Specific language or working memory impairments: A small scale observational study

Abstract

Study of the developmental relationship between language and working memory skills has only just begun, despite the prominent role of their interdependency in some theoretical accounts of developmental language impairments. Recently, Archibald and Joanisse (2009) identified children with specific language impairment (SLI), or specific working memory impairment (SWMI), or mixed language and working memory impairment (Mixed) based on standardized testing. In the present study, we report a first effort to provide clinical verification of these profiles by describing the social, behavioral, and academic characteristics of individual group members. Two each of children with SLI, SWMI, or Mixed impairments, individually paired with six typically developing classmates, were observed in their classroom, and their teachers completed questionnaires related to communication, working memory, and attention. Children with impairments were distinguished from typically developing children; however, relatively few patterns further distinguished the children with SLI, SWMI, and Mixed impairments. Interestingly, the children with memory impairments were found to have some language-related difficulties, and the children with language impairments, some memory-related difficulties. The limitations of these preliminary findings and future directions are discussed.

Children with low working memory and children with ADHD: same or different?

“…Children selected on the basis of low scores on measures of WM that tax both the central executive and STM stores, such as backward digit span or listening span, typically perform relatively poorly on school-based evaluations of curriculum learning (e.g., Swanson and Sachse-Lee, 2001 ; Gathercole et al, 2003 , 2004 ; Alloway and Alloway, 2010 ; Archibald et al, 2011 ). The majority have impairments in both reading and maths and in the classroom they frequently fail in activities that involve following instructions, storing information whilst engaged in other cognitively demanding activities, and place-keeping in complex tasks (Gathercole et al, 2006 ; Gathercole and Alloway, 2008 ).…”

Phonographic spelling errors in developmental language disorder: Insights from executive functions

“…We predicted that both DLD groups would perform similarly to TD children on cognitive flexibility and inhibition tasks based on previous studies (e.g., Dibbets et al, 2006;Finneran et al, 2009;Hanson & Montgomery, 2002;Henry et al, 2011;Im-Bolter et al, 2006). However, we expected that both DLD groups would have lower scores than TD children on the updating measure (Archibald et al, 2011;Bishop, 2006;Montgomery et al, 2010), but that differences would be found between the DLD groups (Archibald & Joanisse, 2009), with weaker spellers having weaker updating abilities (Bishop & Clarkson, 2003;Larkin & Snowling, 2008;Roebers & Jäger, 2014).…”

“…However, difficulties not only appear in the ability to temporarily store information, but also in its manipulation. In fact, in the DLD population, many children exhibit limitations in updating (Archibald & Gathercole, 2006Archibald, Joanisse, & Edmunds, 2011;Bishop, 2006;Henry et al, 2011;Im-Bolter et al, 2006;Marton, 2008;Montgomery et al, 2010). Nonetheless, not all children with DLD present updating limitations (Archibald & Joanisse, 2009).…”

Assessment Measures for Specific Language Impairment in Brazil: A Systematic Review

“…Six criteria must be met for a child to be considered to have SLI: (1) standardized language test score markedly below the appropriate level relative to mental age, (2) nonverbal intelligence within normal limits, (3) no compromised hearing, (4) intact articulation with no structural or functional anomalies, (5) no symptoms of impaired reciprocal social interaction, and (6) no diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder or other pathology that may account for the language delay (World Health Organization, 1993). In many research studies (e.g., Alloway & Archibald, 2008;Archibald, Joanisse, & Edmunds, 2011;Conti-Ramsden et al, 2001;Dawes & Bishop, 2009;Tomblin & Buckwater, 1998), a cut off of more than 1 SD below the mean on a standardized language test has been employed to identify children with SLI.…”

“…Children with SLI present poor performance in short-term memory tests with regards to phonology (Archibald & Gathercole, 2006). However, one hypothesis is that SLI is associated with impairment in specifically the phonological loop subcomponent of working memory and not all of working memory (Alloway & Archibald, 2008;Archibald, 2006;Archibald et al, 2011). The memory subtests of the IPAT would be insufficient to discriminate short-term and working memory deficits across domains.…”