Exploring stimulus equivalence formation in infants.

The purpose of the current study was to (1) compare the acquisition of baseline conditional discriminations in younger and older adults, (2) study the effect of the differential outcome procedure (DOP) on the establishment of baseline conditional discriminations, and (3) compare equivalence class formation in younger and older adults. Twenty-four participants, 12 younger adults (20–30 years old) and 12 older adults (67+ years old), participated in the study. In the conditional discrimination training, we gave the participants a break following 180 training trials, and the experimenter evaluated their progress. Participants with overall 50% correct responses or more after those 180 trials continued with the study as planned, with baseline conditional discrimination presented in accordance with the one-to-many (OTM) training structure and serialized training, followed by thinning of programmed consequences across training blocks before a test for the emergence of equivalence classes. If a participant was still training AB-conditional discriminations when the break was presented, with overall correct responses below 50% correct, the participant was exposed to a DOP to evaluate whether such a procedure may facilitate the establishment of the baseline conditional discrimination. Five participants in the older adult group received additional DOP training trials. The results show that two out of the five participants receiving DOP training established the AB baseline conditional discrimination. Neither of those responded in accordance with stimulus equivalence. Two out of the other seven participants in the older adults group and six out of 12 participants in the younger group formed equivalence classes.

Speech perception is often considered specific to the auditory modality, despite convincing evidence that speech processing is bimodal. The theoretical and clinical roles of lipreading for speech perception, however, have received little attention in speech-language pathology. The aims of this study were to investigate how lipreading ability can be assessed to facilitate clinical decision making in speech and language intervention, to determine how lipreading affects speech development in a hearing impaired cohort and to assess the interaction of lipreading skills with other factors thought to give rise to variation in communication skills in hearing impaired children. Five pieces of evidence that support lipreading as an integral part of speech processing are reviewed in Chapter 1. Definitions of hearing loss and lipreading are also presented. Ways of assessing lipreading ability are essential for both research and clinical practice and a review of lipreading tests in Chapter 1 highlights the inadequacy of assessment tools in this area. Factors often cited in the literature as affecting lipreading skills in a hearing and /or hearing impaired cohort are also examined. These include gender, age, socioeconomic status, intelligence, degree of hearing loss and aetiology of hearing loss. Chapter 2 details a longitudinal study by Dodd, McIntosh, and Woodhouse (1992) which described the communication development of children with hearing impairment and investigated the associations between communication skills and other linguistic and non¬linguistic factors. Lipreading skills were assessed using the Speechreading Assessment for Children with Hearing Impairment (SPACHI), a test developed for the study, and this data is also discussed. An association was found between lipreading skills and speech development. Those children with good lipreading skills had better speech skills as measured quantitatively through their phonemic repertoire. They had fewer phonemes missing and a higher percent of correct consonants. As a whole group, receptive and expressive language skills were below age appropriate scores. Chapter 3 reports new analysis of unused data from the longitudinal study which indicated associations between memory skills and other speech and language parameters. The results show that lipreading skills were highly correlated with some parameters of speech and language skills. Children who had better lipreading skills at an early age had better speech skills as measured qualitatively in their phonological repertoire. They also had more developmental error patterns. Poor lipreaders had significantly more phonemes missing from their phonemic repertoires and made significantly more nondevelopmental speech errors than the good lipreaders. Good lipreaders had better visual memory skills. The longitudinal study was limited by a number of factors, including low participant numbers and the lack of adherence to current best assessment practice in the assessments used. It also became evident that the SPACHI was inadequate and needed revision. It did not clearly delineate the level at which a child’s lipreading skills were plateauing (i.e., word, phrase, sentence or conversational speech) and there was no contingency for test familiarity, therefore making the test unreliable if used too frequently. In order to assess lipreading for research purposes, it may be necessary to test the skill in isolation, as well as multimodally. There was no ability to accurately assess both visual and auditory visual modalities using the SPACHI and there were insufficient test items per section to clearly determine competence at specific levels of ability. Finally, no hearing children were assessed for validity and reliability measurements using the test. Chapter 4 describes the development and content of the Lipreading Assessment of Children with Hearing Impairment (LACHI), a revised and enhanced version of the SPACHI. The LACHI provides an assessment of children’s lipreading skills across the word, phrase, sentence, question and conversational levels. There are three interchangeable test forms (the Farm, the Beach and the Park) and they can be used to test auditorily, visually (lipreading) or auditory-visually, without test familiarity being an issue. Chapter 5 provides an overview of the use of the LACHI on a cohort of hearing children and children with impaired hearing, evaluating LACHI performance in terms of gender, age and socioeconomic status. On average, girls performed significantly better than boys, and older children performed better than younger children, although some younger children had excellent lipreading skills. Socioeconomic grouping affected the hearing group only, with those from a higher socioeconomic group performing better. Data on the internal structure of the LACHI was evaluated and indicated that the interchangeable forms are not significantly different, with test section five being the most difficult for both the hearing and hearing impaired cohorts. The communication development of children with hearing impairment is examined in more depth in Chapter 6. No past research has provided such an overview of lipreading in relation to other communication skills. The cross-sectional study examined speech skills using free speech analysis and the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP). Receptive and expressive language skills were also investigated as was visual and auditory memory. Lipreading skills were assessed using the LACHI. Results confirmed the association between good lipreading and better speech skills by the type of error patterns (more developmental) and Percent Consonants Correct, Percent Vowels Correct and Percent Phonemes Correct (all higher). Visual memory was better than auditory memory. Expressive and receptive language scores were age appropriate. Chapter 7 looks at the interplay of lipreading skills and other factors including intelligence, gender, age, socioeconomic status and degree of hearing loss in the hearing impaired cohort. Categories of good and poor lipreaders were established. Comparisons of the two groups’ speech, language and memory skills revealed that good lipreading skills were associated with degree of hearing loss, age and gender, as well as better expressive language, speech and supra-segmental characteristics. In contrast, receptive language, auditory and visual memory, intelligence and socioeconomic grouping did not discriminate between the groups. Some of these findings were surprising and were further explored in terms of the interplay of the skills with each other. In Chapter 8, the results of the study are discussed. Associations between lipreading skills and speech skills in a hearing impaired cohort are considered, as well as the relationship between memory, language and lipreading. A discussion on the effectiveness and potential use of the LACHI as an important assessment tool in clinical intervention with hearing and other disordered populations is presented. The overwhelming evidence from the data collected in this thesis indicates there is an association between good lipreading skills and better expressive speech skills in a hearing impaired cohort, with memory skills implicated in lipreading ability. This adds evidence to the theoretical discussions on multimodal speech processing and accessing the phonological code. Finally, the LACHI was found to be an efficient and effective measurement of lipreading skills in hearing children and children with hearing impairment.

