Abstract
Visual statistical learning (VSL) has been proposed to underlie literacy development in typically developing (TD) children. A deficit in VSL may thus contribute to the observed problems with written language in children with dyslexia. Interestingly, although many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) exhibit problems with written language similar to those seen in children with dyslexia, few studies investigated the presence of a VSL deficit in DLD, and we know very little about the relation between VSL and literacy in this group of children. After testing 36 primary-school-aged children (ages 7;8–10;4) with DLD and their TD peers on a self-paced VSL task, two reading tasks and a spelling task, we find no evidence for or against a VSL deficit in DLD, nor for associations between VSL and literacy in DLD. We discuss the implications for our understanding of language (and literacy) difficulties in children with DLD.
Highlights
Language therapists, clinical linguists and scientists who work with children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have long been interested in understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying the language problems seen in these children
The main aim of the present study was to assess whether children with DLD have a non-linguistic visual statistical learning deficit as compared to their typically developing (TD) peers
We had expected to observe such deficit, since we hypothesized that a domain-general statistical learning deficit underlies te language problems observed in chidren with DLD
Summary
Clinical linguists and scientists who work with children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have long been interested in understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying the language problems seen in these children. (Leonard, 2014), reading (McArthur, Hogben, Edwards, Heath, & Mengler, 2000) and spelling (Joye, Broc, Olive, & Dockrell, 2018) They frequently co-occur with difficulties in other cognitive domains such as attention, working memory (e.g., Ebert & Kohnert 2011; Montgomery, Evans, & Gilliam, 2018) and motor skills (Hill, 2001). Before we turn into explaining why the study of visual statistical learning in DLD is interesting, we first outline how sensitivity to structural regularities in the input (i.e., statistical learning) may play a role in children’s language development
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
