Mary Alt

Phonological working memory impairments in children with specific language impairment: Where does the problem lie?

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine which factors contribute to the lexical learning deficits of children with specific language impairment (SLI). METHOD Participants included 40 7-8-year old participants, half of whom were diagnosed with SLI and half of whom had normal language skills. We tested hypotheses about the contributions to word learning of the initial encoding of phonological information and the link to long-term memory. Children took part in a computer-based fast-mapping task which manipulated word length and phonotactic probability to address the hypotheses. The task had a recognition and a production component. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs with post-hoc testing. RESULTS Results indicate that the main problem for children with SLI is with initial encoding, with implications for limited capacity. There was not strong evidence for specific deficits in the link to long-term memory. CONCLUSIONS We were able to ascertain which aspects of lexical learning are most problematic for children with SLI in terms of fast-mapping. These findings may allow clinicians to focus intervention on known areas of weakness. Future directions include extending these findings to slow mapping scenarios. LEARNING OUTCOMES The reader will understand how different components of phonological working memory contribute to the word learning problems of children with specific language impairment.

Recognition of vocal and facial cues to affect in language-impaired and normally-developing preschoolers.

UNLABELLED The current study was designed to investigate whether reported difficulties in language-impaired childrens ability to identify vocal and facial cues to emotion could be explained at least partially by nonparalinguistic factors. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) and control participants received an affect discrimination task, which consisted of the following cue situations: (1) facial expression and unfiltered speech; (2) lowpass-filtered speech only; (3) facial expression only; and (4) facial expression and filtered speech. The results of the study indicated that impaired and nonimpaired group performance differed only for the items including facial expression and nonfiltered speech. Developmental and investigative implications of this finding are addressed. LEARNING OUTCOMES As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to summarize the findings from existing research on affect comprehension in children with language impairments (LI). As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to discuss ways in which language impairment and difficulties in understanding emotion cues are associated and propose how these associations might influence social interactions.

Using principles of learning to inform language therapy design for children with specific language impairment

BACKGROUND Language treatment for children with specific language impairment (SLI) often takes months to achieve moderate results. Interventions often do not incorporate the principles that are known to affect learning in unimpaired learners. AIMS To outline some key findings about learning in typical populations and to suggest a model of how they might be applied to language treatment design as a catalyst for further research and discussion. METHODS & PROCEDURES Three main principles of implicit learning are reviewed: variability, complexity and sleep-dependent consolidation. After explaining these principles, evidence is provided as to how they influence learning tasks in unimpaired learners. Information is reviewed on principles of learning as they apply to impaired populations, current treatment designs are also reviewed that conform to the principles, and ways in which principles of learning might be incorporated into language treatment design are demonstrated. MAIN CONTRIBUTION This paper provides an outline for how theoretical knowledge might be applied to clinical practice in an effort to promote discussion. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Although the authors look forward to more specific details on how the principles of learning relate to impaired populations, there is ample evidence to suggest that these principles should be considered during treatment design.

Learning novel words: detail and vulnerability of initial representations for children with specific language impairment and typically developing peers.

UNLABELLED This study examines the phonological representations that children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing peers (TD) have during the initial process of word learning. The goals of this study were to determine if children with SLI attended to different components of words than peers, and whether they were more vulnerable to interference than peers. Forty 7- and 8-year-old children, half with SLI, took part in a fast mapping, word learning task. In addition to producing the word, there was a mispronunciation detection task that included mispronunciations of the target word in the initial position, final position or that modified the words syllable structure. Children with SLI showed a different learning profile than peers, demonstrating stronger representations of the word-initial phonemes, but less information about word-final phonemes. They were more prone to interference overall, but especially from word-final foils. Children with SLI did not demonstrate less-defined phonological representations, but did attend to different features than TD children, perhaps in an attempt to compensate for problems learning longer words. The greatest weakness of children with SLI appears to be their susceptibility to interference, particularly for word-final information. LEARNING OUTCOMES Readers will be able to: (1) explain what children attend to when learning new words; (2) state the pattern of recognition and production performance for both children with SLI and their typical language peers; and (3) identify specific parts of novel words that are most susceptible to interference in children with SLI.

The effect of time on word learning: An examination of decay of the memory trace and vocal rehearsal in children with and without specific language impairment

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of time to response in a fast-mapping word learning task for children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typically developing language skills (TD). Manipulating time to response allows us to examine decay of the memory trace, the use of vocal rehearsal, and their effects on word learning. METHOD Participants included 40 school-age children: half with SLI and half with TD. The children were asked to expressively and receptively fast-map 24 novel labels for 24 novel animated dinosaurs. They were asked to demonstrate learning either immediately after presentation of the novel word or after a 10-second delay. Data were collected on the use of vocal rehearsal and for recognition and production accuracy. RESULTS Although the SLI group was less accurate overall, there was no evidence of decay of the memory trace. Both groups used vocal rehearsal at comparable rates, which did not vary when learning was tested immediately or after a delay. Use of vocal rehearsal resulted in better accuracy on the recognition task, but only for the TD group. CONCLUSIONS A delay in time to response without interference was not an undue burden for either group. Despite the fact that children with SLI used a vocal rehearsal strategy as often as unimpaired peers, they did not benefit from the strategy in the same way as their peers. Possible explanations for these findings and clinical implications will be discussed. LEARNING OUTCOMES Readers will learn about how time to response affects word learning in children with specific language impairment and unimpaired peers. They will see how this issue fits into a framework of phonological working memory. They will also become acquainted with the effect of vocal rehearsal on word learning.

