- Preschool Implicit-Learning
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. Children were not given feedback on their responses. Thus, all training and testing relied on implicit learning.
In an unintended experimental-design issue, the target picture switched sides between experimental trials nearly 2/3 of the time. Eye-gaze data indicated that participants anticipated the target side would alternate. Thus, we unintentionally investigated sensitivity to two competing cues: sound-meaning correspondence and target-side alteration. Both participants with DLD and TLD noticed target-side alternations and relied on them, rather than relying on sounds.
In a second experiment, the flaw in the experimental design was fixed and 29 children with TLD still successfully learned the sounds. Participants learned pitch categories significantly better than duration categories. Our next step would be to recruit children with DLD to experiment two.
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