A STIMULUS CONTROL ANALYSIS OF ATTENDING

在典型发育的儿童中，一开始学习单词的速度很慢，一次一个单词的学习，紧随其后的是他们的词典中明显的“爆炸性”。一项估计表明，通过缓慢和刻意的努力，儿童每天最多学习9个新单词(例如，McLean，1993)。然而，单词学习是人类发展的一个基本组成部分，是高级语言功能(如句法操作)所必需的，也是复杂的表征技能(如范畴化；Bowerman，1988)所必需的。然而，单词学习是人类发展的一个基本组成部分，是高级语言学所必需的(Bowerman，1998)。在认知障碍干扰脊髓学习的程度上，这些领域的进展将相应地受到限制。因此，有必要详细探讨智力低下的词汇障碍的性质。严重精神发育迟滞个体在词汇习得方面存在的困难提出了重要的问题。当词汇迅速扩大时，什么语言/认知过程支持这种学习？当它没有发生时，哪些技能是欠缺的或缺失的？一种被称为快速映射的现象可能对快速词汇量的扩大具有最大的潜在相关性。快速映射指的是从词语使用的上下文中得出的“对一个‘新’单词的意义的快速、初步的、部分的理解”)。快速映射被认为有助于词汇量的扩大。这一建议的角色在典型的唐氏综合症青少年和儿童中得到了经验证实(Mervis&Bertrand，1994,1995)。然而，来自非典型认知/语言儿童的证据最近对这种关系的普遍性提出了质疑。我自己的研究(Wilkinson&Green，1997)提供了一些初步证据，证明患有严重智力障碍、威廉姆斯综合症或有特定语言目的以扩大词汇量的个体在快速映射方面存在选择性缺陷。这些最新的发现要求更系统地分析这一原则在智力低下学习结果中的确切作用。对于患有严重智力障碍的人来说，快速映射是否存在风险，可能会限制他们的词汇量扩大？我建议进行一项为期五年的词汇扩张和延迟研究，特别关注现有但有限的词汇的快速扩张。这项研究将实施申请人(Wilkinson&Green，199)开发的方法，首次能够系统地分析严重精神发育迟滞患者尚未解决的词汇扩展问题。

In typically-developing children, initially slow, one-at-a-time word learning is followed by an apparent "explosion" in their lexicon. One estimate suggests that children are learning up to nine new words a day through slow and deliberate effort (e.g., McLean, 1993). Yet word learning is a foundational component of human development, necessary for advanced linguistic functions (e.g. syntactic operations) and contributing to complex representation skills (for instance, categorization; Bowerman, 1988). Yet word learning is a foundational component of human development, necessary for advanced linguistic ; Bowerman, 1998). To the extent that a cognitive disability interferes with cord learning, progress in these domains will be correspondingly limited. It is therefore essential to explore in detail the nature of lexical impairments in mental retardation. The existence of difficulties in lexical acquisition among individuals with severe mental retardation raises important questions. When rapid vocabulary expansion occurs, what linguistic/cognitive processes support that learning? When it does not occur, what skills are deficient or absent? A phenomenon called fast mapping may be of greatest potential relevance for rapid vocabulary expansion. Fast mapping refers to a "quick, initial, partial understanding of a 'new' word's meaning" derived from the context of word use )Rice, 1989, p.152). Fast mapping has been argued to facilitate the vocabulary expansion. This proposed role has received empirical confirmation in typical youngsters and children with Down Syndrome )Mervis & Bertrand, 1994, 1995). Yet evidence from children with atypical cognition/language has recently challenged the universality of this relation. My own studies (Wilkinson & Green, 1997) have added to preliminary evidence of selective deficits in fast mapping among individuals with severe mental retardation, Williams Syndrome, or specific language purpose of vocabulary expansion. These recent findings oblige a more systematic analysis of the precise role of the principle in learning outcomes in mental retardation. Is fast mapping at risk in individuals with severe mental retardation, potentially limiting their vocabulary expansion? I propose a five-year study of vocabulary expansion and delay, focusing specifically on rapid expansion of an extant, but limited, vocabulary. This study will implement methods developed by the applicant (Wilkinson & Green, 199) that for the first time enable systematic analysis of unresolved questions of lexical expansion in severe mental retardation.