A lifespan perspective on semantic processing of concrete concepts: does a sensory/motor model have the potential to bridge the gap?

Research regarding semantic knowledge of objects is often conducted independently in children and adults. Review of these bodies of evidence suggests that the two literatures are often complementary. It seems critical to determine what we can learn from a developmental perspective, toward the common goal of understanding semantic organization. Here we focus on the proposal that semantic knowledge about concrete concepts may be built on the foundation of sensory/motor processes. In particular, we focus on a moderate formulation of this viewpoint, the sensory/motor model of semantic representations of objects (e.g., Gainotti 2007; Martin 2007), which has been examined utilizing behavioral, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological evidence. Taken together, behavioral and neuroimaging studies with infants, older children, and adults have suggested that patterns laid down in early childhood remain salient throughout the lifespan and may also predict patterns of deficit that emerge following brain injury.

The Relationship Between Mathematics and Language: Academic Implications for Children With Specific Language Impairment and English Language Learners

PURPOSE The present study examined the relationship between mathematics and language to better understand the nature of the deficit and the academic implications associated with specific language impairment (SLI) and academic implications for English language learners (ELLs). METHOD School-age children (N = 61; 20 SLI, 20 ELL, 21 native monolingual English [NE]) were assessed using a norm-referenced mathematics instrument and 3 experimental computer-based mathematics games that varied in language demands. Group means were compared with analyses of variance. RESULTS The ELL group was less accurate than the NE group only when tasks were language heavy. In contrast, the group with SLI was less accurate than the groups with NE and ELLs on language-heavy tasks and some language-light tasks. Specifically, the group with SLI was less accurate on tasks that involved comparing numerical symbols and using visual working memory for patterns. However, there were no group differences between children with SLI and peers without SLI on language-light mathematics tasks that involved visual working memory for numerical symbols. CONCLUSION Mathematical difficulties of children who are ELLs appear to be related to the language demands of mathematics tasks. In contrast, children with SLI appear to have difficulty with mathematics tasks because of linguistic as well as nonlinguistic processing constraints.

Cross-situational statistically based word learning intervention for late-talking toddlers.

PURPOSE To explore the efficacy of a word learning intervention for late-talking toddlers that is based on principles of cross-situational statistical learning. METHODS Four late-talking toddlers were individually provided with 7-10 weeks of bi-weekly word learning intervention that incorporated principles of cross-situational statistical learning. Treatment was input-based meaning that, aside from initial probes, children were not asked to produce any language during the sessions. Pre-intervention data included parent-reported measures of productive vocabulary and language samples. Data collected during intervention included production on probes, spontaneous production during treatment, and parent report of words used spontaneously at home. Data were analyzed for number of target words learned relative to control words, effect sizes, and pre-post treatment vocabulary measures. RESULTS All children learned more target words than control words and, on average, showed a large treatment effect size. Children made pre-post vocabulary gains, increasing their percentile scores on the MCDI, and demonstrated a rate of word learning that was faster than rates found in the literature. CONCLUSIONS Cross-situational statistically based word learning intervention has the potential to improve vocabulary learning in late-talking toddlers. Limitations on interpretation are also discussed. LEARNING OUTCOMES Readers will describe what cross-situational learning is and how it might apply to treatment. They will identify how including lexical and contextual variability in a word learning intervention for toddlers affected treatment outcomes. They will also recognize evidence of improved rate of vocabulary learning following treatment.

Word Learning Deficits in Children With Dyslexia

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate word learning in children with dyslexia to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses during the configuration stage of word learning. Method Children with typical development (N = 116) and dyslexia (N = 68) participated in computer-based word learning games that assessed word learning in 4 sets of games that manipulated phonological or visuospatial demands. All children were monolingual English-speaking 2nd graders without oral language impairment. The word learning games measured childrens ability to link novel names with novel objects, to make decisions about the accuracy of those names and objects, to recognize the semantic features of the objects, and to produce the names of the novel words. Accuracy data were analyzed using analyses of covariance with nonverbal intelligence scores as a covariate. Results Word learning deficits were evident for children with dyslexia across every type of manipulation and on 3 of 5 tasks, but not for every combination of task/manipulation. Deficits were more common when task demands taxed phonology. Visuospatial manipulations led to both disadvantages and advantages for children with dyslexia. Conclusion Children with dyslexia evidence spoken word learning deficits, but their performance is highly dependent on manipulations and task demand, suggesting a processing trade-off between visuospatial and phonological demands.

Use of internal consistency coefficients for estimating reliability of experimental task scores

Reliabilities of scores for experimental tasks are likely to differ from one study to another to the extent that the task stimuli change, the number of trials varies, the type of individuals taking the task changes, the administration conditions are altered, or the focal task variable differs. Given that reliabilities vary as a function of the design of these tasks and the characteristics of the individuals taking them, making inferences about the reliability of scores in an ongoing study based on reliability estimates from prior studies is precarious. Thus, it would be advantageous to estimate reliability based on data from the ongoing study. We argue that internal consistency estimates of reliability are underutilized for experimental task data and in many applications could provide this information using a single administration of a task. We discuss different methods for computing internal consistency estimates with a generalized coefficient alpha and the conditions under which these estimates are accurate. We illustrate use of these coefficients using data for three different tasks.