John E. Bernthal

A Comparison of Phonological Processes Identified Through Word and Sentence Imitation Tasks of the PPA

An investigation was conducted to determine whether or not similar phonological processes would be identified when responses obtained through a delayed word imitation task were compared to those ob...

The Efficiency of the Revised Denver Developmental Screening Test as a Language Screening Tool

The purpose of this study was to determine the number of false positives and false negatives derived from the language domain of the Revised Denver Developmental Screening Test (RDDST) in a communi...

Working memory in school-age children with and without a persistent speech sound disorder

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the role of working memory processes as a possible cognitive underpinning of persistent speech sound disorders (SSD). Method: Forty school-aged children were enrolled; 20 children with persistent SSD (P-SSD) and 20 typically developing children. Children participated in three working memory tasks – one to target each of the components in Baddeley’s working memory model: phonological loop, visual spatial sketchpad and central executive. Result: Children with P-SSD performed poorly only on the phonological loop tasks compared to their typically developing age-matched peers. However, mediation analyses revealed that the relation between working memory and a P-SSD was reliant upon nonverbal intelligence. Conclusion: These results suggest that co-morbid low-average nonverbal intelligence are linked to poor working memory in children with P-SSD. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Professional judgments about the relationship between speech and intelligence in African American preschoolers.

This study investigated listener judgments of the speech of African American preschoolers. Forty-four judges (Head Start teaching staff = 18, pediatricians = 15, and speech-language pathologists = 11) were asked to watch and listen to a video tape of six children and to judge each childs speech and intelligence. Head Start teaching staff and pediatricians were both likely to perceive that speech and intelligence were related, although the two groups held differing views about the nature of that relationship. Speech-language pathologists were likely to perceive speech as being relatively independent of intelligence.

Phonologically Delayed Children's Responses To Three Types of Pictured Stimuli

The purpose of this study was to examine 18 phonologically delayed childrens (aged 6 years, 0 months to 7 years, 6 months) responses to three types of pictured stimuli (black and white line drawings, colored line drawings, and colored photographs). The size of pictures, coloration of the pictures, number of target items presented per card, surface or gloss of the pictures, and the number of items pictured on each card were similar across the three sets of stimuli. The only difference among the three sets of pictured stimuli was the method of pictorial representation. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the number of correct identifications to black and white line drawings and the colored line drawings and colored photographs.