Investigating Task Persistence in Preschool Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose: The present study was designed to investigate persistence in preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) compared to similar-age peers with typical language (TL) on tasks designed to be moderately challenging, yet equivalent in difficulty for both groups.

Method: Sixteen preschool-age children with DLD were matched to 16 children with TL based on chronological age, biological sex, and maternal education. The children completed two play-based tasks that were designed to elicit some success but impossible to complete.

The perceived guilt and innocence of adults with developmental language disorder and adults with typical language during a mock interrogation.

Purpose: This study examined if there were differences in the guilty and not guilty judgments of adults with developmental language disorder (DLD) and those with typical language (TL) functioning.

Method: Twenty-four adults (12 DLD, 12 TL) were assigned to either the guilty or not guilty conditions. Those in the guilty condition engaged in a mock crime while those in the not guilty condition were informed that a crime had been committed.

Does Movement Contextually Cue Attention During Novel Word Exposure? A Comparison of Preschool Children With Developmental Language Disorder and With Typical Language.

Purpose: This study investigated the attentional tendencies of preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typical language (TL) peers during a word learning task to examine what visual properties of novel objects capture their attention.

Method: Twelve children with DLD and 12 children with TL completed a novel name extension task in which they selected which of three visual characteristics of referent objects (i.e.

Attentional shifting in children with developmental language disorder: A meta-analysis.

Purpose: A meta-analysis investigating attentional shifting in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) was conducted. Task type, participant age, and dependent variable metric were examined as significant moderators.

Method: A systematic literature review identified 20 studies that met the following inclusionary criteria:(a) were published between 1994-2018; (b) included children with DLD aged 3;00 to 17;11 years; and (c) used behavioral performance-based measures of attentional shifting.

Examining the Relationship Between the Readability and Comprehensibility of Practice Test Questions and Failure Rates on Learner's Permit Knowledge Tests.

Purpose The readability and comprehensibility of Learner's Permit Knowledge Test practice questions and the relationship with test failure rates across states and the District of Columbia were examined. Method Failure rates were obtained from department representatives. Practice test questions were extracted from drivers' manuals and department websites and examined for readability using Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and comprehensibility using Question Understanding Aid.

You have the right to remain silent: The ability of adolescents with developmental language disorder to understand their legal rights.

Purpose: This study compared Miranda Rights comprehension of adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typically developing (TD) peers.

Method: Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights (Grisso, 1998) was administered to 20 adolescents with DLD and 20 age-matched TD peers.

Results: The DLD group exhibited significantly greater difficulty in understanding and appreciating Miranda Rights than their TD peers.

The Impact of Manipulating Attentional Shifting Demands on Preschool Children With Specific Language Impairment.

Purpose This study investigated attentional shifting in preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) compared to their typically developing peers. Children's attentional shifting capacity was assessed by varying attentional demands. Method Twenty-five preschool children with SLI and 25 age-matched, typically developing controls participated.

Which Preschool Children With Specific Language Impairment Receive Language Intervention?

Purpose: Potential biases in service provision for preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) were explored.

Method: In Study 1, children with SLI receiving treatment (SLI-T) and those with SLI not receiving treatment (SLI-NT) were compared on demographic characteristics and developmental abilities. Study 2 recruited children with articulation disorders receiving treatment (ARTIC-T) to determine if knowing service provision status influenced the results of Study 1.

Do Adolescents With Specific Language Impairment Understand Driving Terminology?

Purpose: This study examined if adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI) understand driving vocabulary as well as their typically developing (TD) peers.

Method: A total of 16 adolescents with SLI and 16 TD comparison adolescents completed a receptive vocabulary task focused on driving terminology derived from statewide driver's manuals.

Results: The SLI group understood fewer driving-related terms when compared with the TD comparison group.

Empirical Implications of Matching Children With Specific Language Impairment to Children With Typical Development on Nonverbal IQ.

This study determined the effect of matching children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their peers with typical development (TD) for nonverbal IQ on the IQ test scores of the resultant groups. Studies published between January 2000 and May 2012 reporting standard nonverbal IQ scores for SLI and age-matched TD controls were categorized into those that matched and did not match children with SLI and TD on nonverbal IQ. We then compared the nonverbal IQ scores across matching criterions within each diagnostic category.

Differences in the performance of children with specific language impairment and their typically developing peers on nonverbal cognitive tests: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: This study used meta-analysis to investigate the difference in nonverbal cognitive test performance of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their typically developing (TD) peers.

Method: The meta-analysis included studies (a) that were published between 1995 and 2012 of children with SLI who were age matched (and not nonverbal cognitive matched) to TD peers and given a norm-referenced nonverbal cognitive test and (b) that reported sufficient data for an effect size analysis. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the performance of children with SLI relative to their typically developing, age-matched peers on nonverbal IQ tests.

