RECRUITING

Retrieval-based Word Learning in Developmental Language Disorder: Adaptive Retrieval Schedule

Description

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD; also referred to as specific language impairment) experience a significant deficit in language ability that is longstanding and harmful to the children's academic, social, and eventual economic wellbeing. Word learning is one of the principal weaknesses in these children. This project focuses on the word learning abilities of four- and five-year-old children with DLD. The goal of the project is to determine whether special benefits accrue when these children must frequently recall newly introduced words during the course of learning. In the current study, the investigators compare a "standard" repeated spaced retrieval schedule, with fixed spacing between hearing a word and attempting to retrieve it, to an "adaptive" repeated spaced retrieval schedule in which opportunities to retrieve a given word are tailored to the individual child's current knowledge state. The goal of the study is to determine whether the adaptive schedule can increase children's absolute levels of learning while maintaining the advantages of repeated spaced retrieval.

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD; also referred to as specific language impairment) experience a significant deficit in language ability that is longstanding and harmful to the children's academic, social, and eventual economic wellbeing. Word learning is one of the principal weaknesses in these children. This project focuses on the word learning abilities of four- and five-year-old children with DLD. The goal of the project is to determine whether special benefits accrue when these children must frequently recall newly introduced words during the course of learning. In the current study, the investigators compare a "standard" repeated spaced retrieval schedule, with fixed spacing between hearing a word and attempting to retrieve it, to an "adaptive" repeated spaced retrieval schedule in which opportunities to retrieve a given word are tailored to the individual child's current knowledge state. The goal of the study is to determine whether the adaptive schedule can increase children's absolute levels of learning while maintaining the advantages of repeated spaced retrieval.

Retrieval-based Word Learning in Developmental Language Disorder: Adaptive Retrieval Schedule

Retrieval-based Word Learning in Developmental Language Disorder: Adaptive Retrieval Schedule

Condition
Developmental Language Disorder
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

West Lafayette

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, 47907

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * a significant deficit in language ability (language test score below cutoff for best sensitivity/specificity) or documented age-appropriate language ability.
  • * failed hearing screening known neurological damage or disease scores on tests of nonverbal intelligence below the intellectual disability range (standard score less than 75) autism spectrum disorder non-native English speaker

Ages Eligible for Study

48 Months to 71 Months

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

Purdue University,

Laurence B Leonard, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Purdue University

Study Record Dates

2025-12-31