scholarly journals Relationship between working memory and complex syntax in children with Developmental Language Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 600-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène DELAGE ◽  
Ulrich Hans FRAUENFELDER
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Predictive Relationships ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractSome theories of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) explain the linguistic deficits observed in terms of limitations in non-linguistic cognitive systems such as working memory. The goal of this research is to clarify the relationship between working memory and the processing of complex sentences by exploring the performance of 28 French-speaking children with DLD aged five to fourteen years and 48 typically developing children of the same age in memory and linguistic tasks. We identified predictive relationships between working memory and the comprehension and repetition of complex sentences in both groups. As for syntactic measures in spontaneous language, it is the complex spans that explain the major part of the variance in the control children. In children with DLD, however, simple spans are predictive of these syntactic measures. Our results thus reveal a robust relationship between working memory and syntactic complexity, with clinical implications for the treatment of children with DLD.

Do Children With Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Have Difficulties With Interference Control, Visuospatial Working Memory, and Selective Attention? Developmental Patterns and the Role of Severity and Persistence of DLD

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 3036-3050
Author(s):  
Elma Blom ◽  
Tessel Boerma
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Interference Control ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have weaknesses in executive functioning (EF), specifically in tasks testing interference control and working memory. It is unknown how EF develops in children with DLD, if EF abilities are related to DLD severity and persistence, and if EF weaknesses expand to selective attention. This study aimed to address these gaps. Method Data from 78 children with DLD and 39 typically developing (TD) children were collected at three times with 1-year intervals. At Time 1, the children were 5 or 6 years old. Flanker, Dot Matrix, and Sky Search tasks tested interference control, visuospatial working memory, and selective attention, respectively. DLD severity was based on children's language ability. DLD persistence was based on stability of the DLD diagnosis. Results Performance on all tasks improved in both groups. TD children outperformed children with DLD on interference control. No differences were found for visuospatial working memory and selective attention. An interference control gap between the DLD and TD groups emerged between Time 1 and Time 2. Severity and persistence of DLD were related to interference control and working memory; the impact on working memory was stronger. Selective attention was unrelated to DLD severity and persistence. Conclusions Age and DLD severity and persistence determine whether or not children with DLD show EF weaknesses. Interference control is most clearly impaired in children with DLD who are 6 years and older. Visuospatial working memory is impaired in children with severe and persistent DLD. Selective attention is spared.

scholarly journals Lower verbalizability of visual stimuli modulates differences in estimates of working memory capacity between children with and without developmental language disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 239694152094551
Author(s):  
Seçkin Arslan ◽  
Lucie Broc ◽  
Fabien Mathy
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Short Term

Background and aims Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often perform below their typically developing peers on verbal memory tasks. However, the picture is less clear on visual memory tasks. Research has generally shown that visual memory can be facilitated by verbal representations, but few studies have been conducted using visual materials that are not easy to verbalize. Therefore, we attempted to construct non-verbalizable stimuli to investigate the impact of working memory capacity. Method and results We manipulated verbalizability in visual span tasks and tested whether minimizing verbalizability could help reduce visual recall performance differences across children with and without developmental language disorder. Visuals that could be easily verbalized or not were selected based on a pretest with non-developmental language disorder young adults. We tested groups of children with developmental language disorder (N = 23) and their typically developing peers (N = 65) using these high and low verbalizable classes of visual stimuli. The memory span of the children with developmental language disorder varied across the different stimulus conditions, but critically, although their storage capacity for visual information was virtually unimpaired, the children with developmental language disorder still had difficulty in recalling verbalizable images with simple drawings. Also, recalling complex (galaxy) images with low verbalizability proved difficult in both groups of children. An item-based analysis on correctly recalled items showed that higher levels of verbalizability enhanced visual recall in the typically developing children to a greater extent than the children with developmental language disorder. Conclusions and clinical implication: We suggest that visual short-term memory in typically developing children might be mediated with verbal encoding to a larger extent than in children with developmental language disorder, thus leading to poorer performance on visual capacity tasks. Our findings cast doubts on the idea that short-term storage impairments are limited to the verbal domain, but they also challenge the idea that visual tasks are essentially visual. Therefore, our findings suggest to clinicians working with children experiencing developmental language difficulties that visual memory deficits may not necessarily be due to reduced non-verbal skills but may be due to the high amount of verbal cues in visual stimuli, from which they do not benefit in comparison to their peers.

scholarly journals Comprehension of Welcher -Questions in German-Speaking Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Anne Dorothée Roesch ◽  
Vasiliki Chondrogianni
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Question Type ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
German Speaking

