZEITSCHRIFT FUR ENTWICKLUNGSPSYCHOLOGIE UND PADAGOGISCHE PSYCHOLOGIE 2016. [DOI: 10.1026/0049-8637/a000145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Zusammenfassung. Umschriebene Entwicklungsstörungen des Sprechens und der Sprache gehören zu den häufigsten Entwicklungsstörungen und beeinträchtigen die psychosoziale, kognitive und schulische Entwicklung eines Kindes. Insbesondere im Vorschulalter gewinnt die Diagnostik sprachlicher Kompetenzen zunehmend an Bedeutung. Die Anforderungen an eine valide Diagnostik gestalten sich vor dem Hintergrund der Heterogenität der Symptomatik und der Abhängigkeit vom Alter der Kinder entsprechend komplex. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde der Sprachstandserhebungstest für Kinder im Alter zwischen 3 und 5 Jahren (SET 3 – 5) entwickelt, der eine umfassende Beurteilung sprachlicher Kompetenzen ermöglicht. Es werden die Ergebnisse der Konstruktionsstichprobe des Verfahrens berichtet. Hierfür wurden 316 Kinder im Alter von 3;0 bis 5;11 Jahren mit dem SET 3 – 5 überprüft. Die Aufgabenanalyse zeigt gute Itemschwierigkeiten und Itemtrennschärfen im mittleren bis hohen Bereich. Die internen Konsistenzen (Cronbachs Alpha) sind ebenfalls als zufriedenstellend bis gut zu bewerten.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica Melzer
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
| | - Franz Petermann
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
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Bavin EL, Kidd E, Prendergast LA, Baker EK. Young Children with ASD Use Lexical and Referential Information During On-line Sentence Processing. Front Psychol 2016; 7:171. [PMID: 26925005 PMCID: PMC4759258 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Research with adults and older children indicates that verb biases are strong influences on listeners' interpretations when processing sentences, but they can be overruled. In this paper, we ask two questions: (i) are children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are high functioning sensitive to verb biases like their same age typically developing peers?, and (ii) do young children with ASD and young children with typical development (TD) override strong verb biases to consider alternative interpretations of ambiguous sentences? Participants were aged 5-9 years (mean age 6.65 years): children with ASD who were high functioning and children with TD. In task 1, biasing and neutral verbs were included (e.g., eat cake versus move cake). In task 2, the focus was on whether the prepositional phrase occurring with an instrument biasing verb (e.g., 'Chop the tree with the axe') was interpreted as an instrument even if the named item was an implausible instrument (e.g., candle in 'Cut the cake with the candle'). Overall, the results showed similarities between groups but the ASD group was generally slower. In task 1, both groups looked at the named object faster in the biasing than the non-biasing condition, and in the biasing condition the ASD group looked away from the target more quickly than the TD group. In task 2, both groups identified the target in the prepositional phrase. They were more likely to override the verb instrument bias and consider the alternative (modification) interpretation in the implausible condition (e.g., looking at the picture of a cake with a candle on it'). Our findings indicate that children of age 5 years and above can use context to override verb biases. Additionally, an important component of the sentence processing mechanism is largely intact for young children with ASD who are high functioning. Like children with TD, they draw on verb semantics and plausibility in integrating information. However, they are likely to be slower in processing the language they hear. Based on previous findings of associations between processing speed and cognitive functioning, the implication is that their understanding will be negatively affected, as will their academic outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edith L. Bavin
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, MelbourneVIC, Australia
| | - Evan Kidd
- Research School of Psychology and ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, CanberraACT, Australia
| | - Luke A. Prendergast
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University, MelbourneVIC, Australia
| | - Emma K. Baker
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, MelbourneVIC, Australia
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, MelbourneVIC, Australia
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Melzer J, Rißling JK, Petermann F. Kognitive Kompetenzen und Sprachentwicklung bei Kindern im Alter zwischen vier und fünf Jahren. ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR NEUROPSYCHOLOGIE 2016. [DOI: 10.1024/1016-264x/a000170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Zusammenfassung. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es den Zusammenhang von verschiedenen kognitiven Basiskompetenzen und sprachlichen Fähigkeiten bei Vorschülern zu untersuchen. Verglichen werden die kognitiven Kompetenzen von Kindern mit niedrigen Leistungen im Wortschatz und/oder in der Grammatik (n = 69) und einer sprachlich unbeeinträchtigten Vergleichsgruppe (n = 69). Weiter wird eine multiple hierarchische Regressionsanalyse gerechnet um die Bedeutung von kognitiven Basiskompetenzen für die Pragmatik zu untersuchen. Insgesamt zeigt sich, dass die Vergleichsgruppe über bessere kognitive Fähigkeiten verfügt als die Risikogruppe, insbesondere in der Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit. Im Bereich Pragmatik konnte das Arbeitsgedächtnis als wichtiger Prädiktor identifiziert werden. Anhand der Analysen wird deutlich, dass kognitive Basiskompetenzen für verschiedene sprachliche Bereiche von Bedeutung sind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Melzer
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
| | | | - Franz Petermann
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
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Victorino KR, Schwartz RG. Control of Auditory Attention in Children With Specific Language Impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2015; 58:1245-57. [PMID: 26262428 PMCID: PMC4765193 DOI: 10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-14-0181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2014] [Revised: 02/12/2015] [Accepted: 05/06/2015] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Children with specific language impairment (SLI) appear to demonstrate deficits in attention and its control. Selective attention involves the cognitive control of attention directed toward a relevant stimulus and simultaneous inhibition of attention toward irrelevant stimuli. The current study examined attention control during a cross-modal word recognition task. METHOD Twenty participants with SLI (ages 9-12 years) and 20 age-matched peers with typical language development (TLD) listened to words through headphones and were instructed to attend to the words in 1 ear while ignoring the words in the other ear. They were simultaneously presented with pictures and asked to make a lexical decision about whether the pictures and auditory words were the same or different. Accuracy and reaction time were measured in 5 conditions, in which the stimulus in the unattended channel was manipulated. RESULTS The groups performed with similar accuracy. Compared with their peers with TLD, children with SLI had slower reaction times overall and different within-group patterns of performance by condition. CONCLUSIONS Children with TLD showed efficient inhibitory control in conditions that required active suppression of competing stimuli. Participants with SLI had difficulty exerting control over their auditory attention in all conditions, with particular difficulty inhibiting distractors of all types.
