Background and aims

Previous investigations of word learning problems among people with developmental language disorder suggest that encoding, not retention, is the primary deficit. We aimed to replicate this finding; test the prediction that word form, not the linking of form to referent, is particularly problematic; and determine whether women with developmental language disorder are better word learners than men with developmental language disorder.

Methods

Twenty adults with developmental language disorder and 19 age-, sex-, and education-matched peers with typical language development attempted to learn 15 words by retrieval practice. Their retention was measured one day-, one week-, and one month after training.

Results

The participants with developmental language disorder required more exposures to the word-referent pairs than the participants with typical language development to reach mastery. While training to mastery, they made more errors in word form production, alone or in combination with errors in linking forms to the correct referents, but the number of no attempts and pure link errors did not differ by group. Women demonstrated stronger retention of the words than men at all intervals. The developmental language disorder and typical language development groups did not differ at the one-day- and one-month retention intervals but the developmental language disorder group was weaker at the one-week interval. Review via retrieval practice at the one-day and one-week interval enhanced retention at the one-month interval; the review at one week was more beneficial than the review at one day. Women benefitted more from the review opportunities than men but the developmental language disorder and typical language development groups did not differ.

Conclusions

Adults with developmental language disorder present with weaknesses in the encoding of new words but retention is a relative strength. Encoding word forms is especially challenging but encoding word-to-referent links is not. We interpret this profile, and the evidence of a female advantage, as consistent with the Procedural Circuit Deficit Hypothesis.

Implications: When treating a client with developmental language disorder whose goal is to increase vocabulary knowledge, the interventionist should anticipate the need for multiple exposures to new words within activities that highlight the forms of the words and support their memory and production. Periodic review should serve to support long-term retention.

中文翻译：

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成人发育性语言障碍的单词学习概况

背景和目标

先前对发展性语言障碍患者中单词学习问题的调查表明，编码而非保留是主要缺陷。我们旨在复制这一发现；测试单词形式而不是形式与所指对象的链接是否特别有问题的预测；并确定患有发育性语言障碍的女性是否比患有发育性语言障碍的男性更好的词汇学习能力。

方法

20名具有发展性语言障碍的成年人以及19名与年龄，性别和教育程度相匹配的具有典型语言发展能力的同伴试图通过检索练习来学习15个单词。在训练后的一天，一周和一个月测量他们的保留。

结果

与具有典型语言发展能力的参与者相比，具有发展性语言障碍的参与者需要更多的单词参照对的接触。在接受精通训练的过程中，他们独自或与将表格链接到正确的参考对象有关的错误中，在字词形式产生方面出现了更多的错误，但是没有尝试的次数和纯粹的链接错误因组而异。在所有时间间隔中，女性都比男性表现出更大的保留力。发育语言障碍和典型语言发展组在一天和一个月的保留间隔上没有差异，但是发育语言障碍组在一周的间隔中较弱。在一天和一周的时间间隔内通过检索实践进行审查，从而在一个月的时间间隔内提高了保留率；一周的审查比一天的审查更有益。女性比男性受益于复习的机会更多，但发育性语言障碍和典型的语言发展群体没有差异。

结论

患有发育性语言障碍的成年人在新单词的编码方面存在弱点，但保持力是相对强项。编码单词形式特别具有挑战性，但是编码单词到引用链接则不是。我们将这种情况和女性优势的证据解释为与程序性电路赤字假说相一致。

启示：当治疗目标为增加词汇知识的发展性语言障碍患者时，干预专家应预见到在强调单词形式并支持其记忆和生产的活动中，需要多次接触新单词。定期审查应有助于长期保留。