Janet L. Patterson

Relationships of Expressive Vocabulary to Frequency of Reading and Television Experience among Bilingual Toddlers.

This study investigated the relationships of expressive vocabulary size with frequency of being read to and frequency of watching television among 64 bilingual 21- to 27-month-old children from homes in which Spanish and English were spoken. The frequency of being read to in each language was related positively with expressive vocabulary size in the same language, and the relationships were significant even when taking the childrens age and overall exposure to each language into account. The frequency of watching television was not related significantly to vocabulary size in either language.

Expressive Vocabulary Development and Word Combinations of Spanish-English Bilingual Toddlers

Parent reports of their children’s expressive vocabulary and word combinations were obtained for 102 21- to 27-month-old children who were exposed to Spanish and English on a regular basis. The dat...

What Bilingual Toddlers Hear and Say: Language Input and Word Combinations

Parent reports of language input patterns and word combinations among 102 toddlers with exposure to Spanish and English are presented. The majority of the parents reported that they used both languages when talking with their children. A third of the parents reported using only one language with their children. Children whose parents said they used only one language with the child did not differ from children whose parents said they used both languages in reported use of word combinations and use of mixed utterances. Descriptions of five children from the study are presented, and implications and recommendations to parents are discussed.

Assessment Fidelity in Aphasia Research

Purpose In aphasia treatment literature, scarce attention is paid to factors that may reduce a studys validity, including adherence to assessment and treatment procedures (i.e., fidelity). Although guidelines have been established for evaluating and reporting treatment fidelity, none exist for assessment fidelity. Method We reviewed treatment fidelity guidelines and related literature to identify assessment fidelity components. We then examined 88 aphasia treatment studies published between 2010 and 2015 and report the frequency with which researchers provide information regarding the following assessment fidelity components: assessment instruments, assessor qualifications, assessor or rater training, assessment delivery, assessor or rater reliability, and assessor blinding. Results We found that 4.5% of studies reported information regarding assessment instruments, 35.2% reported information regarding assessor qualifications, 6.85% reported information regarding assessor or rater training, 37.5% reported information regarding assessor or rater reliability, 27.3% reported on assessor blinding, and no studies reported information regarding assessment delivery. Conclusions There is a paucity of assessment fidelity information reported in aphasia treatment research. The authors propose a set of guidelines to ensure readers will be able to evaluate assessment fidelity, and thus study validity.