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Kapa LL, Plante E. Executive Function in SLI: Recent Advances and Future Directions. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS REPORTS 2015; 2:245-252. [PMID: 26543795 DOI: 10.1007/s40474-015-0050-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
This paper provides a review of recent research on executive function abilities in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Across several studies, children with SLI are reported to perform worse than typically developing peers on measures of sustained attention, working memory, inhibition, and attention shifting. However, few studies have considered multiple executive function components simultaneously and even fewer have examined the underlying relationship between executive function deficits and impaired language acquisition. We argue that in order to fully understand the nature of executive function deficits in SLI, the field must move past simply identifying weaknesses to instead test models of executive function development and explore the nature of the relationship between executive function and language. Future research directions are recommended in order to achieve these goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah L Kapa
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, 1311 E. 2nd Street, P.O. Box 210071, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0071, , ,
| | - Elena Plante
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, 1311 E. 2nd Street, P.O. Box 210071, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0071, , ,
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Motor Issues in Specific Language Impairment: a Window into the Underlying Impairment. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS REPORTS 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s40474-015-0051-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Park J, Miller CA, Mainela-Arnold E. Processing Speed Measures as Clinical Markers for Children With Language Impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2015; 58:954-960. [PMID: 25682521 PMCID: PMC4610286 DOI: 10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-14-0092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2014] [Revised: 10/11/2014] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study investigated the relative utility of linguistic and nonlinguistic processing speed tasks as predictors of language impairment (LI) in children across 2 time points. METHOD Linguistic and nonlinguistic reaction time data, obtained from 131 children (89 children with typical development [TD] and 42 children with LI; 74 boys and 57 girls) were analyzed in the 3rd and 8th grades. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses and likelihood ratios were used to compare the diagnostic usefulness of each task. A binary logistic regression was used to test whether combined measures enhanced diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS In 3rd grade, a linguistic task, grammaticality judgment, provided the best discrimination between LI and TD groups. In 8th grade, a combination of linguistic and nonlinguistic tasks, rhyme judgment and simple response time, provided the best discrimination between groups. CONCLUSIONS Processing speed tasks were moderately predictive of LI status at both time points. Better LR+ than LR- values suggested that slow processing speed was more predictive of the presence than the absence of LI. A nonlinguistic processing measure contributed to the prediction of LI only at 8th grade, consistent with the view that nonlinguistic and linguistic processing speeds follow different developmental trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jisook Park
- The Pennsylvania State University, State College
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Rißling JK, Melzer J, Petermann F. Sprachentwicklungsstörungen bei monolingualen und mehrsprachig aufwachsenden Kindern. KINDHEIT UND ENTWICKLUNG 2015. [DOI: 10.1026/0942-5403/a000166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Die Umschriebenen Entwicklungsstörungen des Sprechens und der Sprache gehören zu den häufigsten Entwicklungsstörungen. Jedoch bleiben sie oft unerkannt und nehmen Einfluss auf verschiedene Entwicklungsbereiche. Wächst ein Kind mehrsprachig auf, stellt sich zudem die Frage, welchen Einfluss die Mehrsprachigkeit auf die Ausprägung des Störungsbildes nimmt. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden die sprachlichen Leistungsprofile von monolingual deutschsprachigen und mehrsprachigen Kindern mit Artikulationsstörung, vorwiegend expressiver Problematik und kombiniert expressiv-rezeptiver Problematik analysiert und mit einer unbeeinträchtigten Referenzgruppe verglichen (N=282). Die Ergebnisse zeigen zum einen, dass bei monolingual deutschsprachigen Kindern zwischen vorwiegend expressiver und kombiniert expressiv-rezeptiver Sprachproblematik differenziert werden kann. Zum anderen zeigt sich, dass auch bei mehrsprachigen Kindern eine Einschätzung der Fähigkeiten in der Umgebungssprache Deutsch getroffen werden kann, wobei die Ergebnisse vor dem Hintergrund des Mehrsprachigkeitserwerbs interpretiert werden müssen.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica Melzer
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
| | - Franz Petermann
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
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Karasinski C. Language ability, executive functioning and behaviour in school-age children. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2015; 50:144-150. [PMID: 25582151 PMCID: PMC4371658 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2013] [Accepted: 03/27/2014] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Many children with language impairment present with deficits in other areas, including executive functioning (EF), attention and behaviour. Similarly, many children receiving services for attention or behaviour problems have deficits in language ability. AIMS To evaluate the relations among EF, language ability and behaviour problems in a sample of school-age children with a wide range of language and behaviour profiles. The following research questions were addressed: Does performance on EF tasks predict language ability? Do language ability and EF predict problems with attention, internalizing and/or externalizing? METHODS & PROCEDURES EF was defined as referring to the separable, yet related, processes of shifting, updating working memory and inhibition as specified in the latent variable model of EF. Children aged 8-11 years recruited from an urban school district completed standardized language and cognitive assessments and a computerized task assessing EF. Their parents completed standardized questionnaires assessing the children's EF and problem behaviours. Regression analyses were conducted. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Regression analyses revealed that EF did not contribute to language ability beyond the variance accounted for by nonverbal reasoning. Language ability contributed to attention problems when entered as a single predictor, but was no longer significant when the EF measures were added to the model. Language ability did not significantly contribute to internalizing or externalizing behaviour problems. Parent-reported inhibition was a robust predictor of attention, internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS In this sample of school-age children, language ability was related to attention problems, but not to internalizing or externalizing. Children with behaviour problems may have particular difficulty with inhibition.
