2009 — 2011 |
Borovsky, Arielle |
F32Activity Code Description: To provide postdoctoral research training to individuals to broaden their scientific background and extend their potential for research in specified health-related areas. |
Online Measures of Word Recognition and Learning in Language-Delayed Toddlers
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal's broad objective is to examine how three different types of sentential information 1) words in carrier frames, 2) informative verbs and 3) informative adjectives, can influence speech comprehension and word learning in children (ages 24-36 mos) with normal language (NL) and who are late talking (LT) -a group at risk for later language impairment (Ll). Speech processing studies have found that children and adults make use of sentential information to interpret familiar words and learn new ones. Concurrently, research on children with Ll has uncovered a number of difficulties in rapidly interpreting words in sentences. This work indicates that at least some of the deficits exhibited by Ll children result from impairments in processing. However, a critically important question is if and how these factors influence word learning and recognition in younger children who are at risk for later Ll. Until now this has not been possible, because tasks that measure language processing in older children are not suitable to use with toddlers. Real-time measures of language comprehension are key to examining these questions, since they measure how language processes unfold in real-time. They reveal not only *if* LTs comprehend known and novel words, but *how* and *when* they are understood. I will therefore use an age-appropriate language processing measure- the "Looking while listening" (LWL) procedure - to longitudinally examine the impact of three types of sentential information on familiar word recognition and novel word learning in NL and LT children. In addition, these studies will be the first to probe the relation between these language processing measures and language growth across the 3rd year. Experimental manipulations will examine the influence on processing of novel and familiar words that are: 1) in isolated contexts or sentences, 2) preceded by an informative verb or 3) by an informative adjective. These studies will examine the potential benefit of the examined conditions to LTs, and shed light on the nature of potential processing deficits that exist in this population, and clarify how these factors relate to vocabulary growth. Public health relevance: These studies examine a population at risk for later diagnosis with Ll, which is a deficit that can lead to serious academic and social consequences. A main goal of this work is to examine cues that may help to improve language comprehension and learning in this group, which may help mitigate the negative effects of continued language delay. As such, the findings will be highly relevant and informative to parents, educators, and clinicians who have an interest in helping this group catch up with their peers before they enter school.
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0.961 |
2015 — 2017 |
Borovsky, Arielle |
R03Activity Code Description: To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
Online Language Processing and Semantic Development in Late-Talking Infants @ Florida State University
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad goal of this project is to advance our theoretical understanding of how early semantic development and language processing skills contribute to early infant risk for later language delays and impairments. We will examine infants with broad spectrum of language abilities, including those who are late-talking. Late talking infants are a group of children between 18-24 months of age who fall below the 20th percentile in early language measures. While many late talking children do catch up with their peers and show typical language growth, a subset will remain delayed and receive a diagnosis of specific language impairment (SLI). SLI is a language disorder that affects nearly 8% of school-aged children and results in difficulties in a range of language skills, and can lead to negative academic and social consequences. Children with SLI are not often identified until they are school-aged, although parents often report concerns about language growth that start from infancy. There is an urgent need not only to develop of measures that can identify which children are at greatest risk for language impairments in infancy and toddlerhood, but also to understand the mechanisms that underlie these language delays. Such advancements, in tandem, have the potential to yield crucial insights into how early intervention for early language delays may yield improved outcomes for these children. By investigating two promising markers of later language delay (1) early fluency and accuracy in lexical recognition, and (2) early semantic structure of vocabulary development, this project is can further refine measures that have shown early promise in identifying markers of language delay, and identify whether or not these skills are casually related. We assess whether a relationship exists between these factors, and if in combination they may improve identification of children who will remain delayed in language skills at age 3. The specific objectives of this proposal are to (1) evaluate the relationship between semantic domain knowledge and real-time recognition of words from 18-30 months, (2) explore whether and how word learning, semantic development, and processing skills are related and (3) assess whether language outcomes at 36 months relate to earlier measures acquired between 18-30 months. This project will highlight the importance of the ability to efficiently recognize, interpret and learn relationships between word meanings as a marker of later language delay, and will provide insights into the value of teaching semantic relationships between words as a potential approach for early intervention.
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1 |
2021 |
Borovsky, Arielle |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Lexico-Semantic Abilities in Early Language Growth and Delay
Project Summary: Children with language disorders are at risk for a host of negative health and academic consequences, and represent at least 7% of the school-aged population. This project addresses two critical public-health needs regarding language disorders: (1) Characterizing early lexico-semantic skill trajectories with the goal of (2) Improving early identification. We focus on several promising assessments of lexico-semantic abilities in toddlers, as lexico-semantic skills are a component of language which is affected in school-age children with developmental language disorders, and can also be reliably measured in toddlers. We propose to recruit a large group of 18-month-old toddlers with a diverse set of language abilities and backgrounds and then follow these children longitudinally to assess whether and how growth in three main lexico-semantic skills (structure, learning, and processing) predicts language outcomes at age 4, when clinical language disorder status can initially be assessed. To fully characterize how early skills and trajectories lead to later outcomes, we carry out several analyses on concurrent and predictive relations between skills and create detailed models of children's early lexicons. This project will advance our ability to detect early language disorders by evaluating the degree to which early skills in recognizing relationships between known and novel word meanings might serve as a marker of longer-term language delays.
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1 |