Hypothesis-Testing and Nonlinguistic Symbolic Abilities in Language-Impaired Children

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Kamhi ◽  
Hugh W. Catts ◽  
Linda A. Koenig ◽  
Barbara A. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Discrimination Learning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Concept Formation ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children

This study sought to clarify further the cognitive abilities of language-impaired children by examining their hypothesis-testing and nonlinguistic symbolic abilities. A discrimination learning task and a concept formation task were used to measure hypothesis-testing abilities, and a haptic (touch) recognition task was used to assess nonlinguistic symbolic abilities. Subjects were 10 language-impaired and 10 language-normal children matched for performance Mental Age. Measures of expressive and receptive language were also obtained from each child. The language-impaired children were found to perform significantly poorer than their MA controls on the haptic recognition task and on a portion of the discrimination learning task. No differences were found between the two groups' concept formation abilities. Correlational analyses revealed a particularly strong positive relationship between performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the haptic recognition task. It was speculated that this relationship was motivated by the symbolic demands of these tasks. One implication O f this speculation is that a symbolic representational deficit might better explain the receptive language deficit than the expressive one.

A Hypothesis-Testing Approach to Treatment of a Child with an Idiosyncratic (Morpho)Phonological System

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc E. Fey ◽  
Catherine H. Stalker
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Testing Approach ◽  
Hypothesis Testing Approach ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Evaluation of a 6-year-old language-impaired girl's phonological and morphophonological systems revealed several idiosyncratic characteristics. Three hypotheses regarding the nature of this child's impairment were developed and then tested by monitoring the child's progress in therapy. The results of the intervention program supported all three hypotheses in principle. It is concluded that phonologically impaired children must learn to communicate facing articulatory and linguistic constraints similar to but often greater than those influencing the performance of younger normally developing children. It can be expected, then, that these children often will use phonological rules commonly found among normal children. It should also be expected that they occasionally will be led to phonological and morphological solutions to their communication problems that are unusual, if not idiosyncratic. The hypothesis-testing approach used in this investigation is advocated as a useful step in the development of an efficient intervention program and as a means of gaining insight into the nature of children's phonological and morphological impairments.

Hypothesis-Testing Abilities of Language-Impaired Children

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1329-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ellis Weismer
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Cognitive Level ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
Impaired Children

Hypothesis-testing abilities were assessed using a modification of the discrimination-learning paradigm employed by Nelson, Kamhi, and Apel (1987) that was designed to minimize the short-term memory demands of the task. Sixteen language-impaired and 16 normal-language children in kindergarten and first and second grades participated in the study. The languageimpaired children solved significantly fewer problems than normal-language controls equated on cognitive level, but the two groups used similar hypothesis types to solve the problems. Type of verbal feedback provided during the hypothesis testing task (explicit vs. nonexplicit) did not significantly affect the performance of either group. These results are interpreted as indicating that language-impaired children demonstrate inefficient use of problem-solving strategies that cannot be attributed solely to memory difficulties. Issues surrounding the investigation of language-impaired children’s cognitive abilities are discussed.

Towards an Understanding of Retarded Children's Linguistic Deficiencies

1982 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Kamhi ◽  
Judith R. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Normal Group ◽  
Accurate Description ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Mental Handicap ◽  
Impaired Children

The purpose of this study was to provide a more accurate description of the language pertbrmance of retarded children and, by doing so, to understand better how the general mental handicap affects language learning. Subjects were a group of 10 retarded children matched for MA to a group of 10 normal children and 10 language-impaired children. Various syntactic and semantic analyses were performed. The results indicated that the retarded group's language abilities were essentially comparable to those of the normal group, though differences between these groups were found. Notably, the retarded children did not demonstrate the same linguistic deficiencies as the language-impaired children. It was suggested that the MA-inconsistent language behaviors exhibited by the retarded children were quantitative in nature rather than qualitative and as such seemed to reflect deficits in adaptive (i.e., social) and motivational behaviors rather than deficits in linguistic or cognitive abilities.