Objectives: Preterm infants are at increased risk for delayed language development. This study aimed to investigate the impact of vocalization at 12 months on language abilities at 24 months in preterm infants and to assess whether early vocalization can serve as a predictor of later language outcomes.Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted with 31 preterm infants assessed at 12 and 24 months. At 12 months, vocalizations were evaluated via a caregiver interview tool and categorized into precanonical, canonical, and word stages, with percentage scores calculated for each. At 24 months, receptive and expressive language quotients were measured using standardized assessments.Results: Preterm infants demonstrated the highest scores in the precanonical stage at 12 months, with lower scores in the canonical and word stages. The canonical vocalization scores at 12 months were significantly correlated with receptive and expressive language quotients at 24 months, while precanonical vocalizations showed no significant correlations. Additionally, canonical vocalization scores significantly predicted expressive language abilities at 24 months. However, subcomponents of the canonical stage did not individually predict language outcomes.Conclusion: Canonical vocalization at 12 months is closely associated with expressive language development at 24 months in preterm infants. Early assessment of vocalization may be a useful tool for identifying infants at risk for language delays, enabling timely intervention.

Six pairs of participants were matched from a pool of 26 participants based on their performance in pretraining for conditional discrimination. One participant from each pair completed either a speed or an accuracy condition in the conditional discrimination training by using an linear series (LS) structure to establish potentially three, 3-member classes. Initially, the speed participants completed the training with a titrating limited hold (LH) on the comparison stimuli. The accuracy participants were yoked to the trial number of the speed participants with whom they were matched. In Phase 2, the speed participants completed matching to sample (MTS) training with a fixed 1,000-ms LH, and the accuracy participants were not yoked. In Phase 3, the probabilities of the programmed consequences were gradually reduced to 0 %. Phase 4 introduced tests for baseline and emergent relations and adduction. In Phase 5, a 2-week retention test was administered. The results indicated that 1 of 6 speed participants, compared with 3 of 6 accuracy participants, responded according to stimulus equivalence in the initial testing, whereas accuracy in the adduction test was nearly equal for all participants. In a 2-week retention test, no accuracy participants and two speed participants responded according to stimulus equivalence, whereas accuracy in the adduction test was equal between the participants. In the second retention test, 1 of 3 speed participants responded in accord with stimulus equivalence. All speed participants had a higher number of errors during the baseline trials and completed a higher number of acquisition trials. Inverse reaction time (InvRT) to comparisons did not vary as a function of trial type.

Parent-child interaction is a foundational component of language development. This study examined parent-child interaction in deaf and hard-of-hearing children 6 or 9 months after they received hearing aids or cochlear implants. Expressive, receptive, and overall language skill were probed 9 to 18 months later. Thirteen DHH children and their parents participated in a videorecorded, semi-structured play interaction. Items from an adapted version of the Joint Engagement Rating Inventory were used evaluate parent-child interactions (i.e., fluency and con-nectedness, shared routines and rituals, child joint engagement, and parental sensitivity). Language skills were assessed using the Preschool Language Scales-5th (Zimmerman et al., 2011). Results indicate statistically significant re-lationships between child-parent joint engagement and expressive (p = .004), receptive language (p = .043), and total language scores (p = .007). The shared routines and rituals item was significantly related to expressive language (p = .037) and approached statistical significance with total language (p = .076) but was not significantly related to receptive language. The fluency and connectedness item was significantly related expressive language (p = .008) and total language (p = .028) but did not reach statistical significance with receptive language (p = .077). A quantitative measure of parental language input (i.e., words per minute) was not significantly related to any language variables.

The prevalence of neurocognitive disorders has been rising and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common cause. Studies on conditional discrimination have contributed to understand the variables associated with the cognitive function. However, the relationship of such studies with cognitive impairment in older adults remains under-explored. This research aims to compare the performances of older adults during tasks involving conditional discrimination training with their performances on Addenbroke's Cognitive Examination, a widely used screening test for cognitive impairments. The sample was composed of 45 older adults. The participants performed a computerized task consisting on establishing arbitrary conditional relations between three pairs of stimuli. Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination was administered to assess the cognitive performance. The analysis revealed a positive correlation between the performance in conditional discrimination and in the cognitive assessment. This correlation was observed only among participants who did not reported having AD in use of anti-cholinesterase drugs (30 participants). These findings demonstrate a direct relationship between learning difficulties, when it comes to learning arbitrary conditional relations, and the occurrence of cognitive decline. Therefore, the administration of the conditional relations tasks could be useful for distinguishing older adults with and without AD. Keywords: Conditional discrimination; neuropsychological tests; elderly; Alzheimer's Disease.

In most studies of delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) and stimulus equivalence, the delay has remained fixed throughout a single experimental condition. We wanted to expand on the DMTS and stimulus equivalence literature by examining the effects of using titrating delays with different starting points during the establishment of conditional discriminations prerequisite for stimulus equivalence. In Experiment 1, a variation of a single-subject withdrawal design was used. Ten adults were exposed to one condition where the delay titrated between 0 and 3000 ms and another condition where the delay varied from 5000 to 8000 ms. Subsequently, participants were re-exposed to the condition they had first experienced. Results show that starting the titration of the delay at 5000 ms may have had a facilitatory effect on stimulus equivalence responding for some participants. For several participants, however, performance was stable throughout the experiment, apparently not affected by either the variations of the starting point of the titrating delay or by previous exposure to stimulus equivalence training and test procedures. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of being exposed to the same stimulus equivalence procedure three times, again with adults as participants. Results show that such extended exposure had very limited effects on stimulus equivalence responding. This indicates that single-subject withdrawal designs may be an appropriate approach for studying stimulus equivalence.

This study examined the relationship between language skills specifically receptive and expressive language and the oral reading ability of Grade 1 learners. Using a quantitative correlational research design, the study aimed to determine how language proficiency influences learners’ oral reading performance in Sinugbuanong Binisaya, the mother tongue used for instruction. Data were gathered from 30 Grade 1 pupils, along with input from their teachers and parents, using a Language Skills Assessment Questionnaire and an oral reading test. Statistical analysis revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between receptive language and oral reading ability and between expressive language and oral reading ability. The findings indicate that learners with higher receptive and expressive language skills demonstrate greater fluency and comprehension in oral reading. These results align with previous research underscoring the critical role of oral language development in reading acquisition. The study highlights the importance of integrating listening, speaking, and reading activities into early literacy instruction and proposes the development of a Reading Skills Enhancement Plan that incorporates mother tongue-based, culturally relevant strategies to improve early literacy outcomes.