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Sussman E, Steinschneider M, Lee W, Lawson K. Auditory scene analysis in school-aged children with developmental language disorders. Int J Psychophysiol 2015; 95:113-24. [PMID: 24548430 PMCID: PMC4134435 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2013] [Revised: 02/05/2014] [Accepted: 02/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Natural sound environments are dynamic, with overlapping acoustic input originating from simultaneously active sources. A key function of the auditory system is to integrate sensory inputs that belong together and segregate those that come from different sources. We hypothesized that this skill is impaired in individuals with phonological processing difficulties. There is considerable disagreement about whether phonological impairments observed in children with developmental language disorders can be attributed to specific linguistic deficits or to more general acoustic processing deficits. However, most tests of general auditory abilities have been conducted with a single set of sounds. We assessed the ability of school-aged children (7-15 years) to parse complex auditory non-speech input, and determined whether the presence of phonological processing impairments was associated with stream perception performance. A key finding was that children with language impairments did not show the same developmental trajectory for stream perception as typically developing children. In addition, children with language impairments required larger frequency separations between sounds to hear distinct streams compared to age-matched peers. Furthermore, phonological processing ability was a significant predictor of stream perception measures, but only in the older age groups. No such association was found in the youngest children. These results indicate that children with language impairments have difficulty parsing speech streams, or identifying individual sound events when there are competing sound sources. We conclude that language group differences may in part reflect fundamental maturational disparities in the analysis of complex auditory scenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Sussman
- Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Otorhinolaryngology-HNS, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
| | - M Steinschneider
- Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - W Lee
- Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - K Lawson
- Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
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Park J, Mainela-Arnold E, Miller CA. Information processing speed as a predictor of IQ in children with and without specific language impairment in grades 3 and 8. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2015; 53:57-69. [PMID: 25577725 PMCID: PMC4365474 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2013] [Revised: 11/03/2014] [Accepted: 11/07/2014] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study investigated (1) whether nonlinguistic processing speed predicts nonverbal IQ in TD children and children with SLI and (2) if the proposed relationship is different at two time points. METHOD The participants consisted of a subset of a longitudinal dataset, 55 typically developing children and 55 children with SLI. Children completed four nonverbal speed tasks and four subtests of the WISC-III. The WISC-III subtests requiring timed and untimed responses were examined separately. RESULTS Linear mixed model analyses indicated that in both groups, processing speed predicted nonverbal IQ subtests that reward speedy responses, but not IQ subtests that do not. The relationships between processing speed and IQ with speed bonuses did not differ at grades 3 and 8, and these relationships also were not significantly different in children with SLI and their TD peers. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the presence of processing speed limitations in many children with SLI raises questions about the utility of timed nonverbal IQ measures as tools for diagnosis of SLI. Future studies should investigate other cognitive assessments that could be used as inclusionary criteria for SLI. LEARNING OUTCOMES The reader will be able to (1) describe the relationship between processing speed and nonverbal IQ in children with TD and SLI and (2) discuss problems using an IQ criterion to diagnose children as having SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jisook Park
- The Pennsylvania State University, Communication Sciences and Disorders, United States.
| | | | - Carol A Miller
- The Pennsylvania State University, Communication Sciences and Disorders, United States
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Poll GH, Watkins HS, Miller CA. Lexical decay during online sentence processing in adults with specific language impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2014; 57:2253-2260. [PMID: 25104299 DOI: 10.1044/2014_jslhr-l-13-0265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2013] [Accepted: 08/06/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Decay of memory traces is an important component of many theories of working memory, but there is conflicting evidence on whether the rate of decay differs for individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) as compared to peers with typical language. The authors tested the hypothesis that adults with SLI have a slower decay rate. METHOD Twenty adults with SLI, ages 18-27 years, and 23 age-matched peers identified target words in sentences. Sentences were presented at normal and slow rates. Participants separately judged whether a picture and sentence matched in meaning as a measure of sentence processing efficiency. RESULTS After controlling for sentence processing efficiency, the group with SLI was slower to detect words in sentences. Response times for the group with SLI increased less in the slow condition as compared to the group with typical language, resulting in a Group × Presentation Rate interaction. CONCLUSIONS The Group × Presentation Rate interaction is consistent with a slower lexical decay rate for adults with SLI, but differences in the ability to manage interference could not be ruled out. The findings suggest that decay rate differences may play a role in the working memory limitations found in individuals with SLI.
