Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Implicit Learning In Preschoolers With Developmental Language Disorder, Crystal L. Cairns, Sam Ward, Emma Duran, Molly Franz, Carolyn Quam

Student Research Symposium

We compared implicit learning in preschoolers with and without developmental language disorder (DLD), to test the procedural deficit hypothesis (PDH), which proposes that implicit learning is the core impairment in DLD. During the first experiment we tested 26 preschoolers with typical language development (TLD) and 26 preschoolers with DLD. Eligibility was determined through standardized assessment. We predicted children with DLD would show impairments in a test of implicit learning.

Using computer-based tasks, participants received training on sound discrimination in two dimensions: duration and pitch.They were tested on their ability to accurately categorize these two dimensions by mapping sounds to meaning. …