scholarly journals Sentence Repetition Accuracy in Adults With Developmental Language Impairment: Interactions of Participant Capacities and Sentence Structures

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard H. Poll ◽  
Carol A. Miller ◽  
Janet G. van Hell
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Developmental Language Impairment

Purpose We asked whether sentence repetition accuracy could be explained by interactions of participant processing limitations with the structures of the sentences. We also tested a prediction of the procedural deficit hypothesis (Ullman & Pierpont, 2005) that adjuncts are more difficult than arguments for individuals with developmental language impairment (DLI). Method Forty-four young adults participated, 21 with DLI. The sentence repetition task varied sentence length and the use of arguments and adjuncts. We also administered measures of working memory and processing speed. Our regression models focused on these interactions: group and argument status; processing speed, length, and argument status; and working memory capacity, length, and argument status. Results Language ability group was a significant predictor of sentence repetition accuracy but did not interact with argument status. Processing speed interacted with sentence length and argument status. Working memory capacity and its separate interactions with argument status and sentence length predicted sentence repetition accuracy. Conclusions Many adults with DLI may have difficulty with adjuncts as a result of their working memory limitations rather than their language ability. Cognitive limitations common to individuals with DLI are revealed more by particular sentence structures, suggesting ways to construct more diagnostically accurate sentence repetition tasks.

scholarly journals Children With Differing Developmental Trajectories of Prelinguistic Communication Skills: Language and Working Memory at Age 5

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 1026-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sira Määttä ◽  
Marja-Leena Laakso ◽  
Asko Tolvanen ◽  
Timo Ahonen ◽  
Tuija Aro
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Prelinguistic Communication

Purpose In this article, the authors examine the developmental continuity from prelinguistic communication to kindergarten age in language and working memory capacity. Method Following work outlining 6 groups of children with different trajectories of early communication development (ECD; Määttä, Laakso, Tolvanen, Ahonen, & Aro, 2012), the authors examined their later development by psychometric assessment. Ninety-one children first assessed at ages 12–21 months completed a battery of language and working memory tests at age 5;3 (years;months). Results Two of the ECD groups previously identified as being at risk for language difficulties continued to show weaker performance at follow-up. Seventy-nine percent of the children with compromised language skills at follow-up were identified on the basis of the ECD groups, but the number of false positives was high. The 2 at-risk groups also differed significantly from the typically developing groups in the measures tapping working memory capacity. Conclusions In line with the dimensional view of language impairment, the accumulation of early delays predicted the amount of later difficulties; however, at the individual level, the prediction had rather low specificity. The results imply a strong link between language and working memory and call for further studies examining the early developmental interaction between language and memory.

An Examination of Verbal Working Memory Capacity in Children With Specific Language Impairment

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1249-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ellis Weismer ◽  
Julia Evans ◽  
Linda J. Hesketh
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Word Recall ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Specific Language

This study investigated verbal working memory capacity in children with specific language impairment (SLI). The task employed in this study was the Competing Language Processing Task (CLPT) developed by Gaulin and Campbell (1994). A total of 40 school-age children participated in this investigation, including 20 with SLI and 20 normal language (NL) age-matched controls. Results indicated that the SLI and NL groups performed similarly in terms of true/false comprehension items, but that the children with SLI evidenced significantly poorer word recall than the NL controls, even when differences in nonverbal cognitive scores were statistically controlled. Distinct patterns of word-recall errors were observed for the SLI and NL groups, as well as different patterns of associations between CLPT word recall and performance on nonverbal cognitive and language measures. The findings are interpreted within the framework of a limited-capacity model of language processing.

scholarly journals Cognitive Modeling in Intelligence Research: Advantages and Recommendations for their Application

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gidon T. Frischkorn ◽  
Anna-Lena Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Cognitive Modeling ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
General Intelligence

Mathematical models of cognition measure individual differences in cognitive processes, such as processing speed, working memory capacity, and executive functions, that may underlie general intelligence. As such, cognitive models allow identifying associations between specific cognitive processes and tracking the effect of experimental interventions aimed at the enhancement of intelligence on mediating process parameters. Moreover, cognitive models provide an explicit theoretical formalization of theories regarding specific cognitive process that may help overcoming ambiguities in the interpretation of fuzzy verbal theories. In this paper, we give an overview of the advantages of cognitive modeling in intelligence research and present models in the domains of processing speed, working memory, and selective attention that may be of particular interest for intelligence research. Moreover, we provide guidelines for the application of cognitive models in intelligence research, including data collection, the evaluation of model fit, and statistical analyses.

