Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T14:06:19.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Language-impaired children's real-time comprehension of spoken language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

James W. Montgomery ,
Rosalind R. Scudder  and
Christopher A. Moore
James W. Montgomery*
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Rosalind R. Scudder
Affiliation:
The Wichita State University
Christopher A. Moore
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
*
James W. Montgomery, Audiology & Speech Sciences, Heavilon Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Language-impaired children have been shown to exhibit a variety of post-sentence comprehension deficits. Comprehension, however, may also be assessed as it develops rather than after it has occurred. The present investigation compared the real-time language processing abilities of language-impaired and normal children using a word recognition reaction time paradigm. Children's reaction times across three word positions in three sentence type conditions were measured. Results showed that the language-impaired children used linguistic context to facilitate word recognition, but were slower to do so than their normally developing peers. The results were interpreted to suggest that language-impaired children are less proficient than normal children at using their linguistic knowledge to develop linguistic representations of sentence meaning. An on-line retrieval deficit or deficient connections among processing units (e.g., Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986a, 1986b; Waltz & Pollack, 1985) are suggested as likely sources of the language-impaired children's language processing difficulties.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 1990 , pp. 273 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

American National Standards Institute. (1973). American National Standards Specifications for Audiometers (ANSI S3.6–1969, R1973). New York: Author.Google Scholar
Bever, T. G. (1970a). The cognitive basis for linguistic structures. In Hayes, J. R. (Ed.), Cognition and the development of language (pp. 279–362). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bever, T. G. (1970b). The comprehension and memory of sentences with temporal relations. In d'Arcais, G. B. Flores & Levelt, W. J. M. (Eds.), Advances in psycholinguistics (pp. 285–293). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Brown, A. L., & DeLoache, J. S. (1978). Skills, plans, and self-regulation. In Siegler, R. S. (Ed.), Children's thinking: What develops? Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Brown, L., Sherbenou, R., & Johnsen, S. (1982). Test of nonverbal intelligence. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Carrow, E. (1974). Carrow Elicited Language Inventory. Austin, TX: Learning Concepts.Google Scholar
Carrow, E. (1978). Test of auditory comprehension of language. Boston: Teaching Resources Corporation.Google Scholar
Cole, R. A., & Jakimik, J. (1980). A model of speech perception. In Cole, R. A. (Ed.), Perception and production of fluent speech (pp. 133–163). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cole, R. A., & Perfetti, C. A. (1980). Listening for mispronunciations in a children's story: The use of context by children and adults. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 297–315.Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Ekert, H. E., & Eichorn, D. H. (1977). Developmental variability in reaction time. Child Development, 48, 452–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906–911.Google Scholar
Forster, K. I. (1979). Levels of processing and the structure of the language processors. In Cooper, W. E. & Walker, E. (Eds.), Sentence processing: Psycholinguistic studies presented to Merrill Garrett. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Frauenfelder, U. H., & Tyler, K. L. (1987). The process of spoken word recognition: An introduction. Cognition, 25, 1–20.Google Scholar
Hakes, D. T. (1982). The development of metalinguistic abilities: What develops? In Kuczaj, S. A. (Ed.), Language development: Language, thought and culture (Vol. 2, pp. 163–209). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
James, S. L., & Miller, J. F. (1973). Children's awareness of semantic constraints in sentences. Child Development, 44, 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarvella, R. J. (1971). Syntactic processing of connected speech. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10, 409–416.Google Scholar
Kail, R., & Leonard, L. B. (1986). Word-finding abilities in language-impaired children. ASHA Monographs, 25.Google Scholar
Kamhi, A. G., & Koenig, L. (1985). Metalinguistic awareness in normal and language-disordered children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 16, 199–210.Google Scholar
Kamhi, A. G., Lee, R. F., & Nelson, L. K. (1985). Word, syllable, and sound awareness in language-disordered children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 50, 207–212.Google Scholar
Kirk, S., McCarthy, J., & Kirk, W. (1967). Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Kirchner, D. M., & Klatzky, R. L. (1985). Verbal rehearsal and memory in language-disordered children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 28, 556–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mantis, F. R., Keating, D. P., & Morrison, F. J. (1980). Developmental differences in the allocation of processing capacity. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 29, 156–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (1987). Functional parallelism in spoken word-recognition. Cognition, 25, 71–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marslen-Wilson, W. D., & Tyler, L. K. (1980). The temporal structure of spoken language understanding. Cognition, 8, 1–71.Google Scholar
Marslen-Wilson, W. D., & Welsh, A. (1978). Processing interactions and lexical access during word recognition in continuous speech. Cognitive Psychology, 10, 29–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. F. (1981). Assessing language production in children: Experimental procedures (pp. 22–67). Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Morton, J. (1969). Interaction of information in word recognition. Psychological Review, 76, 165–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newcomer, P., & Hammill, D. (1982a). Test of Language Development – Intermediate. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Newcomer, P., & Hammill, D. (1982b). Test of Language Development – Primary. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Nippold, M. A., Erskine, B. J., & Freed, D. B. (1988). Proportional and functional analogical reasoning in normal and language-impaired children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 53, 440–448.Google Scholar
Norman, D. A., & Bobrow, D. J. (1975). On data-limited and resource-limited processes. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 44–64.Google Scholar
Posnansky, C. J. (1978). Category norms for verbal items in 25 categories for children in grades 2–6. Behavioral Research Methods and Instrumentation, 10, 819–832.Google Scholar
Rumelhart, D. E., & McClelland, J. L. (1986a). Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure of cognition: Vol 1. Foundations. Cambridge, MA: Bradford.Google Scholar
Rumelhart, D. E., & McClelland, J. L. (1986b). Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure of cognition: Vol 2. Psychological and biological models. Cambridge, MA: Bradford.Google Scholar
Salasoo, A., & Pisoni, D. B. (1985). Interaction of knowledge sources in spoken word identification. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 210–231.Google Scholar
Sininger, Y. S., Klatzky, R. L., & Kirchner, D. M. (1989). Memory scanning speed in language-disordered children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 32, 289–298.Google Scholar
Tyler, L. K., & Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (1981). Children's processing of spoken language. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 20, 400–416.Google Scholar
Waltz, D. L., Pollack, J. B. (1985). Massively parallel parsing: A strongly interactive model of natural language interpretation. Cognitive Science, 9, 51–74.Google Scholar
Wikens, C. D. (1974). Temporal limits of human information processing: A developmental study. Psychological Bulletin, 81, 739–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar