scholarly journals Predictive Processing and Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Samuel David Jones ◽  
Gert Westermann
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Syntactic Awareness ◽  
Feedback Cycle ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Neurophysiological Data ◽  
The Brain

Purpose Research in the cognitive and neural sciences has situated predictive processing—the anticipation of upcoming percepts—as a dominant function of the brain. The purpose of this article is to argue that prediction should feature more prominently in explanatory accounts of sentence processing and comprehension deficits in developmental language disorder (DLD). Method We evaluate behavioral and neurophysiological data relevant to the theme of prediction in early typical and atypical language acquisition and processing. Results Poor syntactic awareness—attributable, in part, to an underlying statistical learning deficit—is likely to impede syntax-based predictive processing in children with DLD, conferring deficits in spoken sentence comprehension. Furthermore, there may be a feedback cycle in which poor syntactic awareness impedes children's ability to anticipate upcoming percepts, and this, in turn, makes children unable to improve their syntactic awareness on the basis of prediction error signals. Conclusion This article offers a refocusing of theory on sentence processing and comprehension deficits in DLD, from a difficulty in processing and integrating perceived syntactic features to a difficulty in anticipating what is coming next.

scholarly journals Predictive processing and developmental language disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel David Jones ◽  
Gert Westermann
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Syntactic Awareness ◽  
Feedback Cycle ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Neurophysiological Data ◽  
The Brain

Purpose: Research in the cognitive and neural sciences has situated predictive processing – the anticipation of upcoming percepts – as a dominant function of the brain. The purpose of this article is to argue that prediction should feature more prominently in explanatory accounts of sentence processing and comprehension deficits in developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: We evaluate behavioural and neurophysiological data relevant to the theme of prediction in early typical and atypical language acquisition and processing. Results: Poor syntactic awareness – attributable in part to an underlying statistical learning deficit – is likely to impede syntax-based predictive processing in children with DLD, conferring deficits in spoken sentence comprehension. Furthermore, there may be a feedback cycle in which poor syntactic awareness impedes children’s ability to anticipate upcoming percepts, and this in turn makes children unable to improve their syntactic awareness on the basis of prediction error signals. Conclusion: This article offers a re-focusing of theory on sentence processing and comprehension deficits in DLD, from a difficulty in processing and integrating perceived syntactic features, to a difficulty in anticipating what is coming next.

Linking-Media Syntax in Children's Sentence Comprehension

1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
Don Nix
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Semantic Aspect

Sentence comprehension can not adequately be characterized in terms of syntactic features alone, even when considering young children's comprehension, and only simple, easily comprehended sentences. The current study describes a means of characterizing one of many semantic aspects of comprehension (referred to as “Necessity for Linking”). This semantic aspect is then used to experimentally clarify sentence processing results that are ambiguous at the syntactic level.

scholarly journals Processing voice morphology and argument structure by Greek Beginning Readers and children with Reading Difficulties

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Michaela Nerantzini ◽  
Maria Mastropavlou ◽  
Theofano Christou ◽  
Marika Lekakou ◽  
Victoria Zakopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Reading Difficulties ◽  
Beginning Readers ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Syntactic Awareness ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Reading Patterns

Abstract Studies on the processing of non-active (NACT) voice have indicated that passive sentences are more difficult to comprehend and require more time to process. Children with Reading Difficulties (RDs) face problems with sentence comprehension, which are often attributed to phonological processing, working memory, syntactic awareness limitations, or a maturation delay. Using an online self-paced reading task, we investigated the effect of voice morphology and argument structure on sentence processing in 3 groups of participants; 30 children RDs, 28 Age-Matched (AM) controls without RDs, and 28 young Beginning Readers (BRs). Our results suggest that although the RDs and BR groups present similar reading times, their reading patterns differ qualitatively. Beginning Readers experienced greater processing delays when processing NACT structures, suggesting that they have not yet fully grasped the properties of the various NACT verbs. However, the RDs group presents effects not found in the BR group; children with RDs were sensitive to the properties of the different types of NACT verbs showing (a) evidence that the language processor successfully engages in predictions based on the morphosyntactic and lexical characteristics of verbs and (b) preference for default/prototypical readings. These results point toward processing limitations that are greatly affected by syntactic complexity.