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Auditory implicit semantic priming in Spanish-speaking children with and without specific language impairment. SPANISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2014; 17:E29. [PMID: 25012304 DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2014.33] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
We analyzed whether Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) showed deficits in lexical-semantic processing/organization, and whether these lexical measures correlated with standardized measures of language abilities. Fourteen children with Typical Language Development (TLD) and 16 age-matched children with SLI (8;0-9;11 years) participated. In a Lexical Decision (LD) task with implicit semantic priming, children judged whether a given speech pair contained two words (semantically related/unrelated) or a word-pseudoword. Children received a comprehensive language and reading test battery. Children with TLD exhibited significant semantic priming; they were faster for semantically related word pairs than for unrelated (p < .001) and than for word-pseudoword pairs (p < .0002). The group with SLI did not exhibit significant semantic priming, despite showing more variability. Children with SLI made significantly slower LDs [F(1, 26) = 4.61, p < .05, partial η2 = .15] and more errors [F(1, 26) = 4.16, p < .05, partial η2 = .13] than children with TLD. Mean response time across all LD conditions and the receptive vocabulary (PPVT-III) were significantly negativity correlated for children with SLI (r = -.71, p = .004). Children with SLI, especially those with the poorest language scores, showed a semantic-lexical deficit and a weakness in lexical-semantic association networks. Their performance on the LD task was significantly slower and poorer than for children with TLD. Increasing a child's vocabulary may benefit lexical access.
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Ebert KD, Kohnert K, Pham G, Disher JR, Payesteh B. Three treatments for bilingual children with primary language impairment: examining cross-linguistic and cross-domain effects. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2014; 57:172-86. [PMID: 23900032 PMCID: PMC4052114 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2013/12-0388)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study examines the absolute and relative effects of 3 different treatment programs for school-age bilingual children with primary or specific language impairment (PLI). It serves to expand the evidence base on which service providers can base treatment decisions. It also explores hypothesized relations between languages and cognition in bilinguals with PLI. METHOD Fifty-nine school-age Spanish–English bilingual children with PLI were assigned to receive nonlinguistic cognitive processing, English, bilingual (Spanish–English), or deferred treatment. Participants in each of the 3 active treatments received treatment administered by nationally certified speech-language pathologists. Pre- and posttreatment assessments measured change in nonlinguistic cognitive processing, English, and Spanish skills, and analyses examined change within and across both treatment groups and skill domains. RESULTS All active treatment groups made significant pre- to post-treatment improvement on multiple outcome measures. There were fewer significant changes in Spanish than in English across groups. Between-group comparisons indicate that the active treatment groups generally outperformed the deferred treatment control, reaching statistical significance for 2 tasks. CONCLUSION Results provide insight into cross-language transfer in bilingual children and advance understanding of the general PLI profile with respect to relationships between basic cognitive processing and higher level language skills.
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Dispaldro M, Leonard LB, Corradi N, Ruffino M, Bronte T, Facoetti A. Visual attentional engagement deficits in children with specific language impairment and their role in real-time language processing. Cortex 2013; 49:2126-39. [PMID: 23154040 PMCID: PMC4430851 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2012] [Revised: 05/29/2012] [Accepted: 09/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In order to become a proficient user of language, infants must detect temporal cues embedded within the noisy acoustic spectra of ongoing speech by efficient attentional engagement. According to the neuro-constructivist approach, a multi-sensory dysfunction of attentional engagement - hampering the temporal sampling of stimuli - might be responsible for language deficits typically shown in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). In the present study, the efficiency of visual attentional engagement was investigated in 22 children with SLI and 22 typically developing (TD) children by measuring attentional masking (AM). AM refers to impaired identification of the first of two sequentially presented masked objects (O1 and O2) in which the O1-O2 interval was manipulated. Lexical and grammatical comprehension abilities were also tested in both groups. Children with SLI showed a sluggish engagement of temporal attention, and individual differences in AM accounted for a significant percentage of unique variance in grammatical performance. Our results suggest that an attentional engagement deficit - probably linked to a dysfunction of the right fronto-parietal attentional network - might be a contributing factor in these children's language impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Dispaldro
- Language Acquisition Lab, Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Italy
| | - Laurence B. Leonard
- Child Language Research Lab, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department, Purdue University, IN, USA
| | - Nicola Corradi
- Developmental & Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Italy
| | - Milena Ruffino
- Unità di Neuropsicologia dello Sviluppo, Istituto Scientifico “E. Medea” di Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Tiziana Bronte
- Centro Medico di Foniatria, Casa di Cura “Trieste”, Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Developmental & Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Italy
- Unità di Neuropsicologia dello Sviluppo, Istituto Scientifico “E. Medea” di Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
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Poll GH, Miller CA, Mainela-Arnold E, Adams KD, Misra M, Park JS. Effects of children's working memory capacity and processing speed on their sentence imitation performance. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2013; 48:329-342. [PMID: 23650889 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND More limited working memory capacity and slower processing for language and cognitive tasks are characteristics of many children with language difficulties. Individual differences in processing speed have not consistently been found to predict language ability or severity of language impairment. There are conflicting views on whether working memory and processing speed are integrated or separable abilities. AIMS To evaluate four models for the relations of individual differences in children's processing speed and working memory capacity in sentence imitation. The models considered whether working memory and processing speed are integrated or separable, as well as the effect of the number of operations required per sentence. The role of working memory as a mediator of the effect of processing speed on sentence imitation was also evaluated. METHODS & PROCEDURES Forty-six children with varied language and reading abilities imitated sentences. Working memory was measured with the Competing Language Processing Task (CLPT), and processing speed was measured with a composite of truth-value judgment and rapid automatized naming tasks. Mixed-effects ordinal regression models evaluated the CLPT and processing speed as predictors of sentence imitation item scores. A single mediator model evaluated working memory as a mediator of the effect of processing speed on sentence imitation total scores. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Working memory was a reliable predictor of sentence imitation accuracy, but processing speed predicted sentence imitation only as a component of a processing speed by number of operations interaction. Processing speed predicted working memory capacity, and there was evidence that working memory acted as a mediator of the effect of processing speed on sentence imitation accuracy. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The findings support a refined view of working memory and processing speed as separable factors in children's sentence imitation performance. Processing speed does not independently explain sentence imitation accuracy for all sentence types, but contributes when the task requires more mental operations. Processing speed also has an indirect effect on sentence imitation by contributing to working memory capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerard H Poll
- The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University Park, PA, USA.
