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Information processing and proactive interference in children with and without specific language impairment.

ABSTRACT: Increasing evidence suggests that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have a deficit in inhibition control, but research isolating specific abilities is scarce. The goal of this study was to examine whether children with SLI differ from their peers in resistance to proactive interference under different conditions.An information processing battery with manipulations in interference was administered to 66 children (SLI, age matched peers, and language-matched controls). In Experiment 1, previously relevant targets were used as distractors to create conflict. Experiment 2 used item repetitions to examine how practice strengthens word representations and how the strength of a response impacts performance on the following item.Children with SLI performed similarly to their peers in the baseline condition but were more susceptible to proactive interference than the controls in both experimental conditions. Children with SLI demonstrated difficulty suppressing irrelevant information, made significantly more interference errors than their peers, and showed a slower rate of implicit learning.Children with SLI show weaker resistance to proactive interference than their peers, and this deficit impacts their information processing abilities. The coordination of activation and inhibition is less efficient in these children, but future research is needed to further examine the interaction between these two processes.

SUBMITTER: Marton K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4091676 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Information processing and proactive interference in children with and without specific language impairment.

Marton Klara K Campanelli Luca L Eichorn Naomi N Scheuer Jessica J Yoon Jungmee J

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR 20140201 1

<h4>Purpose</h4>Increasing evidence suggests that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have a deficit in inhibition control, but research isolating specific abilities is scarce. The goal of this study was to examine whether children with SLI differ from their peers in resistance to proactive interference under different conditions.<h4>Method</h4>An information processing battery with manipulations in interference was administered to 66 children (SLI, age matched peers, and language-m ...[more]

PMID: 23900030

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Project description:BackgroundFrequency discrimination is often impaired in children developing language atypically. However, findings in the detection of small frequency changes in these children are conflicting. Previous studies on children's auditory perceptual abilities usually involved establishing differential sensitivity thresholds in sample populations who were not tested for auditory deficits. To date, there are no data comparing suprathreshold frequency discrimination ability in children tested for both auditory processing and language skills.Purpose: This study examined the perception of small frequency differences (∆ƒ) in children with auditory processing disorder (APD) and/or specific language impairment (SLI). The aim was to determine whether children with APD and children with SLI showed differences in their behavioral responses to frequency changes. Results were expected to identify different degrees of impairment and shed some light on the auditory perceptual overlap between pediatric APD and SLI.Research designAn experimental group design using a two-alternative forced-choice procedure was used to determine frequency discrimination ability for three magnitudes of ∆ƒ from the 1000-Hz base frequency.Study sampleThirty children between 10 years of age and 12 years, 11 months of age: 17 children with APD and/or SLI, and 13 typically developing (TD) peers participated. The clinical groups included four children with APD only, four children with SLI only, and nine children with both APD and SLI.Data collection and analysisBehavioral data collected using headphone delivery were analyzed using the sensitivity index d', calculated for three ∆ƒ was 2%, 5%, and 15% of the base frequency or 20, 50, and 150 Hz. Correlations between the dependent variable d' and the independent variables measuring auditory processing and language skills were also obtained. A stepwise regression analysis was then performed.ResultsTD children and children with APD and/or SLI differed in the detection of small-tone ∆ƒ. In addition, APD or SLI status affected behavioral results differently. Comparisons between auditory processing test scores or language test scores and the sensitivity index d' showed different strengths of correlation based on the magnitudes of the ∆ƒ. Auditory processing scores showed stronger correlation to the sensitivity index d' for the small ∆ƒ, while language scores showed stronger correlation to the sensitivity index d' for the large ∆ƒ.ConclusionAlthough children with APD and/or SLI have difficulty with behavioral frequency discrimination, this difficulty may stem from two different levels: a basic auditory level for children with APD and a higher language processing level for children with SLI; the frequency discrimination performance seemed to be affected by the labeling demands of the same versus different frequency discrimination task for the children with SLI.

Project description:Background: The language profiles of children with language impairment (LI) and bilingual children can show partial, and possibly temporary, overlap. The current study examined the persistence of this overlap over time. Furthermore, we aimed to better understand why the language profiles of these two groups show resemblance, testing the hypothesis that the language difficulties of children with LI reflect a weakened ability to maintain attention to the stream of linguistic information. Consequent incomplete processing of language input may lead to delays that are similar to those originating from reductions in input frequency. Methods: Monolingual and bilingual children with and without LI (N = 128), aged 5-8 years old, participated in this study. Dutch receptive vocabulary and grammatical morphology were assessed at three waves. In addition, auditory and visual sustained attention were tested at wave 1. Mediation analyses were performed to examine relationships between LI, sustained attention, and language skills. Results: Children with LI and bilingual children were outperformed by their typically developing (TD) and monolingual peers, respectively, on vocabulary and morphology at all three waves. The vocabulary difference between monolinguals and bilinguals decreased over time. In addition, children with LI had weaker auditory and visual sustained attention skills relative to TD children, while no differences between monolinguals and bilinguals emerged. Auditory sustained attention mediated the effect of LI on vocabulary and morphology in both the monolingual and bilingual groups of children. Visual sustained attention only acted as a mediator in the bilingual group. Conclusion: The findings from the present study indicate that the overlap between the language profiles of children with LI and bilingual children is particularly large for vocabulary in early (pre)school years and reduces over time. Results furthermore suggest that the overlap may be explained by the weakened ability of children with LI to sustain their attention to auditory stimuli, interfering with how well incoming language is processed.

Project description:Both children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) have been shown to have difficulties with grammatical processing. A comparison of these two populations with neurodevelopmental disorders was undertaken to examine similarities and differences in the mechanisms that may underlie grammatical processing. Research has shown that working memory (WM) is recruited during grammatical processing. The goal of this study was to examine morphosyntactic processing on a grammatical judgment task in children who varied in clinical diagnosis and language abilities and to assess the extent to which performance is predicted by nonverbal working memory (WM). Two theoretical perspectives were evaluated relative to performance on the grammatical judgment task-the "working memory" account and the "wrap-up" account. These accounts make contrasting predictions about the detection of grammatical errors occurring early versus late in the sentence.Participants were 84 school-age children with SLI (n = 21), ASD (n = 27), and typical development (TD, n = 36). Performance was analyzed based on diagnostic group as well as language status (normal language, NL, n = 54, and language impairment, LI, n = 30). A grammatical judgment task was used in which the position of the error in the sentence (early versus late) was manipulated. A visual WM task (N-back) was administered and the ability of WM to predict morphosyntactic processing was assessed.Groups differed significantly in their sensitivity to grammatical errors (TD > SLI and NL > LI) but did not differ in nonverbal WM. Overall, children in all groups were more sensitive and quicker at detecting errors occurring late in the sentence than early in the sentence. Nonverbal WM predicted morphosyntactic processing across groups, but the specific profile of association between WM and early versus late error detection was reversed for children with and without language impairment.Findings primarily support a "wrap up" account whereby the accumulating sentence context for errors positioned late in the sentence (rather than early) appeared to facilitate morphosyntactic processing. Although none of the groups displayed deficits in visual WM, individual differences in these nonverbal WM resources predicted proficiency in morphosyntactic processing.

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Information processing and proactive interference in children with and without specific language impairment.

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Information processing and proactive interference in children with and without specific language impairment.

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