Biomedical subjects

Lisa M D Archibald

Publications and source records attributed to Lisa M D Archibald.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Visuospatial immediate memory in specific language impairment.

PURPOSE: Investigations of the cognitive processes underlying specific language impairment (SLI) have implicated deficits in verbal short-term and working memory and in particular the storage and processing of phonological information. This study investigated short-term and working memory for visuospatial material for a group of children with SLI, to test whether the verbal memory impairments already established extend to the visuospatial domain. METHOD: Fifteen children with SLI and control groups of children matched on chronological age and language age completed tests of visuospatial short-term and working memory. RESULTS: The SLI group performed comparably with age-matched control children on all measures and at a higher level than the language-age control group on several measures. CONCLUSIONS: The visuospatial short-term and working memory abilities were at age-appropriate levels in this SLI group. This contrasts markedly with their impairments on tests of verbal short-term and working memory.

Case-Control Studies↗

PubMed2006

Nonword repetition: a comparison of tests.

PURPOSE: This study compared performance of children on 2 tests of nonword repetition to investigate the factors that may contribute to the well-documented nonword repetition deficit in specific language impairment (SLI). METHOD: Twelve children with SLI age 7 to 11 years, 12 age-matched control children, and 12 control children matched for language ability completed 2 tests of nonword repetition: the Children's Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep) and the Nonword Repetition Test (NRT). RESULTS: The children with SLI performed significantly more poorly on both tests than typically developing children of the same age. The SLI group was impaired on the CNRep but not the NRT relative to younger children with similar language abilities when adjustments were made for differences in general cognitive ability. The children with SLI repeated the lengthiest nonwords and the nonwords containing consonant clusters significantly less accurately than the control groups. CONCLUSION: The evidence suggests that the nonword repetition deficit in SLI may arise from a number of factors, including verbal short-term memory, lexical knowledge, and output processes.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Articulation rate in preschool children: a 3-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Speaking rate has implications for both clinical practice and an understanding of normal and disordered communication processes. Fundamental information on speaking rate is required by the clinician for the appropriate management of those disorders with disturbances of rate or those in which rate modification strategies are applied. One measure of speaking rate, articulation rate, excludes pause time and measures the speed with which articulators move. A developmental assessment of articulation rate is of particular interest because of its implications for changes in temporal motor aspects of speech production in development. AIMS: The fundamental aim was to provide longitudinal and normative data on articulation rate in a group of preschool children. The following questions were asked. What are the articulation rates and variability in rate at ages 4, 5 and 6, and is there a developmental trend? Are speaking context, utterance length and gender significant variables? METHODS & PROCEDURES: Speech samples from four speaking contexts, spontaneous, imitated, automatic (represented by nursery rhyme narration) and repetition, were elicited from 16 normally developing children (eight boys and eight girls) at ages 4, 5 and 6. Utterances were measured in syllables per second for runs of speech without pauses within each speaking context. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: In contrast to expectation, articulation rate did not increase significantly with age. Neither did variability of rate decrease with age. Results suggest that the course of development is non-linear. Automatic speech and repetition were significantly faster than imitated speech. An interaction between imitated speech and variability was found at age 4. Considerable individual differences in rate were identified. There were no gender differences and no correlations between articulation rate and utterance length. CONCLUSIONS: Unique information is provided on the development of speaking rate in preschool children together with additional normative data. The results have both theoretical and clinical implications. The data should assist the clinician in the assessment and diagnosis of rate and in rate modification management. Caution should be exercised in generalizing the results of the study in view of the small sample size and other factors.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Short-term and working memory in specific language impairment.

BACKGROUND: Investigations of the cognitive processes underlying specific language impairment (SLI) have implicated deficits in the storage and processing of phonological information, but to date these abilities have not been studied in the same group of children with SLI. AIMS: To examine the extent to which deficits in immediate verbal short-term and working memory may co-occur in a group of children with SLI. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Twenty children aged 7-11 years with SLI completed a comprehensive battery of short-term and working memory, as well as two phonological awareness tasks. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The majority of the group had deficits in both verbal short-term and working memory, which persisted after the general language abilities of the children were taken into account. A substantial minority showed deficits on visuospatial short-term memory, while impairments of phonological awareness were less marked. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate dual deficits in verbal short-term and working memory that exceed criterial language abilities characteristic of SLI and may plausibly underpin some of the language learning difficulties experienced by these children.

Child↗