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Leclercq AL, Majerus S, Prigent G, Maillart C. The impact of dual tasking on sentence comprehension in children with specific language impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2013; 56:265-280. [PMID: 22744135 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2012/10-0290)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE In this study, the authors assessed the hypothesis of a limitation in attentional allocation capacity as underlying poor sentence comprehension in children with specific language impairment (SLI). METHOD Fifteen children with SLI, 15 age-matched controls, and 15 grammar-matched controls participated in the study. Sixty sentences were presented in isolation, and 60 sentences were presented with a concurrent choice reaction time task in which colored stimuli randomly appeared at the center of the computer screen. RESULTS Sentence comprehension was affected by the dual-task condition to a greater extent in children with SLI relative to age controls but not relative to grammatical controls. CONCLUSION This study does not support limitations in attentional allocation capacity as representing a core deficit in SLI. Rather, the data show that these children show attentional allocation capacity comparable to that of younger children having similar language level, suggesting that SLI is characterized by a slowed development of both attentional and language domains.
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Durkin K, Conti-Ramsden G. Frequency of educational computer use as a longitudinal predictor of educational outcome in young people with specific language impairment. PLoS One 2012; 7:e52194. [PMID: 23300610 PMCID: PMC3531432 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2012] [Accepted: 11/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Computer use draws on linguistic abilities. Using this medium thus presents challenges for young people with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and raises questions of whether computer-based tasks are appropriate for them. We consider theoretical arguments predicting impaired performance and negative outcomes relative to peers without SLI versus the possibility of positive gains. We examine the relationship between frequency of computer use (for leisure and educational purposes) and educational achievement; in particular examination performance at the end of compulsory education and level of educational progress two years later. Participants were 49 young people with SLI and 56 typically developing (TD) young people. At around age 17, the two groups did not differ in frequency of educational computer use or leisure computer use. There were no associations between computer use and educational outcomes in the TD group. In the SLI group, after PIQ was controlled for, educational computer use at around 17 years of age contributed substantially to the prediction of educational progress at 19 years. The findings suggest that educational uses of computers are conducive to educational progress in young people with SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Durkin
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
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Sasisekaran J, Weber-Fox C. Cross-sectional study of phoneme and rhyme monitoring abilities in children between 7 and 13 years. APPLIED PSYCHOLINGUISTICS 2012. [PMID: 23204597 PMCID: PMC3508765 DOI: 10.1017/s0142716411000348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
We investigated phonemic competence in production in three age groups of children - 7 and 8 years, 10 and 11 years, 12 and 13 years-using rhyme and phoneme monitoring. Participants were required to name target pictures silently while monitoring covert speech for the presence or absence of a rhyme or phoneme match. Performance in the verbal tasks was compared to a nonverbal control task in which participants monitored tone sequence pairs for a pattern match. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences between the three age groups in phoneme monitoring while similar differences were limited to the younger age groups in rhyme monitoring. This finding supported early and on-going acquisition of rhyme- and later acquisition of segment-level units. In addition, the 7 and 8-year-olds were significantly slower in monitoring phonemes within consonant clusters compared to the 10 and 11-year-olds and in monitoring both singleton phonemes and phonemes within clusters compared to the 12 and 13-year-olds. Regression analysis revealed that age accounted for approximately 30% variance in the nonverbal and 60% variance in the verbal monitoring tasks. We attribute the observed differences to the emergence of cognitive processes such as segmentation skills that are critical to performing the verbal monitoring tasks.
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Sustained Attention in Children with Primary Language Impairment: A Meta-Analysis. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2011; 54:1372-84. [PMID: 21646419 PMCID: PMC4047633 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0231)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Purpose This study provides a meta-analysis of the difference between children with primary or specific language impairment (LI) and their typically developing peers on tasks of sustained attention. The meta-analysis seeks to determine if children with LI demonstrate subclinical deficits in sustained attention and, if so, under what conditions. Methods Articles that reported empirical data from the performance of children with LI, in comparison to typically developing peers, on a task assessing sustained attention were considered for inclusion. Twenty-eight effect sizes were included in the meta-analysis. Two moderator analyses addressed the effects of stimulus modality and ADHD exclusion. In addition, reaction time outcomes and the effects of task variables were summarized qualitatively. Results The meta-analysis supports the existence of sustained attention deficits in children with LI in both auditory and visual modalities, as demonstrated by reduced accuracy compared to typically developing peers. Larger effect sizes are found in tasks that use auditory and linguistic stimuli than in studies that use visual stimuli. Conclusions Future research should consider the role that sustained attention weaknesses play in LI, as well as the implications for clinical and research assessment tasks. Methodological recommendations are summarized.
