Prediction and Word Learning in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

摘要 目前的估计表明，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）影响美国44名儿童中的1名。 许多患有ASD的幼儿表现出语言延迟，这通常是第一个关注的领域， 他们的父母患有ASD的幼儿显示出与神经典型自闭症儿童相比显着不同的单词学习特征。 (NT)同龄人，其特点主要是非典型的或延迟使用的单词学习机制。我们目前有 对这些差异的不完全理解。识别语言学习的基础机制 自闭症障碍将在缓解这些困难和支持语言学习方面取得更大的成功， 人口一种理论解释，自闭症的预测性损害（PIA）假说，已经显示出对自闭症的承诺。 解释了ASD的一些表型特征（即，社会预测困难）。这个的效用 然而，解释语言学习困难的理论框架在很大程度上仍然不清楚。自闭症 儿童在实验任务中表现出完整的统计学词汇学习能力。然而，考虑到孩子们学习 在自然的，通常是不可预测的环境中，难以跟踪不可预测的刺激可能会 对自闭症儿童的词汇学习产生了深远的影响。拟议项目的总体目标是 确定ASD中预测的既定领域一般困难如何影响新单词学习。 这个项目将采用既定的凝视方法来测试可预测和不可预测的影响， 在这个人群中学习单词的演讲。核心假设是，在此期间， 训练将不成比例地破坏ASD儿童的单词学习， 对象-标签配对的保持和泛化。初步数据表明，自闭症儿童 不成比例地被快速映射任务中不可预测的输入所干扰。在PIA假设的指导下， 根据这一强有力的初步数据，拟议项目将实现三个具体目标。具体目标我将描述 可预测和不可预测的新词对象配对呈现对初始单词学习的影响 （快速映射）在自闭症幼儿相比，认知匹配NT同龄人。具体目标II将调查 初始学习中可预测性对自闭症幼儿词宾语记忆和概括的影响 与NT对等体相比，在短时间（5分钟）延迟内完成配对。具体目标三将评估 儿童特征（例如，语言和认知能力）预测单词学习中的个体差异 自闭症儿童在可预测和不可预测的输入后的表现。拟议的项目将是 第一个应用既定的凝视方法来测试这个理论框架及其应用到初始字 学习、记忆和泛化能力。该项目的重要性在于，它将 自闭症的先进理论和我们对这一人群语言学习的理解。拟议的项目 其影响是，研究结果将为最佳实践和新的治疗策略提供信息， 为自闭症儿童学习。

ABSTRACT Current estimates suggest that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impacts 1 in 44 children in the United States. Many young children with ASD demonstrate language delays, which are often the first area of concern noted by their parents. Young children with ASD show markedly different word learning profiles than their neurotypical (NT) peers, characterized primarily by atypical or delayed use of word learning mechanisms. We currently have an incomplete understanding of these differences. Discerning the mechanisms that underlie language learning deficits in ASD will afford greater success in alleviating these difficulties and supporting language learning in this population. One theoretical account, a predictive impairment in autism (PIA) hypothesis, has shown promise for explaining some phenotypic characteristics of ASD (i.e., difficulty making social predictions). The utility of this theoretical framework for explaining difficulty with language learning, however, remains largely unclear. Autistic children show intact statistical word learning abilities on experimental tasks. However, given that children learn words in their natural, often unpredictable environments, difficulty tracking unpredictable stimuli might have profound impacts on autistic children’s word learning. The overall objective of the proposed project is to determine how established, domain-general difficulties with prediction in ASD might impact novel word learning. This project will employ established eyegaze methodology to test the impact of predictable and unpredictable presentations on word learning in this population. The central hypothesis is that unpredictable contexts during training will disproportionately disrupt word learning in children with ASD and result in disproportionate detriments to the retention and generalization of object-label pairings. Preliminary data suggest that autistic children are disproportionately disrupted by unpredictable input in a fast-mapping task. Guided by the PIA hypothesis and this strong preliminary data, the proposed project will address three specific aims. Specific Aim I will characterize the impact of predictable and unpredictable presentations of novel-word object pairings on initial word learning (fast-mapping) in autistic toddlers compared to cognitively matched NT peers. Specific Aim II will investigate the impact of predictability during initial learning on autistic toddlers’ retention and generalization of word-object pairings over a short (5-minute) delay, compared to NT peers. Specific Aim III will evaluate the extent to which child characteristics (e.g., language and cognitive abilities) predict individual variability in word learning performance following predictable and unpredictable input in autistic children. The proposed project will be the first to apply established eyegaze methodology to test this theoretical framework and its application to initial word learning, retention, and generalization in this population. The proposed project’s significance is that it will advance theories of autism and our understanding of language learning in this population. The proposed project’s impact is that findings will inform best practices and novel treatment strategies that allow for optimal language learning for autistic children.