Examining the impaired learning mechanism in children with developmental language disorder

项目总结 语言障碍是言语-语言治疗中最常见的交际障碍之一 病理学家。这种障碍的特征是口语发育受损，不能 归因于听力损失、智力残疾或其他已知的神经缺陷(Benton，1964)。一位少校 开发针对DLD的有效干预措施的挑战是，作为 人们还不了解无序现象。该项目的首要目标是填补这一关键空白，以便治疗可以 以最大限度提高学习成功的方式授课。一项领先的理论表明， DLD儿童的语言学习困难是缺乏内隐提取规则的能力。 在这一理论框架内，应该使用显性学习策略来支持儿童的学习 患上了这种疾病。事实上，为患有DLD的学龄儿童提供的治疗在很大程度上依赖于外显学习 通过将复杂的语言结构和句法规则分解成明确教授的小单元， 使用言语记忆和记忆。然而，这些教学技巧可能不会因为依赖而有效 以语言为基础的外显学习，已知对患有DLD的儿童有显著影响。建议数 该项目将测试一个新的假设，即DLD的学习缺陷根源于无效的管理 外显学习和内隐学习之间的相互作用，是由转换的执行功能受损引起的。这个 该项目提出，患有DLD的儿童表现出对外显学习的过度依赖，并且未能启动 在复杂学习过程中向内隐学习转移，是因为他们转移的执行功能受损。这个 该项目将检查儿童对复杂结构的行为和神经生理学水平的学习 与DLD和他们的年龄和性别匹配的同龄人。学习结果，策略的使用，以及 电生理测量的隐性知识将根据儿童的转移能力进行评估， 使用两种学习范式。这两种学习范式在外显学习的程度上会有所不同 被抑制，以评估消除克服显性偏见和发起转变的需要是否会改善 DLD中的复杂学习。完善的电生理测量(P600事件相关电位， 检测语法违规的内隐知识)将确定外显学习是否阻碍 在DLD中获得和/或表达隐性知识。 理解DLD中复杂结构的学习是否通过抑制外显学习来促进 策略，并通过消除从外显学习转向内隐学习的需要，将导致提高 对患有DLD的儿童使用的教学技术，以及制定有效的干预措施 考虑到这些孩子独特的学习特点。

PROJECT SUMMARY Language Impairment is one of the most common communication disorders treated by speech-language pathologists. The disorder is characterized by impaired development of spoken language that cannot be attributed to hearing loss, intellectual disabilities, or other known neurological deficits (Benton, 1964). A major challenge in developing effective interventions for DLD is that the impaired learning mechanism underling the disorder is not yet understood. The project’s overarching goal is to fill this critical gap, so that treatment can be delivered in a manner that maximizes learning success. A leading theory suggests that the underlying cause for the language learning difficulties in children with DLD is a deficit in the ability to implicitly extract regularities. Within the framework of this theory, explicit learning strategies should be used to support learning in children with this disorder. Indeed, treatment provided to school-age children with DLD relies heavily on explicit learning by breaking down complex linguistic structures and syntactic regularities into small units that are taught explicitly, using verbalization and memorization. However, these teaching techniques may not be effective as rely on language-based explicit learning that is known to be significantly affected in children with DLD. The proposed project will test a novel hypothesis whereby that the learning deficit in DLD is rooted in an ineffective management of the interaction between explicit and implicit learning, caused by an impaired executive function of shifting. The project proposes that children with DLD demonstrate overreliance on explicit learning, and are failing to initiate a shift to implicit learning during complex learning, because of their impaired executive function of shifting. The project will examine behaviorally and at the neurophysiological level learning of complex structures by children with DLD and by their age and gender matched peers. Learning outcomes, use of strategies, and electrophysiological measured of implicit knowledge will be assessed in relation to the children’s shifting abilities, using two learning paradigms. The two learning paradigms will vary in the extent to which explicit learning is suppressed to evaluate whether eliminating the need to overcome the explicit bias and to initiate a shift improves complex learning in DLD. A well-established electrophysiological measure (the P600 event related potential that detects implicit knowledge of grammatical violations) will determine whether explicit learning hinders the acquisition and/or the expression of implicit knowledge in DLD. Understanding whether learning of complex structures in DLD is facilitated by the suppression of explicit learning strategies and by eliminating the need to shift from explicit to implicit learning will lead to improvement in the teaching techniques employed with children with DLD, and to the development of effective interventions that take into consideration these children’s unique learning profile.