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Müürsepp I, Aibast H, Pääsuke M. Motor performance and haptic perception in preschool boys with specific impairment of expressive language. Acta Paediatr 2011; 100:1038-42. [PMID: 21299611 DOI: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02201.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
AIM The aim of this study was to investigate motor performance and haptic object recognition (HOR) in 5-year-old boys with minor to moderate specific impairment of expressive language (expressive-SLI). METHODS Twenty-eight boys with expressive-SLI and 26 boys with typical language development as controls were recruited from ordinary kindergartens. An assessment of the voluntary isometric force production and relaxation capacity of the leg extensor muscles, manual dexterity, ball skills, balance and HOR was performed and the results were compared with those for age-matched control group. RESULTS Reaction times to voluntary contraction and relaxation of the leg extensor muscles as well as manual dexterity did not differ significantly in the measured groups. Boys with expressive-SLI demonstrated poorer results in ball skills (p < 0.01), balance (p < 0.01), less leg extensors strength (p < 0.05) and made considerably more (p < 0.001) errors in haptic perception test when compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS Deviations in gross-motor performance and haptic perception are very common in children with minor to moderate expressive-SLI, being embodied especially in less muscle strength of lower extremities, poorer ball skills, balance and HOR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iti Müürsepp
- Institute of Exercise Biology and Physiotherapy, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
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Peter B, Matsushita M, Raskind WH. Global processing speed in children with low reading ability and in children and adults with typical reading ability: exploratory factor analytic models. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2011; 54:885-99. [PMID: 21081672 PMCID: PMC3874392 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2010/10-0135)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate processing speed as a latent dimension in children with dyslexia and children and adults with typical reading skills. METHOD Exploratory factor analysis (FA) was based on a sample of multigenerational families, each ascertained through a child with dyslexia. Eleven measures--6 of them timed--represented verbal and nonverbal processes, alphabet writing, and motor sequencing in the hand and oral motor system. FA was conducted in 4 cohorts (all children, a subset of children with low reading scores, a subset of children with typical reading scores, and adults with typical reading scores; total N = 829). RESULTS Processing speed formed the first factor in all cohorts. Both measures of motor sequencing speed loaded on the speed factor with the other timed variables. Children with poor reading scores showed lower speed factor scores than did typical peers. The speed factor was negatively correlated with age in the adults. CONCLUSIONS The speed dimension was observed independently of participant cohort, gender, and reading ability. Results are consistent with a unified theory of processing speed as a quadratic function of age in typical development and with slowed processing in poor readers.
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Evans JL, Selinger C, Pollak SD. P300 as a measure of processing capacity in auditory and visual domains in specific language impairment. Brain Res 2011; 1389:93-102. [PMID: 21316354 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2010] [Revised: 02/02/2011] [Accepted: 02/03/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
This study examined the electrophysiological correlates of auditory and visual working memory in children with Specific Language Impairments (SLI). Children with SLI and age-matched controls (11;9-14;10) completed visual and auditory working memory tasks while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. In the auditory condition, children with SLI performed similarly to controls when the memory load was kept low (1-back memory load). As expected, when demands for auditory working memory were higher, children with SLI showed decreases in accuracy and attenuated P3b responses. However, children with SLI also evinced difficulties in the visual working memory tasks. In both the low (1-back) and high (2-back) memory load conditions, P3b amplitude was significantly lower for the SLI as compared to CA groups. These data suggest a domain-general working memory deficit in SLI that is manifested across auditory and visual modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia L Evans
- School of Speech Language Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
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Weber-Fox C, Leonard LB, Wray AH, Tomblin JB. Electrophysiological correlates of rapid auditory and linguistic processing in adolescents with specific language impairment. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2010; 115:162-81. [PMID: 20889197 PMCID: PMC2975860 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2010.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2009] [Revised: 08/18/2010] [Accepted: 09/04/2010] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Brief tonal stimuli and spoken sentences were utilized to examine whether adolescents (aged 14;3-18;1) with specific language impairments (SLI) exhibit atypical neural activity for rapid auditory processing of non-linguistic stimuli and linguistic processing of verb-agreement and semantic constraints. Further, we examined whether the behavioral and electrophysiological indices for rapid auditory processing were correlated with those for linguistic processing. Fifteen adolescents with SLI and 15 adolescents with normal language met strict criteria for displaying consistent diagnoses from kindergarten through the eighth grade. The findings provide evidence that auditory processing for non-linguistic stimuli is atypical in a significant number of adolescents with SLI compared to peers with normal language and indicate that reduced efficiency in auditory processing in SLI is more vulnerable to rapid rates (200ms ISI) of stimuli presentation (indexed by reduced accuracy, a tendency for longer RTs, reduced N100 over right anterior sites, and reduced amplitude P300). Many adolescents with SLI displayed reduced behavioral accuracy for detecting verb-agreement violations and semantic anomalies, along with less robust P600s elicited by verb-agreement violations. The results indicate that ERPs elicited by morphosyntactic aspects of language processing are atypical in many adolescents with SLI. Additionally, correlational analyses between behavioral and electrophysiological indices of processing non-linguistic stimuli and verb-agreement violations suggest that the integrity of neural functions for auditory processing may only account for a small proportion of the variance in morphosyntactic processing in some adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Weber-Fox
- Purdue University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Heavilon Hall, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038, United States.
