In:
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, American Speech Language Hearing Association, Vol. 52, No. 2 ( 2009-04), p. 269-288
Abstract:
This study investigated the association of 2 mechanisms of working memory (phonological short-term memory [PSTM], attentional resource capacity/allocation) with the sentence comprehension of school-age children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 2 groups of control children. Method Twenty-four children with SLI, 18 age-matched (CA) children, and 16 language- and memory-matched (LMM) children completed a nonword repetition task (PSTM), the competing language processing task (CLPT; resource capacity/allocation), and a sentence comprehension task comprising complex and simple sentences. Results (1) The SLI group performed worse than the CA group on each memory task; (2) all 3 groups showed comparable simple sentence comprehension, but for complex sentences, the SLI and LMM groups performed worse than the CA group; (3) for the SLI group, (a) CLPT correlated with complex sentence comprehension, and (b) nonword repetition correlated with simple sentence comprehension; (4) for CA children, neither memory variable correlated with either sentence type; and (5) for LMM children, only CLPT correlated with complex sentences. Conclusions Comprehension of both complex and simple grammar by school-age children with SLI is a mentally demanding activity, requiring significant working memory resources.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1092-4388
,
1558-9102
DOI:
10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0116)
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Speech Language Hearing Association
Publication Date:
2009
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2070420-3
SSG:
5,2
SSG:
7,11
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