Poor Phonological Memory Research Articles

Considerations for identifying subtypes of speech sound disorder.

Speech sound disorders (SSDs) in children are heterogeneous. Differentiating children with SSDs into distinct subtypes is important so that each child receives a treatment approach well suited to the particular difficulties they are experiencing. To study the distinct underlying processes that differentiate phonological processing, phonological planning or motor planning deficits. The literature on the nature of SSDs is reviewed to reveal diagnostic signs at the level of distal causes, proximal factors and surface characteristics. Subtypes of SSDs may be identified by linking the surface characteristics of the children's speech to underlying explanatory proximal factors. The proximal factors may be revealed by measures of speech perception skills, phonological memory and speech-motor control. The evidence suggests that consistent phonological disorder (CPD) can be identified by predictable patterns of speech error associated with speech perception errors. Inconsistent phonological disorder (IPD) is associated with a deficit in the selection and sequencing of phonemes, that is, revealed as within-word inconsistency and poor phonological memory. The motor planning deficit that is specific to childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is revealed by transcoding errors on the syllable repetition task and an inability to produce [pətəkə] accurately and rapidly. Children with SSDs form a heterogeneous population. Surface characteristics overlap considerably among those with severe disorders, but certain signs are unique to particular subtypes. Careful attention to underlying causal factors will support the accurate diagnosis and selection of personalized treatment options. What is already known on the subject SSD in children are heterogenous, with numerous subtypes of primary SSD proposed. Diagnosing the specific subtype of SSD is important in order to assign the most efficacious treatment approach for each child. Identifying the distinct subtype for each child is difficult because the surface characteristics of certain subtypes overlap among categories (e.g., CPD or IPD; CAS). What this paper adds to the existing knowledge The diagnostic challenge might be eased by systematic attention to explanatory factors in relation to the surface characteristics, using specific tests for this purpose. Word identification tasks tap speech perception skills; repetition of short versus long strings of nonsense syllables permits observation of phonological memory and phonological planning skills; and standard maximum performance tests provide considerable information about speech motor control. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Children with SSDs should receive comprehensive assessments of their phonological processing, phonological planning and motor planning skills frequently, alongside examinations of their error patterns in connected speech. Such assessments will serve to identify the child's primary challenges currently and as they change over developmental time.

Repeated series learning revisited with a novel prediction on the reduced effect of item frequency in dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia, a difficulty with acquiring fluent reading, has also been characterized by reduced short-term memory (STM) capacity, which is often operationalized with span tasks. The low performance of individuals with dyslexia (IDDs) in such tasks is commonly attributed to poor phonological memory. However, we suggest an alternative explanation based on the observation that many times the items that are used in spans tasks are high-frequency items (e.g., digit words). We suggest that IDDs do not enjoy the benefit of item frequency to the same extent as controls, and thus their performance in span tasks is especially hampered. On the contrary, learning of repeated sequences was shown to be largely independent of item frequency, and therefore this type of learning may be unimpaired in dyslexia. To test both predictions, we used the Hebb-learning paradigm. We found that IDDs’ performance is especially poor compared to controls’ when high-frequency items are used, and that their repeated series learning does not differ from that of controls. Taken together with existing literature, our findings suggest that impaired learning of repeated series is not a core characteristic of dyslexia, and that the reports on reduced STM in dyslexia may to a large extent be explained by reduced benefit of item frequency.

Individual Differences in Children’s (Language) Learning Skills Moderate Effects of Robot-Assisted Second Language Learning

The current study investigated how individual differences among children affect the added value of social robots for teaching second language (L2) vocabulary to young children. Specifically, we investigated the moderating role of three individual child characteristics deemed relevant for language learning: first language (L1) vocabulary knowledge, phonological memory, and selective attention. We expected children low in these abilities to particularly benefit from being assisted by a robot in a vocabulary training. An L2 English vocabulary training intervention consisting of seven sessions was administered to 193 monolingual Dutch five-year-old children over a three- to four-week period. Children were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: 1) a tablet only, 2) a tablet and a robot that used deictic (pointing) gestures (the no-iconic-gestures condition), or 3) a tablet and a robot that used both deictic and iconic gestures (i.e., gestures depicting the target word; the iconic-gestures condition). There also was a control condition in which children did not receive a vocabulary training, but played dancing games with the robot. L2 word knowledge was measured directly after the training and two to four weeks later. In these post-tests, children in the experimental conditions outperformed children in the control condition on word knowledge, but there were no differences between the three experimental conditions. Several moderation effects were found. The robot’s presence particularly benefited children with larger L1 vocabularies or poorer phonological memory, while children with smaller L1 vocabularies or better phonological memory performed better in the tablet-only condition. Children with larger L1 vocabularies and better phonological memory performed better in the no-iconic-gestures condition than in the iconic-gestures condition, while children with better selective attention performed better in the iconic-gestures condition than the no-iconic-gestures condition. Together, the results showed that the effects of the robot and its gestures differ across children, which should be taken into account when designing and evaluating robot-assisted L2 teaching interventions.

