Abstract
The semantic network structure is a core aspect of the mental lexicon and is, therefore, a key to understanding language development processes. This study investigated the structure of the semantic network of adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) and children with typical development (TD) using network analysis. The semantic networks of the participants (nID = 66; nTD = 49) were estimated from the semantic verbal fluency task with the pathfinder method. The groups were matched on the number of produced words. The average shortest path length (ASPL), the clustering coefficient (CC), and the network’s modularity (Q) of the two groups were compared. A significantly smaller ASPL and Q and a significantly higher CC were found for the adolescents with ID in comparison with the children with TD. Reasons for this might be differences in the language environment and differences in cognitive skills. The quality and quantity of the language input might differ for adolescents with ID due to differences in school curricula and because persons with ID tend to engage in different out-of-school activities compared to TD peers. Future studies should investigate the influence of different language environments on the language development of persons with ID.
Highlights
Little is known about the semantic network structure in persons with intellectual disability (ID), language limitations [6], including semantic verbal fluency deficits [7,8], are part of the ID symptomatology
The current study aimed to investigate if the semantic network structure in a sample of adolescents with ID and a control group of younger typically developing (TD) children, differs
In a conceptual framework for understanding the aging mental lexicon presented by Wulff et al [1], learning processes are placed alongside aspects of the environment as factors that may affect the network structure
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. A better understanding of the specific characteristics of the semantic networks in persons with ID can be an essential tool for the development of language interventions for the group. It may give important clues about semantic network development in general by shedding light on the role of general intellectual functioning. Differences in the structure could help to explain specific challenges seen in language ability [9] and memory [10] in the population with ID Such knowledge could, in the long-term, lay the foundation for the development of more effective interventions aimed at strengthening different verbal abilities based on specific network features of the ID population. A high indicates that that the nodes are,are, on average, age, remotely connected in the semantic network.
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