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Wu Z, Lam C, To CKS. Spontaneous Generation of Unconventional Language and Its Link with Grammatical Performance in Chinese Adults With and Without ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06415-1. [PMID: 38967701 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06415-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
This study investigated the generation of unconventional language in the spontaneous speech of Chinese adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and how it was related to their grammatical performance, when compared to neurotypical (NT) controls. Twenty Cantonese-speaking adults with ASD and 20 NT controls completed three interview tasks in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), and their spontaneous speech was recorded and transcribed. Utterances containing unconventional language (neologisms, idiosyncratic phrases, and pedantic language), morphosyntactic errors, mean length of utterance (MLU), and mazes were computed. The ASD group produced more neologisms, idiosyncratic phrases, and pedantic language than the NT group and their grammatical difficulties were shown in shorter MLU but not morphosyntactic errors. Mazes were more frequent in the ASD than the NT group. While the use of unconventional language increased with MLU in the NT group, it correlated positively with mazes in the ASD group. Generation of unconventional language, particularly pedantic language, in Cantonese-speaking NT adults is linked to more advanced grammar, while it appears to be a common speech characteristic among autistic speakers regardless of individual grammatical performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixuan Wu
- Academic Unit of Human Communication, Learning, and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Cherry Lam
- Academic Unit of Human Communication, Learning, and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Carol K S To
- Academic Unit of Human Communication, Learning, and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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Pirinen V, Loukusa S, Eggers K, Sivonen J, Mäkinen L, Mämmelä L, Ebeling H, Mattila ML, Hurtig T. Could linguistic and cognitive factors, degree of autistic traits and sex predict speech disfluencies in autistic young adults and controls? CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2024:1-18. [PMID: 38802330 DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2024.2357158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of linguistic complexity and individual background variables (i.e. linguistic and cognitive abilities, degree of autistic traits, and sex) on speech disfluencies in autistic young adults and controls. Thirty-two 19- to 33-year-old autistic adults and 35 controls participated in this study. The frequency of disfluencies and stuttering severity were evaluated based on a narrative speech task. Linguistic complexity was assessed by evaluating the syntactic structures of the narratives. Cognitive and linguistic abilities were assessed using the General Ability Index (GAI), Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) and Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV. Autistic traits were measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Multiple-linear regression analyses (syntactic complexity, GAI, AQ, sex, and group status as predictors) showed that (a) syntactic complexity predicted total and stuttering-like disfluencies and stuttering severity, (b) GAI predicted typical disfluencies, and (c) sex predicted total, typical, and stuttering-like disfluencies. Additional correlation analyses revealed negative association between PRI and disfluencies in the control group but not in the autistic group. No connection was found between AQ and disfluencies. It seems that while some connections between disfluencies and individual cognitive features were found, some of the possible contributing factors for greater speech disfluency might differ between autistic and typical speakers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veera Pirinen
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Soile Loukusa
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Kurt Eggers
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Thomas More University College, Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jari Sivonen
- Research Unit for Languages and Literature, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Leena Mäkinen
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Laura Mämmelä
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Hanna Ebeling
- Research Unit of Clinical Medicine, Child Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Child Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Marja-Leena Mattila
- Research Unit of Clinical Medicine, Child Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Child Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Tuula Hurtig
- Child Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
- Research Unit of Clinical Medicine, Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Engelhardt PE, Markostamou I. Disfluency across the lifespan: an individual differences investigation. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, AND COGNITION. SECTION B, AGING, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2024:1-25. [PMID: 38767398 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2024.2354958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
This study had two research objectives. The first was to examine age-related differences in the fluency of speech outputs, as prior research contains conflicting findings concerning whether older adults produce more disfluency than younger adults. The second was to examine cognitive individual differences, and their relationship with the production of disfluency. One hundred and fifty-four adults completed a story re-telling task, and a battery of cognitive measures. Results showed that younger adults produced more um's and fewer repetitions. For individual differences, results showed that inhibition and set shifting were related to the production of repetitions, and inhibition and working memory were related to uh production. Our results provide clarification about mixed findings with respect age and disfluency production. The individual differences provide clarification on theoretical arguments for disfluent speech in aging (e.g. Inhibition Deficit Hypothesis), and also sheds light on the role of executive functions in models of language production.
