Young Children with ASD Use Lexical and Referential Information During On-line Sentence Processing
Young Children with ASD Use Lexical and Referential Information During On-line Sentence Processing
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DOI：
10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00171
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发表时间：
2016-02-19
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Baker, Emma K.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bavin, Edith L.;Kidd, Evan;Baker, Emma K.
对成年人和年龄较大的儿童的研究表明，动词偏见对听者在处理句子时的解释有很大的影响，但它们可以被推翻。在本文中，我们提出了两个问题：（i）自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的儿童是否像同龄人一样对动词偏见高度敏感？自闭症幼儿和典型发展幼儿是否会忽略动词的偏误而考虑歧义句的其他解释？参与者年龄为5-9岁（平均年龄6.65岁）：ASD儿童高功能和TD儿童。在任务1中，包括偏向性和中性动词（例如，吃蛋糕与移动蛋糕）。在任务2中，重点是介词短语是否与工具偏向动词（例如，“用斧头砍树”）被解释为一种工具，即使命名的物品是一种令人难以置信的工具（例如，“用蜡烛切蛋糕”（Cut the cake with the candle）总体而言，结果显示了组间的相似性，但ASD组通常较慢。在任务1中，两组都在偏置条件下比非偏置条件下更快地注视命名对象，并且在偏置条件下ASD组比TD组更快地远离目标。在任务2中，两组学生都识别出介词短语中的目标。他们更有可能超越动词工具偏见，并在不可信的情况下考虑替代（修改）解释（例如，看着蛋糕上插着蜡烛的照片“）。我们的研究结果表明，5岁及以上的儿童可以使用上下文来克服动词偏见。此外，句子处理机制的一个重要组成部分对于具有高功能的ASD幼儿来说基本上是完整的。就像孩子们一样。它们利用动词语义和整合信息的可解释性。然而，他们在处理他们听到的语言时可能会慢一些。根据之前关于处理速度和认知功能之间关系的研究结果，这意味着他们的理解力会受到负面影响，他们的学业成绩也会受到负面影响。
Research with adults and older children indicates that verb biases are strong influences on listeners' interpretations when processing sentences, but they can be overruled. In this paper, we ask two questions: (i) are children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are high functioning sensitive to verb biases like their same age typically developing peers?, and (ii) do young children with ASD and young children with typical development (TD) override strong verb biases to consider alternative interpretations of ambiguous sentences? Participants were aged 5-9 years (mean age 6.65 years): children with ASD who were high functioning and children with TD. In task 1, biasing and neutral verbs were included (e.g., eat cake versus move cake). In task 2, the focus was on whether the prepositional phrase occurring with an instrument biasing verb (e.g., 'Chop the tree with the axe') was interpreted as an instrument even if the named item was an implausible instrument (e.g., candle in 'Cut the cake with the candle'). Overall, the results showed similarities between groups but the ASD group was generally slower. In task 1, both groups looked at the named object faster in the biasing than the non biasing condition, and in the biasing condition the ASD group looked away from the target more quickly than the TD group. In task 2, both groups identified the target in the prepositional phrase. They were more likely to override the verb instrument bias and consider the alternative (modification) interpretation in the implausible condition (e.g., looking at the picture of a cake with a candle on it'). Our findings indicate that children of age 5 years and above can use context to override verb biases. Additionally, an important component of the sentence processing mechanism is largely intact for young children with ASD who are high functioning. Like children with TO. they draw on verb semantics and plausibility in integrating information. However, they are likely to be slower in processing the language they hear. Based on previous findings of associations between processing speed and cognitive functioning, the implication is that their understanding will be negatively affected, as will their academic outcomes.