The role of stimulus properties on past tense acquisition in children with SLI

描述(由申请人提供)：患有特殊语言障碍(SLI)的儿童，是一种在没有任何明显原因的情况下出现的口语障碍，约占总人口的7%，与同龄人相比，他们的长期学业和社会成绩要差得多。在学龄前几年，语法形态和句法的习得和使用方面的缺陷是最常见的障碍之一。目前对词法和句法的干预效果有限(Law等人，2004年)。增强的语言干预技术将改善这一人群的长期积极结果。这项研究经费借鉴了典型语言学习的输入驱动方法，该方法认为，频繁的例子通过提供一个稳定的范例来帮助语法结构的习得，从而促进语法结构的意义与形式的联系。同样，单词学习和人工语法学习的理论表明，与高度典型的范例相比，使用非典型范例可能会在更大程度上促进学习。该研究计划通过使用计算模型和行为方法将这些理论扩展到干预，目的是检验刺激选择和呈现对干预结果的作用。将进行两项早期疗效研究。一种是通过两种不同的方法来教SLI儿童使用过去时态，以便在干预中使用动词。第二个研究重点是使用三种不同的输入分布向SLI儿童和使用典型语言的儿童教授一种新的语素。行为研究的结果将与计算模型联系起来，使我们能够测试输入结构和选择超出行为检查可行范围的刺激的方法。这将使检验关于什么将比仅使用传统行为方法更有效地改善干预措施的假设成为可能。研究人员对SLI儿童和评估儿童语法词法的使用有丰富的经验。然而，她在计算建模、干预研究的设计以及与言语病理学家交流结果方面缺乏专业知识。这笔赠款的培训部分将确保研究人员能够结合行为结果使用计算建模技术，以更好地了解儿童如何学习。它还将增强研究人员独立开展干预研究并将研究结果传达给从业者的能力。爱荷华大学以在特定语言障碍和计算建模领域的工作而闻名，并在临床相关研究方面有着悠久的历史。心理学和沟通障碍研究人员之间现有的合作使这一培训成为进行这一培训的理想环境。培训机会将帮助研究人员开始一项独立的研究生涯，调查如何改善语言障碍的恢复。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children with specific language impairment (SLI), a spoken language impairment in the absence of any obvious causal factors, make up about 7% of the population and have substantially poorer long-term academic and social outcomes as compared to their peers. During the preschool years, deficits in acquisition and use of grammatical morphology and syntax are among the most commonly observed impairments. Current interventions for morphology and syntax have limited efficacy (Law et al., 2004). Enhanced language intervention techniques would improve the long-term positive outcomes for this population. This research grant draws on input-driven approaches to typical language learning, which propose that highly frequent examples help scaffold acquisition of grammatical constructions by providing a stable exemplar to facilitate linking the meaning of grammatical construction to the form. Similarly, theories of word learning and learning of artificial grammars suggest that using atypical exemplars may promote learning to a greater degree as compared to highly typical exemplars. The research program extends these theories to intervention by using computational modeling and behavioral methods for the purpose of examining the role of stimulus selection and presentation on intervention outcomes. Two early- efficacy studies will be carried out. One is focused on teaching children with SLI to use past tense using two different means of selecting verbs for use in intervention. The second is focused on teaching a novel morpheme to children with SLI and children with typical language using three different input distributions. The results of the behavioral studies will be linked to computational models enabling us to test input structures and means of selecting stimuli that go beyond what is feasible to examine behaviorally. This will make it possible to test hypotheses about what will improve interventions more efficiently than with traditional behavioral methods alone. The investigator has substantial experience working with children with SLI and assessing the use of grammatical morphology in children. However she lacks expertise in the areas of computational modeling, design of intervention studies, and communicating results to speech pathologists. The training component of this grant will ensure that the investigator is capable of using computational modeling techniques in concert with behavioral results to better understand how children learn. It will also enhance the investigator's ability to independently carry out intervention studies and communicate research results to practitioners. The University of Iowa is well known for work in the areas of specific language impairment and computational modeling and has a long history of clinically relevant research. Extant collaborations between researchers in psychology and communications disorders make this an ideal environment for this training to take place. The training opportunities will help the investigator launch an independent research career that investigates ways to improve remedi-ation of language disorders.