Phonological and Spatial Processing Abilities in Language- and Reading-Impaired Children

1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Kamhi ◽  
Hugh W. Catts ◽  
Daria Mauer ◽  
Kenn Apel ◽  
Betholyn F. Gentry
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Paper Folding ◽  
Syllable Segmentation ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Better Than

In the present study, we further examined (see Kamhi & Catts, 1986) the phonological processing abilities of language-impaired (LI) and reading-impaired (RI) children. We also evaluated these children's ability to process spatial information. Subjects were 10 LI, 10 RI, and 10 normal children between the ages of 6:8 and 8:10 years. Each subject was administered eight tasks: four word repetition tasks (monosyllabic, monosyllabic presented in noise, three-item, and multisyllabic), rapid naming, syllable segmentation, paper folding, and form completion. The normal children performed significantly better than both the LI and RI children on all but two tasks: syllable segmentation and repeating words presented in noise. The LI and RI children performed comparably on every task with the exception of the multisyllabic word repetition task. These findings were consistent with those from our previous study (Kamhi & Catts, 1986). The similarities and differences between LI and RI children are discussed.

scholarly journals The comprehension of deictic terms in normal and language impaired children

1981 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Mentis
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Semantic Complexity ◽  
Impaired Group ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Impaired Children

This study examined the comprehension of four pairs of deictic terms in a group of language impaired children and compared their interpretation of these terms with those of non-language impaired children of the same age range. Each group was comprised of ten subjects within the age range of 9,6 to 10,6 years. Two tasks were administered, one to assess the comprehension of the terms here, there, this, and that and the other to assess the comprehension of the terms, come, go, bring and take. The results showed that while the non-language impaired subjects comprehended the full deictic contrast between the pairs of terms tested, the language impaired group did not. A qualitative analysis of the data revealed that the language impaired subjects appeared to follow the same developmental sequence as normal children in their acquisition of these terms and responded by using the same strategies that younger non-language impaired children use at equivalent stages of development. Furthermore, the language impaired subjects appeared to comprehend the deictic terms in a predictable order based on their relative semantic complexity.

scholarly journals A therapy programme for pre-school language impaired children

1976 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Narun
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Discrimination Learning ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Therapy Programme

This study aimed to establish effective language programmes for pre-school language impaired children based on psycholinguistic principles. Eight language-impaired children 6 males and 2 females between the ages of 3 and 6 years, were the subjects. Language samples were transcribed and subjected to syntactic analysis; semantic aspects were also considered and programmes developed for each subject, based on the information obtained from the language analyses. A developmental sequence was adopted as the basis for therapy A 'slot-method' was used in which language was taught as rule-operated behaviour Principles of discrimination learning were adopted for teaching some aspects of grammar. Auxiliary verbs are reported in detail as this was the most universal error and difficult to teach. The role of imitation in language learning and therapy is discussed.

scholarly journals Aspects of cohesion, tense and pronoun usage in the discourse of the older language-impaired child

1978 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Berger ◽  
Aletta Sinoff
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Impaired Child ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Situational Context ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Diagnosis And Therapy ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Impaired Children

Aspects of the discourse of 5 language-impaired children and 5 children with no language impairment, aged approximately 9 years, were compared. A film and a story sequence were utilised to elicit narratives on which, measures of cohesion, tense and pronouns were appraised. Measures of cohesion refer  to the ability to indicate appropriately the relations of meaning with regard to situational context. Measures of tense include aspects of tense range and tense continuity. Measures of  pronouns refer  to the anaphoric use of  pronouns with non-ambiguous referents.  The group of language-impaired children was found  to be significantly poorer on measures of  cohesion and pronominal usage than the normal children, whereas a significant difference between the two groups was not revealed on measures of tense. Possible factors  accounting for  these findings  were discussed and implications for the diagnosis and therapy of the older language-impaired child were considered.

Conversational Responsiveness and Assertiveness in Language-Impaired Children

1987 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Kay Rosinski-McClendon ◽  
Marilyn Newhoff
Keyword(s):  
Language Ability ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children

It has been suggested that language-disordered children may be less conversationally responsive and/or assertive than their normal matched counterparts. This investigation compared these abilities in 10 language-impaired children ranging in age from 4:1 to 5:9, and 10 normal children matched for language ability (2:8 to 4:2). Comparisons were based on subjects' responses to systematic probes that occurred within examiner-child dialogues. Total scores were derived from: (a) the number of questions answered, (b) the number of attempts to continue a topic following a no-response, and (c) the number of attempts to maintain the original topic after the examiner changed the topic. Results indicated that although language-impaired children responded to questions significantly less often than did their normal peers, they were equally assertive both in continuing a topic after no comment by the examiner and in maintaining the topic following a topical change.

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