Investigating the interchangeability and diagnostic utility of the PPVT-III and PPVT-IV for children with and without SLI.

The receptive vocabulary performance of pre-school children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically-developing (TD) controls was compared on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test third and fourth edition (PPVT-III and PPVT-IV) to determine consistency in performance and the effect of test revision on identification of impairment. Participants included 40 pre-school children with SLI and 40 controls. Tests were administered in counterbalanced order.

Specific language impairment and executive functioning: parent and teacher ratings of behavior.

Purpose: The current study used the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF-P; Gioia, Espy, & Isquith, 2003), a rating scale designed to investigate executive behaviors in everyday activities, to examine the executive functioning of preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) relative to their typically developing (TD) peers.

Method: Nineteen preschool children with SLI were age- and gender-matched to 19 TD peers. Both parents and teachers of the participants completed the BRIEF-P.

Using norm-referenced tests to determine severity of language impairment in children: disconnect between U.S. policy makers and test developers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify various U.S. state education departments' criteria for determining the severity of language impairment in children, with particular focus on the use of norm-referenced tests.

Comparison of severity ratings on norm-referenced tests for children with specific language impairment.

Purpose: This study evaluated the consistency in severity classifications for children with language impairment on tests of child language.

Methods: The TELD-3 and the UTLD-4 were administered to 16 preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 16 typical controls. The boundaries described in the test manuals were used to assign language proficiency ratings to these children and to subsequently evaluate the consistency in these designations.

Effects of noise and speech intelligibility on listener comprehension and processing time of Korean-accented English.

Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of noise and speech intelligibility on the processing of speech produced from native English; high-intelligibility, Korean-accented English; and moderate-intelligibility, Korean-accented English speakers.

Method: Both listener comprehension, determined by accuracy judgment on true/false sentences, and processing time, estimated from response latency, were assessed under the following 3 conditions: quiet, +10 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and +5 dB SNR. Fifty-four monolingual, English-speaking adults served as the listeners for this study.

Investigating mechanisms of suppression in preschool children with specific language impairment.

Purpose: This study investigated 2 suppression mechanisms--(a) resistance to distracter interference and (b) inhibition of a prepotent response--in preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their typically developing peers.

Method: Twenty-two preschool children with SLI and 22 typically developing controls participated in this study. The resistance to distracter interference task involved suppressing distracters (nonverbal auditory, linguistic, and visual) that were external and irrelevant to the task goal.

Contributions of language and memory demands to verbal memory performance in language-learning disabilities.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of adults with language-based learning disorders (L/LD) and normal language controls on verbal short-term and verbal working memory tasks. Eighteen adults with L/LD and 18 normal language controls were compared on verbal short-term memory and verbal working memory tasks under low, moderate, and high linguistic processing loads. Results indicate no significant group differences on all verbal short-term memory tasks and verbal working memory tasks with low and moderate language loads.

Sustained selective attention skills of preschool children with specific language impairment: evidence for separate attentional capacities.

Purpose: The present study was designed to investigate the performance of preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their typically developing (TD) peers on sustained selective attention tasks.

Method: This study included 23 children diagnosed with SLI and 23 TD children matched for age, gender, and maternal education level. The children's sustained selective attention skills were assessed with different types of stimuli (visual, nonverbal-auditory, linguistic) under 2 attentional load conditions (high, low) using computerized tasks.

The composition of normative groups and diagnostic decision making: shooting ourselves in the foot.

Purpose: The normative group of a norm-referenced test is intended to provide a basis for interpreting test scores. However, the composition of the normative group may facilitate or impede different types of diagnostic interpretations. This article considers who should be included in a normative sample and how this decision must be made relative to the purpose for which a test is intended.

Eligibility criteria for language impairment: is the low end of normal always appropriate?

Purpose: The assumption that children with language impairment will receive low scores on standardized tests, and therefore that low scores will accurately identify these children, is examined through a review of data in the manuals of tests that are intended for use in identifying such children.

Method: Data from 43 commercially available tests of child language were compiled to identify whether evidence exists to support their use in identifying language impairment in children.

Results: A review of data concerning the performance of children with impaired language failed to support the assumption that these children will routinely score at the low end of a test's normative distribution.

The effects of variation on learning word order rules by adults with and without language-based learning disabilities.

Unlabelled: Non-adjacent dependencies characterize numerous features of English syntax, including certain verb tense structures and subject-verb agreement. This study utilized an artificial language paradigm to examine the contribution of item variability to the learning of these types of dependencies. Adult subjects with and without language-based learning disabilities listened to strings of three non-words for which the first and third elements had a dependent relationship.