Infant-Directed Speech and Language Development in Infants with Hearing Loss

 描述（由申请人提供）：儿童听力损失（PHL）是口语发育和教育成果不良的风险因素。积极的语言成果可能在很大程度上取决于语言环境。由于PHL婴儿有语言结果不佳的风险，因此输入的质量对他们来说可能比听力正常的婴儿（NH）更重要。然而，目前对听力损失婴儿的语言输入的性质以及它如何影响他们的语言发展知之甚少。 本研究项目的总体目标是确定真实世界的语言输入如何影响听力损失婴儿的语言发育，并确定可能促进这些婴儿语言发育的婴儿导向言语（IDS）的潜在因素。在目标1中，我们将使用LENA记录设备测量和比较针对PHL和NH同龄人的婴儿的真实世界语音的声学和语言语用特性。在目标2中，我们将研究真实世界IDS的属性和结果测量之间的关系，并确定婴儿的处理效率在调解这些关系中的作用。在目标3中，我们将确定IDS对PHL婴儿与NH同龄人相比的新词学习的影响。印第安纳州大学医学院的Babytalk研究实验室采用了一种已建立的多通道优先寻找范式来研究NH婴儿和PHL婴儿的新单词学习。在这一过程中，婴儿坐在一个健全的摊位，并提出了听觉和视觉信号在电视监视器上。婴儿的注视时间的目标和非目标的视觉对象，以响应新的话-无论是在婴儿导向或成人导向的语音寄存器-将被测量为他们的单词学习能力的指数。最后，在目标4中，我们将确定IDS的哪些声学特征有助于NH婴儿在自然条件下学习新单词， 频谱退化的语音使用相同的新词学习范例，在目标3中，这个具体的目标将是第一个调查的促进作用的具体声学properties的IDS对新词学习在NH婴儿，并将提供有价值的信息，关于如何频谱退化的语音可能会影响的促进作用的IDS。该研究项目的发现将具有重要的理论意义，因为它们将揭示PHL和光谱退化输入如何与IDS和语言发展之间的直接和间接关系相互作用。研究结果还将为临床医生和听力损失婴儿的父母提供有价值的信息，以提供最佳的语言环境，最好地促进语言发展。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pediatric hearing loss (PHL) is a risk factor for poor spoken language development and educational outcomes. Positive language outcomes may depend in large part on the linguistic environment. Because infants with PHL are at risk for poor language outcomes, the quality of the input may be even more important for them than it is for infants with normal hearing (NH). However, there is currently very little known about the nature of the linguistic input to infants with hearing loss and how it affects their language development. The overall objective of this research project is to determine how real-world language input affects language development in infants with hearing loss and to determine the underlying factors of infant-directed speech (IDS) that might facilitate language development in these infants. In Aim 1, we will measure and compare the acoustic and linguistic- pragmatic properties of real-world speech directed to infants with PHL and NH peers using the LENA recording device. In Aim 2, we will investigate relationships between properties of real-world IDS and outcome measures and determine the role of infants' processing efficiency on mediating those relationships. In Aim 3, we will determine the effects of IDS on novel word learning in infants with PHL compared to NH peers. The Babytalk Research Laboratory at Indiana University School of Medicine employs an established intermodal preferential looking paradigm for studying novel word learning in both NH infants and infants with PHL. In this procedure, infants are seated in a sound booth and are presented with auditory and visual signals on a TV monitor. Infants' looking times to the target and nontarget visual objects in response to the novel words - spoken in either infant-directed or adult-directed speech registers - will be measured as an index of their word learning ability. Finally, in Aim 4, we will determine which acoustic characteristics of IDS facilitate novel word learning in NH infants under conditions of natural and spectrally degraded speech. Using the same novel-word-learning paradigm as in Aim 3, this specific aim will be the first to investigate the facilitative effects of specific acoustic propertes of IDS on novel word learning in NH infants and will provide valuable information regarding how spectrally degraded speech may affect the facilitative affects of IDS. The findings from this research project will have important theoretical implications because they will shed light on how PHL and spectrally degraded input interacts with the direct and indirect relationships between IDS and language development. The findings will also provide valuable information to clinicians and parents of infants with hearing loss for providing an optimal linguistic environment that will best promote language development.