Purpose This study examined whether monolingual German-speaking preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) were facilitated by the presence of case-marking cues in their interpretation of German subject and object welcher (“which”)-questions, as reported for their typically developing peers. We also examined whether knowledge of case-marking and/or phonological working memory modulated children's ability to revise early assigned interpretations of ambiguous questions. Method Sixty-three monolingual German-speaking children with and without DLD aged between 4;0 and 5;11 (years;months) participated in an offline picture selection task targeting the comprehension of welcher -questions in German. We manipulated question type (subject, object), case-marking transparency, and case-marking position within the question (sentence-initial/-final). Results The typically developing children outperformed the children with DLD across conditions, and all children performed better on subject than on object wh -questions. Transparent and early cues elicited higher accuracy than late-arriving cues. For the DLD children, their working memory capacity explained their inability to revise early assigned interpretations to ambiguous questions, whereas their knowledge of case did not. Conclusions The results suggest that disambiguating morphosyntactic cues can only partly facilitate comprehension of German welcher -questions in children with DLD, whose poor phonological working memory rather than their knowledge of case-marking mediates performance on these structures.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Word Learning and Executive Function in Preschoolers With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 2293-2307
Author(s):  
Leah L. Kapa ◽  
Jessie A. Erikson
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Familiar Objects

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive functioning and word learning among preschoolers with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). Method Forty-one preschool-age children with DLD were matched to typically developing children on age and sex. Participants were exposed to 10 novel pseudowords, half of which referred to familiar objects and half of which referred to unfamiliar objects. Their ability to produce, recognize, and comprehend the novel words was tested, and they completed executive function tasks measuring sustained selective attention, short-term memory, working memory, inhibition, and shifting. Results Preschoolers with DLD performed worse compared to typically developing peers on all measures of executive function and novel word learning. Both groups showed a relative weakness in producing pseudowords that corresponded with familiar objects versus pseudowords for unknown objects. Executive function accounted for statistically significant variance in word learning beyond group membership, with inhibition as a significant predictor of all word learning outcomes and short-term memory as a significant predictor of novel word comprehension. Executive function explained significant variance in novel word production and recognition even after accounting for variance explained by group differences in IQ and receptive vocabulary. Conclusion Findings replicate previous research reporting deficits in word learning and executive function in children with DLD, indicate that preschoolers are disadvantaged in learning new words for familiar objects, and support a relationship between executive function and word learning for children with and without DLD. Future research should examine the directionality of the relationship between these variables.

scholarly journals Training Complements for Belief Reasoning in Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1861-1877
Author(s):  
Stephanie Durrleman ◽  
Hélène Delage
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Santa Claus ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Ipad Applications ◽  
Belief Reasoning

Purpose Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience difficulties with an important Theory of Mind milestone, namely, false belief (FB) reasoning. Their FB success relates to mastery of a linguistic structure that is also challenging for them, namely, sentential complements (e.g., Claire says/thinks [that Santa Claus exists] ). Training typically developing (TD) children on complements has been shown to boost complements and, in turn, enhance FB, but such training has never been explored with children with DLD, which is the aim of the current study. Method Fifty French-speaking children followed a novel training program: 30 with DLD ( M age = 7;3) and 20 TD ( M age = 4;3). They engaged in iPad applications targeting complementation with verbs of communication (e.g., say, shout, answer ) during eight to 12 sessions lasting 30 min. Training commenced within 1–2 weeks of pretests and ceased 1–2 weeks before immediate posttests. After immediate posttests, the majority of children were available to be tested with follow-up tests after 4–6 weeks of no training. Results Findings revealed that both TD and DLD groups benefited from the training to significantly improve their complementation and FB scores. The gains achieved during immediate posttests were moreover maintained 6–8 weeks after training ceased, as revealed by preserved levels of performance during follow-up posttests. Conclusion This research thus suggests new avenues for therapeutic interventions for children with DLD, namely, the incorporation of a program directly training complements, which holds the promise of a double benefit, both for these structures and for Theory of Mind.

scholarly journals Executive Function, Working Memory, and Verbal Fluency in Relation to Non-Verbal Intelligence in Greek-Speaking School-Age Children with Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 604
Author(s):  
Asimina M. Ralli ◽  
Elisavet Chrysochoou ◽  
Petros Roussos ◽  
Kleopatra Diakogiorgi ◽  
Panagiota Dimitropoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Verbal Intelligence ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Digit Recall

