8 research outputs found
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Narrative skills in adolescents with a history of SLI in relation to non-verbal IQ scores
There is a debate about whether the language of children with primary language disorders and normal cognitive levels is qualitatively different from those with language impairments who have low or borderline non-verbal IQ (NVIQ). As children reach adolescence, this distinction may be even harder to ascertain, especially in naturalistic settings. Narrative may provide a useful, ecologically valid way in which to assess the language ability of adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI) who have intact or lowered NVIQ and to determine whether there is any discernable difference in every day language. Nineteen adolescents with a history of SLI completed two narrative tasks: a story telling condition and a conversational condition. Just under half the group (n = 8) had non-verbal IQs of 85. The remaining 11 had NVIQs in the normal range or above. Four areas of narrative (productivity, syntax, cohesion and performance) were assessed. There were no differences between the groups on standardized tests of language. However, the group with low NVIQ were poorer on most aspects of narrative, suggesting that cognitive level is important, even when language is the primary disorder. The groups showed similar patterns of differences between story telling and conversational narrative. It was concluded that adolescents with a history of SLI and poor cognitive levels have poorer narrative skills than those with normal range NVIQ even though these may not be detected by standardized assessment. Their difficulties present as qualitatively similar to those with normal range NVIQ and narratives appear impoverished rather than inaccurate
Child Language Teaching and Therapy Narrative skills in adolescents with a history of SLI in relation to non-verbal IQ scores
scores Narrative skills in adolescents with a history of SLI in relation to non-verbal IQ http://clt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/1/95 The online version of this article can be found at
Improving Methodological Standards in Behavioral Interventions for Cognitive Enhancement
There is substantial interest in the possibility that cognitive skills can be improved by dedicated behavioral training. Yet despite the large amount of work being conducted in this domain, there is not an explicit and widely agreed upon consensus around the best methodological practices. This document seeks to fill this gap. We start from the perspective that there are many types of studies that are important in this domain—e.g., feasibility, mechanistic, efficacy, and effectiveness. These studies have fundamentally different goals, and, as such, the best-practice methods to meet those goals will also differ. We thus make suggestions in topics ranging from the design and implementation of control groups, to reporting of results, to dissemination and communication, taking the perspective that the best practices are not necessarily uniform across all study types. We also explicitly recognize and discuss the fact that there are methodological issues around which we currently lack the theoretical and/or empirical foundation to determine best practices (e.g., as pertains to assessing participant expectations). For these, we suggest important routes forward, including greater interdisciplinary collaboration with individuals from domains that face related concerns. Our hope is that these recommendations will greatly increase the rate at which science in this domain advances