Dataset Information

Learning and Overnight Retention in Declarative Memory in Specific Language Impairment.

ABSTRACT: We examined learning and retention in nonverbal and verbal declarative memory in Hungarian children with (n = 21) and without (n = 21) SLI. Recognition memory was tested both 10 minutes and one day after encoding. On nonverbal items, only the children with SLI improved overnight, with no resulting group differences in performance. In the verbal domain, the children with SLI consistently showed worse performance than the typically-developing children, but the two groups showed similar overnight changes. The findings suggest the possibility of spared or even enhanced declarative memory consolidation in SLI.

SUBMITTER: Lukacs A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5207735 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Learning and Overnight Retention in Declarative Memory in Specific Language Impairment.

Lukács Ágnes Á Kemény Ferenc F Lum Jarrad A G JA Ullman Michael T MT

PloS one 20170103 1

We examined learning and retention in nonverbal and verbal declarative memory in Hungarian children with (n = 21) and without (n = 21) SLI. Recognition memory was tested both 10 minutes and one day after encoding. On nonverbal items, only the children with SLI improved overnight, with no resulting group differences in performance. In the verbal domain, the children with SLI consistently showed worse performance than the typically-developing children, but the two groups showed similar overnight c ...[more]

PMID: 28046095

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Project description:BACKGROUND:It has been proposed that children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) have a selective deficit in procedural learning, with relatively spared declarative learning. In previous studies we and others confirmed deficits in procedural learning of sequences, using both verbal and nonverbal materials. Here we studied the same children using a task that implicates the declarative system, auditory-visual paired associate learning. There were parallel tasks for verbal materials (vocabulary learning) and nonverbal materials (meaningless patterns and sounds). METHODS:Participants were 28 children with SLI aged 7-11 years, 28 younger typically-developing children matched for raw scores on a test of receptive grammar, and 20 typically-developing children matched on chronological age. Children were given four sessions of paired-associate training using a computer game adopting an errorless learning procedure, during which they had to select a picture from an array of four to match a heard stimulus. In each session they did both vocabulary training, where the items were eight names and pictures of rare animals, and nonverbal training, where stimuli were eight visual patterns paired with complex nonverbal sounds. A total of 96 trials of each type was presented over four days. RESULTS:In all groups, accuracy improved across the four sessions for both types of material. For the vocabulary task, the age-matched control group outperformed the other two groups in the starting level of performance, whereas for the nonverbal paired-associate task, there were no reliable differences between groups. In both tasks, rate of learning was comparable for all three groups. CONCLUSIONS:These results are consistent with the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis of SLI, in finding spared declarative learning on a nonverbal auditory-visual paired associate task. On the verbal version of the task, the SLI group had a deficit in learning relative to age-matched controls, which was evident on the first block in the first session. However, the subsequent rate of learning was consistent across all three groups. Problems in vocabulary learning in SLI could reflect the procedural demands of remembering novel phonological strings; declarative learning of crossmodal links between auditory and visual information appears to be intact.

Project description:BackgroundWord learning is an important component of language development that influences child outcomes across multiple domains. Despite the importance of word knowledge, word-learning mechanisms are poorly understood in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined underlying mechanisms of word learning, specifically, statistical learning and fast-mapping, in school-aged children with typical and atypical development.MethodsStatistical learning was assessed through a word segmentation task and fast-mapping was examined in an object-label association task. We also examined children's ability to map meaning onto newly segmented words in a third task that combined exposure to an artificial language and a fast-mapping task.ResultsChildren with SLI had poorer performance on the word segmentation and fast-mapping tasks relative to the typically developing and ASD groups, who did not differ from one another. However, when children with SLI were exposed to an artificial language with phonemes used in the subsequent fast-mapping task, they successfully learned more words than in the isolated fast-mapping task. There was some evidence that word segmentation abilities are associated with word learning in school-aged children with typical development and ASD, but not SLI. Follow-up analyses also examined performance in children with ASD who did and did not have a language impairment. Children with ASD with language impairment evidenced intact statistical learning abilities, but subtle weaknesses in fast-mapping abilities.ConclusionsAs the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) predicts, children with SLI have impairments in statistical learning. However, children with SLI also have impairments in fast-mapping. Nonetheless, they are able to take advantage of additional phonological exposure to boost subsequent word-learning performance. In contrast to the PDH, children with ASD appear to have intact statistical learning, regardless of language status; however, fast-mapping abilities differ according to broader language skills.

Dataset Information

Learning and Overnight Retention in Declarative Memory in Specific Language Impairment.

Publications

Learning and Overnight Retention in Declarative Memory in Specific Language Impairment.

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