Selective short-term memory impairment for verbalizable visual objects in children with Developmental Language Disorder

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BackgroundDevelopmental language disorder (DLD) affects the ability to acquire and make use of native language. Possible underlying cognitive mechanisms are related to memory functions. AimsThe aim was examination of the relationship between visual short-term memory of objects as well as audiovisual short-term memory, and particular nonverbal and language abilities. Methods and proceduresThe study included 7–9-year-old children with DLD and matched control group. Participants completed the Language Development Test, the Stanford-Binet IQ scale (SB5), and two short-term memory tasks: immediate recall of the visually presented pictograms and immediate recall of audiovisually presented sequences of syllables. Outcomes and resultsThe results revealed diminished levels of short-term visual memory for objects as well as audiovisual memory in children with DLD. However, there were no group differences in the control task of WM. Conclusions and implicationsResults supported the idea of diminished abilities in children with DLD to perform mental operations on verbalizable visual objects. Importantly non-verbal working memory ability, which cannot easily be supported by verbal representations, is at typical levels. This suggests that verbalization ability should be taken into account in the assessment of seemingly non-verbal cognitive functions among children with DLD.