Pragmatic competence and its relationship with the linguistic and cognitive profile of young adults with dyslexia

Cappelli, Gloria; Noccetti, Sabrina; Arcara, Giorgio; Bambini, Valentina

doi:10.1002/dys.1588

Cited by 28 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(97 reference statements)

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“…Nowadays it is acknowledged that a pragmatic impairment can be found in a large number of neurological and even neurodevelopmental disorders (see Cummings, 2014, 2017; Cappelli et al, 2018). Focusing on neurodegenerative diseases, pragmatic deficits seem widespread.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve

et al. 2019

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It is known that patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) may show deficits in several areas of cognition, including speech and language abilities. One domain of particular interest is pragmatics, which refers to the capacity of using language in context for a successful communication. Several studies showed that some specific aspects of pragmatics – both in production and in comprehension – might be impaired in patients with PD. However, a clear picture of pragmatic abilities in PD is still missing, as most of the existing studies focused on specific aspects of the pragmatic competence rather than on sketching a complete pragmatic profile. Moreover, little is known on the potential role of protective factors in compensating the decline of communicative skills as the disease progresses. The present study has two aims: (1) to provide a complete picture of pragmatic abilities in patients with PD, by using a comprehensive battery (Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates, APACS) and by investigating the relationship with other aspects of cognitive functioning (e.g., working memory and Theory of Mind) and (2) to investigate whether Cognitive Reserve, i.e., the resilience to cognitive impairment provided by life experiences and activities, may compensate for the progressive pragmatic deficits in PD. We found that patients with PD, compared to healthy matched controls, had worse performance in discourse production and in the description of scenes, and that these impairments were tightly correlated with the severity of motor impairment, suggesting reduced intentionality of engaging in a communicative exchange. Patients with PD showed also an impairment in comprehending texts and humor, suggesting a problem in inferring from stories, which was related to general cognitive impairment. Notably, we did not find any significant difference between patients and controls in figurative language comprehension, a domain that is commonly impaired in other neurodegenerative diseases. This might be indicative of a specific profile of pragmatic impairment in patients with PD, worth of further investigation. Finally, Cognitive Reserve measures showed a high degree of association with pragmatic comprehension abilities, suggesting that the modification of life-styles could be a good candidate for compensating the possible problems in understanding the pragmatic aspects of language experienced by patients with PD.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve

et al. 2019

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“…Pragmatic language skills were assessed by the Polish version of the RHLB (PL) by Łojek (Bryan, 1995; Cummings, 2009; Łojek, 2007). The battery was chosen since it measures higher order (pragmatic) language functions (Cummings, 2009; Cummings, 2017) and has been translated and evaluated on a Polish population; it has been used on other clinical populations, for example, dyslexia (Cappelli et al, 2018). The battery measures pragmatic abilities concerning context‐bound linguistic as well as non‐linguistic information processing, and it requires the usage of verbal and non‐verbal clues to understand intended messages (Cummings, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, the overall result of the RHLB‐PL is a predictor of theory of mind (Pluta, Gawron, Sobanska, Wojcik, & Lojek, 2017), which is one of the core communication competences. Additionally, the battery can be used to assess pragmatic language in various specific populations, for example, those with dyslexia (Cappelli, Noccetti, Arcara, & Bambini, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher order language impairments can predict the transition of ultrahigh risk state to psychosis—An empirical study

Pawełczyk

Łojek

Żurner

et al. 2020

Early Intervention Psych

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Aim Higher order language skills, for example, non‐literal language, humour, prosody deal with ‘what is meant’ and they are necessary for communicative exchange and relationships; No study has investigated their link with conversion to psychosis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether such skills could act as predictors of the onset of psychosis, and compare those of individuals converting and non‐converting to psychosis with control of cognitive functions. Methods Seventy‐three patients, aged 15 to 32 years, fulfilling ultrahigh risk criteria took part: 14% of whom were receiving antipsychotic drugs. The study was observational, prospective and longitudinal in nature, and scheduled for 60 months. Pragmatic language skills were evaluated using the Polish version of the right hemisphere language battery. The ultrahigh risk (UHR) criteria were evaluated with Comprehensive Assessment of At‐Risk Mental States; attention, intelligence and verbal fluency were controlled. Results The conversion rate was 25%; converters demonstrated impaired humour comprehension and metaphor explanation abilities; composite score of pragmatic language was associated with a hazard ratio of 6.0 (95% CI 1.8‐20.5) and AUC of .73. Verbal fluency was an independent predictor of conversion, but attention and intelligence were not; pragmatic language skills were associated with social function but not with prodromal symptoms. Conclusions The results suggest that deficits in humour comprehension and metaphor explanation could predict conversion to psychosis. These findings could improve diagnosis and create implications for speech and language therapy in UHR groups. Further studies on the mechanisms of pragmatic skills should analyze their relationship with abstract measures and semantic coherence.

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“…What is more, it is being used to assess pragmatic language in various populations e.g. dyslexia (Cappelli et al, 2018). The battery measures pragmatic abilities concerning context-bound linguistic as well as non-linguistic information processing and it requires the usage of verbal and non-verbal clues to understand intended messages.…”

Section: Tab 1 Clinical and Demographic Information By Groupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pragmatic language dysfunctions in schizophrenia and depression patients – a preliminary study

Pawełczyk¹,

Łojek²,

Żurner³

et al. 2020

Psychiatr Psychol Klin

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Background: Studies do not clarify whether disturbances in pragmatic language skills are specific for schizophrenia or are connected with psychiatric disorders for example mood disorder. The aim of this paper is to investigate if such impairments could be specific to schizophrenia and evaluate their association with the psychopathological symptoms. Method: Eighty-two participants were enrolled: 41 with schizophrenia and 41 with major depression. Pragmatic language skills were assessed by the Polish version of the Right Hemisphere Language Battery, schizophrenia and depression symptoms were evaluated by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Results: Schizophrenia and depression patients varied in comprehension of implicit information, humour understanding, processing metaphors, understanding prosody and discourse comprehension. Patients with schizophrenia scored significantly lower in all measured skills except for understanding emotional prosody in which they scored higher. A correlation was found between depression and some pragmatic language skills. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study suggest that pragmatic language skills could be more seriously disturbed in patients with schizophrenia than with depression. They also imply that pragmatic language dysfunctions may be independent of schizophrenia symptoms being a possible trait of the illness. Further studies on pragmatic language skills in mental health groups could help to identify dysfunctions specific for schizophrenia and could give a better understanding of pragmatic disturbances in mental disorders as a whole.

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Pragmatic competence and its relationship with the linguistic and cognitive profile of young adults with dyslexia

Cited by 28 publications

References 43 publications

Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve

Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve

Higher order language impairments can predict the transition of ultrahigh risk state to psychosis—An empirical study

Pragmatic language dysfunctions in schizophrenia and depression patients – a preliminary study

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