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is often associated with impairments in working memory (WM), executive functions (EF), and verbal fluency. Moreover, increasing evidence shows poorer performance of children with DLD on non-verbal intelligence tests relative to their typically developing (TD) peers. Yet, the degree and generality of relevant difficulties remain unclear. The present study aimed at investigating WM capacity, key EFs and verbal fluency in relation to non-verbal intelligence in Greek-speaking school-age children with DLD, compared to TD peers (8–9 years). To our knowledge, the present study is the first to attempt a systematic relevant assessment with Greek-speaking school-age children, complementing previous studies mostly involving English-speaking participants. The results showed that children with DLD scored lower than TD peers on the non-verbal intelligence measure. Groups did not differ in the inhibition measures obtained (tapping resistance to either distractor or proactive interference), but children with DLD were outperformed by TD peers in the WM capacity, updating, monitoring (mixing cost), and verbal fluency (phonological and semantic) measures. The effects showed limited (in the case of backward digit recall) or no dependence on non-verbal intelligence. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications as well as in relation to future lines of research.

scholarly journals Working memory training enhances complex syntax in children with Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Hélène Delage ◽  
Emily Stanford ◽  
Stephanie Durrleman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Potential Benefit ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
Sentence Repetition

Abstract Linguistic deficits attested in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have been explained in terms of limitations in working memory (WM). The goal of this research is to assess whether a tailored WM program can improve the syntactic abilities of children with DLD and those with typical development (TD). We created a novel iPad application consisting of five activities specifically designed to train the components of WM that have been shown to be the most predictive of performance on tests assessing complex syntax. Thirty-two children with DLD (M = 9;0) and 18 with TD (M = 8;5) followed the WM training (lasting 12 hours). Results show significant improvement in verbal WM (direct effects) in both TD and DLD groups, and in sentence repetition (transfer effects) in the DLD group, with the most pronounced improvements observed for complex syntactic structures. This progression is not observed for 38 age-matched children of the same age who followed an alternative, global scholastic training (20 DLD, 18 TD), which proves the specific efficacy of our WM training. The logical next step will be to incorporate the training into the therapy of children with DLD in order to reinforce the potential benefit of their interventions.

Syntactic complexity and verbal working memory in bilingual children with and without Developmental Language Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Racha Zebib ◽  
Laurice Tuller ◽  
Cornelia Hamann ◽  
Lina Abed Ibrahim ◽  
Philippe Prévost
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Core Ability ◽  
Language Measures

Sentence repetition (SR) tasks have been shown to be excellent indicators of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). However, there is still no consensus about which core ability they measure: language vs. Verbal Short-Term Memory (VSTM) and Verbal Working Memory (WM). Moreover, very few studies have investigated whether variables predicting SR performance differ in children with DLD compared to typically developing (TD) children, especially concerning bilingual children. This article reports on an SR study of 76 5- to 8-year-old bilingual children with ( n = 23) and without ( n = 53) DLD. The Bi-DLD group displayed significantly lower scores than the Bi-TD group on SR and on VSTM and WM measures. Regression analyses showed that SR was mainly linked to WM in the Bi-DLD group, but not in the TD group, where SR was mainly linked to (independent) language measures. This suggests that children with DLD, who have deficient linguistic knowledge, may rely more on their general processing ability (i.e. WM) in contrast to Bi-TD children, whose language skills are normal, and thus can be solicited for SR. Moreover, individual results suggested that performance on SR does not depend on minimal VSTM or WM spans.

Nonword Repetition Skills in Gulf Arabic–Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3700-3713
Author(s):  
Saleh Shaalan
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Gulf Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Phonological Complexity

Purpose This study examined the performance of Gulf Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a Gulf Arabic nonword repetition (GA-NWR) test and compared it to their age- and language-matched groups. We also investigated the role of syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity in light of NWR theories. Method A new GA-NWR test was conducted with three groups of Gulf Arabic–speaking children: school-age children with DLD, language-matched controls (LCs), and age-matched controls (ACs). The test consisted of two- and three-syllable words that either had no clusters, medial clusters, final clusters, or medial + final clusters. Results The GA-NWR distinguished between the performance of children with DLD and the LC and AC groups. Results showed significant syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity effects. Differences between the DLD and typically developing groups were seen in two- and three-syllable nonwords; however, when compared on nonwords with no clusters, children with DLD were not significantly different from the LC group. Conclusions The GA-NWR test differentiated between children with DLD and their ACs and LCs. Findings, therefore, support its clinical utility in this variety of Arabic. Results showed that phonological processing factors, such as phonological complexity, may have stronger effects when compared to syllable length effects. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12996812

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document