Reevaluación de la brecha del lenguaje receptivo-expresivo en individuos con síndrome de Down

ObjectiveTo compare and analyze the clinical characteristics of children with delayed language acquisition due to two different diagnoses, which were specific language impairment (SLI, a primarily delayed language development) and global developmental delay (GDD, a language delay related to cognitive impairment).MethodsAmong 1,598 children who had visited the developmental delay clinic from March 2005 to February 2011, 467 children who were diagnosed with GDD and 183 children who were diagnosed with SLI were included in this study. All children were questioned about past, family, and developmental history, and their language competences and cognitive function were assessed. Some children got electroencephalography (EEG), in case of need.ResultsThe presence of the perinatal risk factors showed no difference in two groups. In the children with GDD, they had more delayed acquisition of independent walking and more frequent EEG abnormalities compared with the children with SLI (p<0.01). The positive family history of delayed language development was more prevalent in children with SLI (p<0.01). In areas of language ability, the quotient of receptive language and expressive language did not show any meaningful statistical differences between the two groups. Analyzing in each group, the receptive language quotient was higher than expressive language quotient in both group (p<0.01). In the GDD group, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID-II) showed a marked low mental and motor quotient while the Wechsler Intelligence Scale showed low verbal and nonverbal IQ. In the SLI group, the BSID-II and Wechsler Intelligence Scale showed low scores in mental area and verbal IQ but sparing motor area and nonverbal IQ.ConclusionThe linguistic profiles of children with language delay could not differentiate between SLI and GDD. The clinicians needed to be aware of these developmental issues, and history taking and clinical evaluation, including cognitive assessment, could be helpful to diagnose adequately and set the treatment plan for each child.

This study was designed to produce a new parent-report measure, the Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler Assessment of Communication and Language (DREAM-IT) in order to provide norms for the developmental skills of children aged 0-36 months in four areas: expressive language, receptive language, cognitive play and social skills. The scale was designed to be both broader and deeper than existing instruments that neglect one or more of these significant domains involved in early language. Items were chosen by a group of specialists with clinical experience working with the age group and with attention to the developmental literature. Caregivers were tested individually by a trained person who asked the questions and provided examples. In addition to an extensive health questionnaire, caregivers answered questions in Mandarin about their child's behaviour using a scale of 'not yet', 'sometimes' or 'always' or listing out words and/or sounds understood or said by the child. The 476 participating caregivers were recruited at maternal and child healthcare clinics centred in Chengdu, China, 191 of whom were tested a second time seven months later. The children were sampled in three-month age-bands from 0 to 36 months. The sample was balanced for child gender by age band, and parental education was balanced. Caregivers of 0-24-month-old children and caregivers of 12-36 months were each asked a different set of questions, to determine the appropriate age range and cutoff points for each question, requiring the sample size to be doubled for children aged 12-24 months. The results were subject to item-response theory analysis to remove outlying items, and the resulting internal reliability was high for each domain (average Cronbach's alpha=0.87). The final instrument (between 67 and 113 questions in total) was refined to include the least redundant questions that had the highest intercorrelations, with attention paid to coverage of all domains across the age range. Two scales were developed: one for children 0-18 months, the second for children aged 18-36 months. The longitudinal design permitted the creation of growth curves and norms for each domain for six-month intervals from 0 to 36 months. A small sample of 32 parents of children with Down syndrome aged 18-36 months provided validation that the scales are highly sensitive to developmental delay. The instrument shows considerable promise for detecting early communication problems in children in China. What is already known on the subject In China, efforts were made in recent years to develop language assessments for infants and toddlers, but limitations existed with the domains included and number of items included per age group. Many clinical practitioners also continued to rely on language subtests of general developmental scales, which were limited in depth and breadth of language skills tested and were never intended for diagnosis of language delay. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper discusses the development of a valid caregiver report instrument for early communication and language skills of infants and toddlers in mainland China. The Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler (DREAM-IT) includes foundational domains necessary for language and communication development in young children (receptive language, expressive language, cognitive play and social communication domains). The results show strong internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for each domain on a sample of 716 children sampled in three-month age bands from 0 to 36 months. The external validity proved strong when tested on a group of 32 young children with Down syndrome. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Besides helping to inform the diagnosis of language delays in infants and toddlers in China, the caregiver report instrument has special features to support clinical practitioners in a field that is just emerging in China. The unique support features include the automatic generation of a profile of relative strengths and weaknesses of the child on the report and the recommendation of child-specific caregiver coaching videos on a companion app.

To simulate the emotional judging function seen in some clinical problems, matching-to-sample training was used to establish three-member stimulus equivalence classes consisting of abstract paintings. Pictures with strongly positive or negative emotional content were then paired with only one of the paintings in each class, and transfer of the judgement function to the other stimuli in the equivalence class was tested. A single-case, multi-element pretest-posttest design was used with 10 participants in each of two experiments. Stimulus equivalence emerged in all participants, with 95%-100% correct responses. However, transfer of the judgement rating function appeared consistently in only three participants in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, transfer test trials were done only in the posttest phase to obviate the effects of pre-experimental history, preference or memory, but only two participants consistently showed transfer. We conclude that the experimental method we used controls for procedural variables that might account for the between-participant and within-stimulus variability usually found in earlier transfer experiments. In contrast to the appearance of stimulus equivalence, the emergence of transfer of function did not appear to be an automatic process.