scholarly journals Structural Relationship Between Cognitive Processing and Syntactic Sentence Comprehension in Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 2950-2976 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Montgomery ◽  
Julia L. Evans ◽  
Jamison D. Fargo ◽  
Sarah Schwartz ◽  
Ronald B. Gillam
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Recognition ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms

PurposeWe assessed the potential direct and indirect (mediated) influences of 4 cognitive mechanisms we believe are theoretically relevant to canonical and noncanonical sentence comprehension of school-age children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD).MethodOne hundred seventeen children with DLD and 117 propensity-matched typically developing (TD) children participated. Comprehension was indexed by children identifying the agent in implausible sentences. Children completed cognitive tasks indexing the latent predictors of fluid reasoning (FLD-R), controlled attention (CATT), complex working memory (cWM), and long-term memory language knowledge (LTM-LK).ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed that the best model fit was an indirect model in which cWM mediated the relationship among FLD-R, CATT, LTM-LK, and sentence comprehension. For TD children, comprehension of both sentence types was indirectly influenced by FLD-R (pattern recognition) and LTM-LK (linguistic chunking). For children with DLD, canonical sentence comprehension was indirectly influenced by LTM-LK and CATT, and noncanonical comprehension was indirectly influenced just by CATT.ConclusionscWM mediates sentence comprehension in children with DLD and TD children. For TD children, comprehension occurs automatically through pattern recognition and linguistic chunking. For children with DLD, comprehension is cognitively effortful. Whereas canonical comprehension occurs through chunking, noncanonical comprehension develops on a word-by-word basis.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7178939

scholarly journals A New Memory Perspective on the Sentence Comprehension Deficits of School-Age Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Implications for Theory, Assessment, and Intervention

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
James W. Montgomery ◽  
Ronald B. Gillam ◽  
Julia L. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
New Model ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
Controlled Attention

Purpose The nature of the relationship between memory and sentence comprehension in school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has been unclear. We present a novel perspective that highlights the relational influences of fluid intelligence, controlled attention, working memory (WM), and long-term memory (LTM) on sentence comprehension in children with and without DLD. This perspective has new and important implications for theory, assessment, and intervention. Method We review a large-scale study of children with and without DLD that focused on the connections between cognition, memory, and sentence comprehension. We also summarize a new model of these relationships. Results Our new model suggests that WM serves as a conduit through which syntactic knowledge in LTM, controlled attention, and general pattern recognition indirectly influence sentence comprehension in both children with DLD and typically developing children. For typically developing children, language-based LTM and fluid intelligence indirectly influence sentence comprehension. However, for children with DLD, controlled attention plays a larger indirect role. Conclusions WM plays a key role in children's ability to apply their syntactic knowledge when comprehending canonical and noncanonical sentences. Our new model has important implications for the assessment of sentence comprehension and for the treatment of larger sentence comprehension deficits.

scholarly journals Deficits in the Use of Verb Bias Information in Real-Time Processing by College Students With Developmental Language Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica E. Hall ◽  
Amanda Owen Van Horne ◽  
Karla K. McGregor ◽  
Thomas A. Farmer
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Real Time Processing ◽  
Verb Bias ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Mouse Movements ◽  
Experimental Trials

Purpose This study examined whether college students with developmental language disorder (DLD) showed similar sensitivity to verb bias information during real-time sentence processing as typically developing (TD) peers. Method Seventeen college students with DLD and 16 TD college students participated in a mouse-tracking experiment that utilized the visual world paradigm to examine real-time sentence processing. In experimental trials, participants chose 1 of 2 pictured interpretations of a sentence. Measures of interest were the choice of interpretation and the amount of competition from the unchosen picture as measured by mouse curvature. Results Choice of interpretation and mouse movements by college students with DLD suggested less sensitivity to verb bias information than their TD peers. Conclusion College students with DLD showed less evidence of sensitivity to verb bias information than their TD peers in this task. Their performance may reflect the use of compensatory processing strategies and may be related to poor comprehension abilities often observed in this population.

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

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.

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