Interactivity, Efficiency, and Individual Differences in Mental Arithmetic

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Static Condition ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Verbal Protocols ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
Single Digit ◽  
Set Size

Thinking efficiency was examined in mental arithmetic as a function of the degree of interactivity afforded by the task. Participants carried out single-digit additions, involving either 7 or 11 numbers, as fast and as accurately as possible. They completed the sums in blocks, five from the short 7-number set first, and five from the longer 11-number set second. These sets were interpolated among a series of other tasks that measured numeracy and arithmetic skills, working memory capacity, visuo-spatial processing speed, and attention switching, in such a way as to permit the presentation of the sets twice, once with each of the sums presented on a piece of paper and participants placing their hands flat on the table and once with the sums presented as a set of manipulable tokens. Efficiency was measured as the ratio of performance over time invested. A significant interaction between condition and set size was observed: Efficiency was slightly better in the static condition for short sums but declined substantially relative to the interactive condition for long sums. Twenty-two percent of the variance in efficiency for hard sums in the static condition was explained by arithmetic skills and working memory capacity, whereas 45% of this variance was explained by arithmetic skills, working memory capacity, and attention switching skills in the interactive condition. A separate sample of 17 participants who provided concurrent verbal protocols as they solved the problems revealed that paths to solution and arithmetic strategies were substantially transformed by the opportunity to manipulate tokens.

Working memory capacity in a go/no-go task: Age differences in interference, processing speed, and attentional control.

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1683-1696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odir Antonio Rodríguez-Villagra ◽  
Katrin Göthe ◽  
Klaus Oberauer ◽  
Reinhold Kliegl
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Interference Processing

Working Memory Capacity and Language Processes in Children With Specific Language Impairment

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1138-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klara Marton ◽  
Richard G. Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Specific Language

This study examined the interaction between working memory and language comprehension in children with specific language impairment (SLI), focusing on the function of the central executive component and its interaction with the phonological loop (A. D. Baddeley, 1986) in complex working memory tasks. Thirteen children with SLI and 13 age-matched (age range=7;0 [years;months] to 10;0) children with typical language development participated. The tasks combined traditional nonword repetition tests and sentence comprehension by using sentences that differed in length and syntactic complexity. The children with SLI exhibited larger processing and attentional capacity limitations than their age-matched peers. Increased word length and syntactic complexity resulted in a large performance decrease in nonword repetition in both groups. There were some variations in the error pattern, which may indicate qualitative differences between the 2 groups. The performance of the children with SLI in nonword repetition, across the different tasks, indicated a limitation in simultaneous processing rather than difficulty in encoding and analyzing the phonological structure of the nonwords. Furthermore, syntactic complexity had a greater effect on performance accuracy than did sentence length.

Language Ability Groups in Bilingual Children: A Latent Profile Analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 1549-1562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kapantzoglou ◽  
M. Adelaida Restrepo ◽  
Shelley Gray ◽  
Marilyn S. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Latent Profile

Purpose Classifying children into two language ability groups, with and without language impairment, may underestimate the number of groups with distinct language ability patterns, or, alternatively, there may be only a single group characterized by a continuum of language performance. The purpose of the current study was to identify the number and characteristics of latent (unobservable) language ability groups in an unclassified sample of predominantly Spanish-speaking children. Method An unclassified sample of 431 predominantly Spanish-speaking 5- to 7-year-olds learning English participated in the study. The groups were identified on the basis of (a) language sample analyses (semantic, grammatical, and sentence-length measures); (b) language processing tasks (phonological working memory and processing speed measures); and (c) nonverbal cognitive abilities assessed using a standardized measure. All tasks were administered in Spanish. Latent profile analysis was used to examine the number and nature of distinct language ability groups in the unclassified sample. Results Results indicated that a three-group model best represented the data, characterized by low grammaticality in one group, low phonological working memory in another group, and average skills in a third group. Conclusion Classifying children into two groups, those with and without language impairment, may lead to misidentification of language impairment.

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