ABSTRACTBackground: There is accumulating evidence of the preservation of music skills in people with Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), including spared memory for familiar music and the ability to produce music by singing or playing an instrument. Music can also be used to alleviate symptoms of dementia, leading to reduced agitation, improved positive mood, memory, and expressive language functions.Aims: We evaluated the rate of decline of expressive language and music skills in TC, a 77 year old woman with aphasia in the context of severe AD, and her husband’s use of music in caregiving. Neither TC nor her husband had any formal music training. We also explored whether the preservation of music skills had implications for treating a symptom of her dementia, specifically her misidentification delusion.Methods & Procedures: A retrospective comparison of the progressive decline in TC’s expressive music and language skills was obtained through interviews with her husband. He also completed a purposefully developed questionnaire regarding his use of music during caregiving. Assessment of TC’s language skills was attempted using the Sydney Language Battery, and her music engagement skills were evaluated with the Music Engagement Questionnaire (MusEQ, informant version). Her behaviour and verbal communication was observed during four different conditions, presented by her husband; (1) reading a newspaper article, (2) reading familiar song lyrics, (3) singing familiar song lyrics, and (4) listening to the original version of the familiar song.Outcomes & Results: TC exhibited a gradual deterioration of her expressive language abilities, whereas her music skills (singing and music engagement), were relatively preserved. Her overall score on the MusEQ was in keeping with age matched healthy controls (50–55 percentile) and she had a high average (80–85 percentile) score on the “emotion” subscale. The impact of preserved music engagement was powerfully demonstrated when TC developed a transient misidentification delusion and believed that her husband was an intruder. Her delusion was only resolved after her husband repeatedly sang a significant song that they had shared as a couple for close to 60 years. By singing this special song (“Unchained Melody”), TC eventually “came back” and recognised him. During behavioural observations under different language and music conditions, TC’s verbal communication did not appear to change.Conclusions: This case study illustrates that when language skills deteriorate in AD, music functions may persist, providing a vital tool in coping with the symptoms of severe dementia.

Health and well-being are holistic concepts that are perceived to be inseparable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We examined relationships between parent-reported ear symptoms for 787 Indigenous children at two time points (age 2–3 years, age 4–5 years) and two parent-reported speech and language outcomes one year later (age 5–6 years). Most parents (80.2%) reported no concern about their child’s expressive language and (93.8%) receptive language. Binary logistic regression models examined ear health as a predictor of children’s expressive and receptive speech and language adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariates. For children without parent-reported ear symptoms, there were lower odds of parental concern about expressive speech and language (aOR = 0.45; 95% CI 0.21–0.99) and receptive language (aOR = 0.24; 95% CI 0.09–0.62). Parents were less likely to have concerns about the child’s expressive speech and language if their child was female, lived in urban or regional areas, had excellent or very good global health, or had no disability when aged 2–5 years. Since parent-reported ear health and speech and language concerns were related, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children could benefit from culturally safe, strength-based, and family-centered integrated speech, language, and ear health services.

The purposes of this study were to investigate (a) whether children in families with a positive history of dyslexia were more likely to show delays in language development than children without family risk and (b) whether a delayed onset of expressive language (late talking) predicted later language development. We analyzed the language development of 200 children longitudinally at 14, 24, 30, and 42 months and assessed their symbolic play at 14 months. Half of the children (N = 106) were from families with a history of dyslexia (the Dyslexia Risk [DR] group), and other children served as age-matched controls. Parental reports and structured tests were used to assess children's receptive and expressive language and symbolic play. No differences emerged between the two groups in receptive language, symbolic play, or on the Bayley MDI. The groups, however, diverged in expressive language measures. The maximum sentence length at 2 years and object naming and inflectional morphology skills at 3.5 years were higher for the control group than for the DR group. Reynell receptive score at 2.5 years provided the greatest unique contribution to the prediction of the children's receptive and expressive language. Children's risk status did not contribute to receptive language, but provided a significant contribution to their expressive language at 3.5 years, even after the variance associated with parental education and children's previous language skills was controlled. Late talkers in the DR group differed from the other members of the DR group in both receptive and expressive language at 3.5 years, although in the control group children with a late-talking history performed at age-level expectations. The findings suggest that children with a familial risk for dyslexia and with a history of late talking are at higher risk for delays in language acquisition than children without the familial risk for dyslexia.