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Abstract
Young people with developmental disorders experience difficulties with many cognitive and perceptual tasks, and often suffer social impairments. Yet, like typical youth, many appear to enjoy playing videogames. This review considers the appeal of videogames to individuals with autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and specific language impairment. It examines how they respond to the various challenges that play entails with particular reference to sensory, cognitive, and social dimensions. It is argued that research into how these young people engage voluntarily with this dynamic and challenging medium offers great potential to extend our empirical and theoretical understanding of the disorders. Many gaps in our current knowledge are identified and several additional themes for possible future research are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Durkin
- Department of Psychology, University of Strathclyde
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Metz D, Petermann F. Sprachstandserhebungsverfahren für Fünf- bis Zehnjährige (SET 5 – 10). KINDHEIT UND ENTWICKLUNG 2009. [DOI: 10.1026/0942-5403.18.4.194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Der Erwerb der Sprache stellt eine der wesentlichen Entwicklungsherausforderungen der ersten Lebensjahre dar und steht in enger Wechselwirkung zu vielfältigen anderen Entwicklungs- und Leistungsbereichen. Epidemiologische Studien zeigen, dass kein anderer Entwicklungsbereich so häufig von Störungen betroffen ist wie der Sprachliche. Sprachstörungen sind oftmals mit gravierenden Folgen sowohl für die kognitive, speziell die schulische, als auch für die sozial-emotionale Entwicklung verbunden. Die Notwendigkeit einer Intervention bei Sprachentwicklungsstörungen ist unstrittig. Eine Indikationsstellung ist jedoch nur mit zuverlässigen diagnostischen Instrumenten möglich. Der SET 5 – 10 dient der aussagekräftigen Diagnostik des Sprachstands bei Fünf- bis Zehnjährigen. Die Konstruktionsstichprobe setzte sich aus 275 Kindern zusammen. Die Aufgabenanalyse ergab eine gute Verteilung der Schwierigkeitsindizes sowie zufriedenstellende Trennschärfe-Koeffizienten.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Franz Petermann
- Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie und Rehabilitation der Universität Bremen
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Miller CA, Poll GH. Response time in adults with a history of language difficulties. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2009; 42:365-379. [PMID: 19428024 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2009.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2008] [Revised: 03/26/2009] [Accepted: 04/07/2009] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED The purpose of the study was to investigate speed of processing in college students with a history of problems with language. Affected individuals (n=16) were identified through a self-reported history of language and/or reading difficulties, and compared to a group of 16 unaffected individuals. Measures of language ability and a battery of response time tasks were administered. Results showed that the affected group had lower language performance and slower response time than the unaffected group. Better language performance was associated with faster response time, and this relationship was stronger in the affected group. These findings are consistent with the literature showing that language impairment often persists into adulthood. Further investigation of the relation between processing speed and language ability may help describe vulnerabilities for adults with language problems, as well as ways to promote compensation for those vulnerabilities. LEARNING OUTCOMES Readers will (1) increase understanding of associations between processing speed and language in children and adults; (2) become familiar with a method for assessing processing speed; and (3) increase understanding of possible vulnerabilities in adults with a history of language and/or reading problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol A Miller
- The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, 308 Ford Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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Kohnert K, Windsor J, Ebert KD. Primary or "specific" language impairment and children learning a second language. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2009; 109:101-11. [PMID: 18313136 PMCID: PMC2709989 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2008.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2007] [Revised: 01/04/2008] [Accepted: 01/25/2008] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
We review empirical findings from children with primary or "specific" language impairment (PLI) and children who learn a single language from birth (L1) and a second language (L2) beginning in childhood. The PLI profile is presented in terms of both language and nonlinguistic features. The discussion of L2 learners emphasizes variable patterns of growth and skill distribution in L1 and L2 which complicate the identification of PLI in linguistically diverse learners. We then introduce our research program, designed to map out common ground and potential fault lines between typically developing children learning one or two languages, as compared to children with PLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn Kohnert
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, 115 Shevlin Hall, 164 Pillsbury Dr. S.E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
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Leonard LB, Miller CA, Finneran DA. Grammatical Morpheme Effects on Sentence Processing by School-Aged Adolescents with Specific Language Impairment. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009; 24:450-478. [PMID: 19690626 DOI: 10.1080/01690960802229649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Sixteen-year-olds with specific language impairment (SLI), nonspecific language impairment (NLI), and those showing typical language development (TD) responded to target words in sentences that were either grammatical or contained a grammatical error immediately before the target word. The TD participants showed the expected slower response times (RTs) when errors preceded the target word, regardless of error type. The SLI and NLI groups also showed the expected slowing, except when the error type involved the omission of a tense/agreement inflection. This response pattern mirrored an early developmental period of alternating between using and omitting tense/agreement inflections that is characteristic of SLI and NLI. The findings could not be readily attributed to factors such as insensitivity to omissions in general or insensitivity to the particular phonetic forms used to mark tense/agreement. The observed response pattern may represent continued difficulty with tense/agreement morphology that persists in subtle form into adolescence.
