Semantic Processing of Sentences in Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment: Evidence From the N400 Effect

Pijnacker, Judith; Davids, Nina; Weerdenburg, Marjolijn van; Knoors, Harry; Alphen, Petra van

doi:10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0299

Cited by 27 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(71 reference statements)

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“…Previous studies on unimodal (auditory) semantic integration in children aged between 5-18 years have shown an N400 effect in response to words or pictures that mismatch the preceding context in linguistic priming tasks (e.g. Benau et al, 2011;Holcomb et al, 1992;Pijnacker et al, 2017). Our finding goes beyond unimodal integration by showing that semantic integration does not only occur during information processing of the auditory modality, but is also apparent when information is communicated simultaneously through different modalities.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Evidence for children’s online integration of simultaneous information from speech and iconic gestures: an ERP study

Sekiné

Schoechl

Mulder

et al. 2020

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

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Children perceive iconic gestures, along with speech they hear. Previous studies have shown that children integrate information from both modalities. Yet it is not known whether children can integrate both types of information simultaneously as soon as they are available (as adults do) or whether they initially process them separately and integrate them later. Using electrophysiological measures, we examined the online neurocognitive processing of gesturespeech integration in 6-to 7-year-old children. We focused on the N400 event-related potential component which is modulated by semantic integration load. Children watched video clips of matching or mismatching gesture-speech combinations, which varied the semantic integration load. The ERPs showed that the amplitude of the N400 was larger in the mismatching condition than in the matching condition. This finding provides the first neural evidence that by the ages of 6 or 7, children integrate multimodal semantic information in an online fashion comparable to that of adults. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Evidence for children’s online integration of simultaneous information from speech and iconic gestures: an ERP study

Sekiné

Schoechl

Mulder

et al. 2020

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

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“…There currently is a lack of research on typically developing school‐aged children and adolescents, ages at which children with language impairments continue to struggle, and a period when the more subtle aspects of semantic and syntactic development continue developing. As a consequence, many studies of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD; also known as Specific Language Impairment) have focused on the earlier stages of development, leading to less information regarding the developmental progression of language comprehension (Haebig, Leonard, Usler, Deevy, & Weber, ; Pijnacker et al, ). This is especially interesting given that some children initially diagnosed with DLD appear to demonstrate close‐to‐normal language skills at later ages (Haebig et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental differences in the neural correlates supporting semantics and syntax during sentence processing

Schneider

Maguire

2019

Developmental Science

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School‐aged and adolescent children continue to demonstrate improvements in how they integrate and comprehend real‐time, auditory language over this developmental time period, which can have important implications for academic and social success. To better understand developmental changes in the neural processes engaged during language comprehension in this age group, we use electroencephalography to investigate how 8–9 year old, 12–13 year olds, and adults process semantics and syntax in naturally paced, auditory sentences. Participants listened to semantically and syntactically correct and incorrect sentences and were asked to complete an acceptability judgment task. When processing a semantic error, developmental differences were observed in theta, but not the N400, suggesting that the N400 may be too gross a measure to identify more subtle aspects of semantic development that occur in the school years. For the syntactic task, errors resulted in a larger P600 and greater beta decrease than correct sentences, but the amplitude and location of the P600 and amplitude of beta decreases differed as a function of age, suggesting specialization of syntactic skills is ongoing through adolescence. The current findings shed new light on the development of the neural oscillations supporting language comprehension and suggest that the neural substrates underlying semantic processing reach adult‐like levels at a younger age than those underlying syntactic processing.

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“…On the surface, this may be considered surprising, since prior studies have uncovered differences in the size and shape of ERP waveforms elicited in certain clinical populations. For example, children with language disorders demonstrate comparatively reduced (Cummings & Ceponiene, 2010) or delayed (Pijnacker et al, 2017) N400 effects, and similar findings have also been reported for children with dyslexia (Jednoróg, Marchewka, Tacikowski & Grabowska, 2010;Stelmack & Miles, 1990).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Literacy development in children with cochlear implants

Bell¹

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In general, school-age children with significant hearing loss demonstrate poorer literacy skills than their typically hearing (TH) peers. However, it is often difficult to infer from research findings which individual factors contribute to overall learning outcomes, given the high degree of heterogeneity in the hearing-impaired population. Since the development of any specialised intervention is based on evidence about the strengths and weaknesses of the targeted group, gaps in research arising from population variability have clinical and educational significance. Of the broader population of children who are deaf and hard of hearing, the research presented in this thesis pertains to a homogeneous group of beginning readers with significant bilateral hearing loss, who use cochlear implants (CIs) and communicate via solely spoken language. A psycholinguistic approach, founded on existing theoretical models, informed the collection and analysis of research findings in this thesis, which has thus allowed for specific interpretations as to the skills underlying reading and writing outcomes in children with CIs. iii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

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Semantic Processing of Sentences in Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment: Evidence From the N400 Effect

Abstract: The findings suggest that the neuronal processing of semantic information at sentence level is atypical in preschoolers with SLI compared with TD children.

Cited by 27 publications

References 52 publications

Evidence for children’s online integration of simultaneous information from speech and iconic gestures: an ERP study

Evidence for children’s online integration of simultaneous information from speech and iconic gestures: an ERP study

Developmental differences in the neural correlates supporting semantics and syntax during sentence processing

Literacy development in children with cochlear implants

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