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Clin E, Kissine M. Listener- Versus Speaker-Oriented Disfluencies in Autistic Adults: Insights From Wearable Eye-Tracking and Skin Conductance Within a Live Face-to-Face Paradigm. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023:1-19. [PMID: 37418752 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Our study addresses three main questions: (a) Do autistics and neurotypicals produce different patterns of disfluencies, depending on the experimenter's direct versus averted gaze? (b) Are these patterns correlated to gender, skin conductance responses, fixations on the experimenter's face, alexithymia, or social anxiety scores? Lastly, (c) can eye-tracking and electrodermal activity data be used in distinguishing listener- versus speaker-oriented disfluencies? METHOD Within a live face-to-face paradigm combining a wearable eye-tracker with electrodermal activity sensors, 80 adults (40 autistics, 40 neurotypicals) defined words in front of an experimenter who was either staring at their eyes (direct gaze condition) or looking elsewhere (averted gaze condition). RESULTS Autistics produce less listener-oriented (uh, um) and more speaker-oriented (prolongations, breath) disfluencies than neurotypicals. In both groups, men produce less um than women. Both autistics' and neurotypicals' speech are influenced by whether their interlocutor systematically looks at them in the eyes or not, but their reactions go in opposite directions. Disfluencies seem to primarily be linguistic phenomena as experienced stress, social attention, alexithymia, and social anxiety scores do not influence any of the reported results. Finally, eye-tracking and electrodermal activity data suggest that laughter could be a listener-oriented disfluency. CONCLUSIONS This article studies disfluencies in a fine-grained way in autistic and neurotypical adults while controlling for social attention, experienced stress, and experimental condition (direct vs. averted gaze). It adds to current literature by (a) enlightening our knowledge of speech in autism, (b) opening new perspectives on disfluency patterns as important signals in social interaction, (c) addressing theoretical issues on the dichotomy between listener- and speaker-oriented disfluencies, and (d) considering understudied phenomena as potential disfluencies (e.g., laughter, breath). SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23549550.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise Clin
- ACTE, LaDisco and ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mikhail Kissine
- ACTE, LaDisco and ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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Antonsson M, Lundholm Fors K, Eckerström M, Kokkinakis D. Using a Discourse Task to Explore Semantic Ability in Persons With Cognitive Impairment. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 12:607449. [PMID: 33536894 PMCID: PMC7848128 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.607449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper uses a discourse task to explore aspects of semantic production in persons with various degree of cognitive impairment and healthy controls. The purpose of the study was to test if an in-depth semantic analysis of a cognitive-linguistic challenging discourse task could differentiate persons with a cognitive decline from those with a stable cognitive impairment. Both quantitative measures of semantic ability, using tests of oral lexical retrieval, and qualitative analysis of a narrative were used to detect semantic difficulties. Besides group comparisons a classification experiment was performed to investigate if the discourse features could be used to improve classification of the participants who had a stable cognitive impairment from those who had cognitively declined. In sum, both types of assessment methods captured difficulties between the groups, but tests of oral lexical retrieval most successfully differentiated between the cognitively stable and the cognitively declined group. Discourse features improved classification accuracy and the best combination of features discriminated between participants with a stable cognitive impairment and those who had cognitively declined with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.93.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malin Antonsson
- Department of Swedish, Faculty of Arts, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Speech and Language Pathology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Kristina Lundholm Fors
- Department of Swedish, Faculty of Arts, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Speech and Language Pathology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Marie Eckerström
- Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Dimitrios Kokkinakis
- Department of Swedish, Faculty of Arts, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Centre for Ageing and Health -AgeCap, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
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Choo AL, Smith SA, Li H. Associations between stuttering, comorbid conditions and executive function in children: a population-based study. BMC Psychol 2020; 8:113. [PMID: 33129350 PMCID: PMC7603732 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-020-00481-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between executive function (EF), stuttering, and comorbidity by examining children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) with and without comorbid conditions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey were used to examine behavioral manifestations of EF, such as inattention and self-regulation, in CWS and CWNS. Methods The sample included 2258 CWS (girls = 638, boys = 1620), and 117,725 CWNS (girls = 57,512; boys = 60,213). EF, and the presence of stuttering and comorbid conditions were based on parent report. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distribution of stuttering and comorbidity across group and sex. Regression analyses were to determine the effects of stuttering and comorbidity on EF, and the relationship between EF and socioemotional competence. Results Results point to weaker EF in CWS compared to CWNS. Also, having comorbid conditions was also associated with weaker EF. CWS with comorbidity showed the weakest EF compared to CWNS with and without comorbidity, and CWS without comorbidity. Children with stronger EF showed higher socioemotional competence. A majority (60.32%) of CWS had at least one other comorbid condition in addition to stuttering. Boys who stutter were more likely to have comorbid conditions compared to girls who stutter. Conclusion Present findings suggest that comorbidity is a common feature in CWS. Stuttering and comorbid conditions negatively impact EF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ai Leen Choo
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Georgia State University, 30 Pryor St SW, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA.
| | - Sara Ashley Smith
- Department of Teaching and Learning, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
| | - Hongli Li
- Department of Educational Policy Studies, Georgia State University, 30 Pryor St SW, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA
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