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Seiger-Gardner L, Brooks PJ. Effects of onset- and rhyme-related distractors on phonological processing in children with specific language impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2008; 51:1263-81. [PMID: 18728113 PMCID: PMC8862114 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0079)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study used the cross-modal picture-word interference task of P. J. Brooks and B. MacWhinney (2000) to compare effects of phonologically related words on lexical access in children with specific language impairment (SLI). METHOD Children (7;1 [years;months]-11;2) named pictures while ignoring auditory distractors. Three stimulus asynchrony conditions varied the timing of distractors relative to the pictures. Experiment 1 presented onset-related (bell-bed), unrelated (clown-bed), neutral (go-bed), and identical (bed-bed) distractors. Experiment 2 presented rhyme-related instead of onset-related distractors (clock-sock). RESULTS Children with SLI produced longer reaction times (RTs) and more errors than their typical language development (TLD) peers. For children with SLI, onset-related distractors led to slower RTs than unrelated distractors (inhibition) when presented before the picture, and faster RTs (facilitation) when presented after the picture. Children with TLD showed facilitation from onset-related distractors when presented after the picture but no inhibition when presented before the picture. Both groups failed to show facilitation from rhyme-related distractors. CONCLUSIONS The priming effects from onset-related distractors and lack of effects from rhyme-related distractors in SLI supports "just-in-time" incremental processing, similar to children with TLD. However, children with SLI experience phonological interference from members of a lexical cohort while accessing words. Results are discussed with respect to observed word finding and word learning difficulties in SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liat Seiger-Gardner
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Lehman College, The City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
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Marchman VA, Fernald A. Speed of word recognition and vocabulary knowledge in infancy predict cognitive and language outcomes in later childhood. Dev Sci 2008; 11:F9-16. [PMID: 18466367 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00671.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 271] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The nature of predictive relations between early language and later cognitive function is a fundamental question in research on human cognition. In a longitudinal study assessing speed of language processing in infancy, Fernald, Perfors and Marchman (2006) found that reaction time at 25 months was strongly related to lexical and grammatical development over the second year. In this follow-up study, children originally tested as infants were assessed at 8 years on standardized tests of language, cognition, and working memory. Speed of spoken word recognition and vocabulary size at 25 months each accounted for unique variance in linguistic and cognitive skills at 8 years, effects that were attributable to strong relations between both infancy measures and working memory. These findings suggest that processing speed and early language skills are fundamental to intellectual functioning, and that language development is guided by learning and representational principles shared across cognitive and linguistic domains.
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Miller CA, Gilbert E. Comparison of performance on two nonverbal intelligence tests by adolescents with and without language impairment. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2008; 41:358-71. [PMID: 18395219 PMCID: PMC2413099 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2008.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2007] [Revised: 01/15/2008] [Accepted: 02/23/2008] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Definitions of specific language impairment (SLI), for both research and clinical purposes, often state that nonverbal IQ scores must be within normal limits. This use of nonverbal IQ has been criticized on several grounds, including lack of equivalence between tests. In the current study, a sample of 204 adolescents with and without language impairment took two nonverbal IQ tests. Scores on the tests were compared, as was the classification of individuals into diagnostic categories according to the two tests. Results indicated that there were significant differences between test scores for clinical subgroups, and classification of individuals as having SLI varied substantially depending on the test used. The findings are interpreted as providing further evidence that nonverbal IQ should be used only cautiously, if at all, in defining SLI. LEARNING OUTCOMES Readers will (1) understand problems with the use of nonverbal IQ criteria in diagnosis of SLI and (2) be able to cite data showing that different nonverbal IQ tests can lead to different diagnoses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol A Miller
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The Pennsylvania State University, 308 Ford Building, University Park, PA 16802, United States.
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Ford JA, Milosky LM. Inference generation during discourse and its relation to social competence: an online investigation of abilities of children with and without language impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2008; 51:367-380. [PMID: 18367683 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2008/027)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study examined whether young children with typical language development (TL) and children with language impairment (LI) make emotion inferences online during the process of discourse comprehension, identified variables that predict emotion inferencing, and explored the relationship of these variables to social competence. METHOD Preschool children (16 TL and 16 LI) watched narrated videos designed to activate knowledge about a particular emotional state. Following each story, children named a facial expression that either matched or did not match the anticipated emotion. Several experimental tasks examined linguistic and nonlinguistic abilities. Finally, each child's teacher completed a measure of social competence. RESULTS Children with TL named expressions significantly more slowly in the mismatched condition than in the matched condition, whereas children with LI did not differ in response times between the conditions. Language and vocal response time measures were related to emotion inferencing ability, and this ability predicted social competence scores. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that children with TL are inferring emotions during the comprehension process, whereas children with LI often fail to make these inferences. Making emotion inferences is related to discourse comprehension and to social competence in children. The current findings provide evidence that language and vocal response time measures predicted inferencing ability and suggest that additional factors may influence discourse inferencing and social competence.
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Marchman VA, Fernald A. Speed of word recognition and vocabulary knowledge in infancy predict cognitive and language outcomes in later childhood. Dev Sci 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00671.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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45
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Leonard LB. Processing limitations and the grammatical profile of children with specific language impairment. ADVANCES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 2007; 35:139-71. [PMID: 17682325 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-009735-7.50009-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laurence B Leonard
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
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