Specific speech and language impairments in children: assessments, diagnostics, classification and outcome

Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is an heterogeneous disorder characterized by an inadequate development that cannot be explained by an auditory sensory defect, a motor-neurological defect, a general cognitive impairment nor an unwillingness to communicate. There are many subtypes of SLI, both in severity and type that may be associated with a different outcome. Although many of these children recover clinically, the majority will maintain minor language impairments leading to a poor school achievement and learning difficulties. A proportion of cases remain severely impaired causing social isolation and an occupations/professional handicap. The origin of these syndromes is probably genetic. Although the are assumed to reflect a dysfunctional of the neuronal networks subserving the comprehension,, elaboration and production of language, they are not due to evident focal brain lesions, but are associated with atypical patterns of cerebral dominance and specialization for language. A variety of language processing impairments have been described in these children, namely a difficulty in analyzing rapidly changing speech sounds, acquiring language morphology and grammar and a poor phonological memory. Therapeutic intervention in these children must be individualized and interdisciplinary (speech therapy, alternative forms of communication, psychological support and special education). This is essential to prevent social isolation, low self-esteem, emotional and behavioral symptoms and educational problems. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v16i1.467

Strengths and weaknesses in reading skills of youth with intellectual disabilities

Reading-related skills of youth with intellectual disability (ID) were compared with those of typically developing (TD) children of similar verbal ability level. The group with ID scored lower than the TD group on word recognition and phonological decoding, but similarly on orthographic processing and rapid automatized naming (RAN). Further, phonological decoding significantly mediated the relation between group membership and word recognition, whereas neither orthographic processing nor RAN did so. The group with ID also underperformed the TD group on phonological awareness and phonological memory, both of which significantly mediated the relation between group membership and phonological decoding. These data suggest that poor word recognition in youth with ID may be due largely to poor phonological decoding, which in turn may be due largely to poor phonological awareness and poor phonological memory. More focus on phonological skills in the classroom may help students with ID to develop better word recognition skills.

Neural correlates of phonological processing in speech sound disorder: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Speech sound disorders (SSD) are the largest group of communication disorders observed in children. One explanation for these disorders is that children with SSD fail to form stable phonological representations when acquiring the speech sound system of their language due to poor phonological memory (PM). The goal of this study was to examine PM in individuals with histories of SSD employing functional MR imaging (fMRI). Participants were six right-handed adolescents with a history of early childhood SSD and seven right-handed matched controls with no history of speech and language disorders. We performed an fMRI study using an overt non-word repetition (NWR). Right lateralized hypoactivation in the inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus was observed. The former suggests a deficit in the phonological processing loop supporting PM, while the later may indicate a deficit in speech perception. Both are cognitive processes involved in speech production. Bilateral hyperactivation observed in the pre and supplementary motor cortex, inferior parietal, supramarginal gyrus and cerebellum raised the possibility of compensatory increases in cognitive effort or reliance on the other components of the articulatory rehearsal network and phonologic store. These findings may be interpreted to support the hypothesis that individuals with SSD may have a deficit in PM and to suggest the involvement of compensatory mechanisms to counteract dysfunction of the normal network.

Developmental consequences of poor phonological short‐term memory function in childhood: a longitudinal study

A longitudinal study investigated the cognitive skills and scholastic attainments at 8 years of age of children selected on the basis of poor phonological loop skills at 5 years. Children with low and average performance at 5 years were tested three years later on measures of working memory, phonological awareness, vocabulary, language, reading, and number skill. Two subgroups of children with poor early performance on phonological memory tests were identified. In one subgroup, the poor phonological memory skills persisted at 8 years. These children performed at comparable levels to the control group on measures of vocabulary, language and mathematics. They scored more poorly on literacy assessments, but this deficit was associated with group differences in complex memory span and phonological awareness performance. The second subgroup of children performed more highly on phonological memory tests at 8 years, but had enduring deficits in language assessments from 4 to 8 years. Persistently poor phonological memory skills do not appear to significantly constrain the acquisition of language, mathematics or number skills over the early school years. More general working memory skills do, however, appear to be crucial.

Relationships between cognitive variables, memory and phonological awareness in children with a specific reading difficulty

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between verbal short‐term memory, phonemic awareness, and reading ability, in children with a specific reading difficulty. The results confirmed the frequently reported finding that most, if not all children with a specific reading difficulty have poor phonological awareness. In addition, poor phonological awareness in the reading‐difficulty group was associated with significantly poorer nonword reading ability, and with poorer phonological memory. When the reading‐difficulty group was further subdivided with respect to Digit Span performance there was no difference in nonword reading with respect to this overall verbal short‐term memory measure. However, poor short‐term memory, regardless of phonological awareness level, was significantly associated with a lower WISC III Verbal IQ, in particular, significantly poorer performance on the WISC III Vocabulary, Comprehension and Similarities subtests, as well as with significantly poorer reading comprehension. In addition, poor short‐term memory regardless of phonological awareness ability was associated with poorer spelling and arithmetic performance.

Phonological Working Memory and Speech Production in Preschool Children

This study investigates whether phonological working memory is associated with spoken language development in preschool children. Assessments were made of speech corpora taken from 3-year old children grouped in terms of their phonological memory abilities. Both quantitative and qualitative indices of the children's spontaneous speech output were taken in a structured play session. Significant differences were found, with children of good phonological memory abilities producing language that was more grammatically complex, contained a richer array of words, and included longer utterances than children of poor phonological memory abilities. The possible mechanisms by which phonological working memory skills are linked to the production of speech are considered.