Verbal and Spatial Information Processing Constraints in Children with Specific Language Impairment.

A dual-processing paradigm was used to investigate informationprocessing limitations underlying specific language impairment(SLI). School-age children with and without SLI were asked torecall verbal and spatial stimuli in situations that variedthe number of tasks that were required and the speed at whichstimuli were presented. Children recalled digits or locationsof X\u27s that were presented on a computer screen. In some conditions,they were asked to name or point to the color of the stimulibefore completing the recall task. In comparison to their typicallydeveloping peers, children with SLI had generally poorer recallof digits and locations across all conditions. Typically developingchildren derived greater benefit than the children with SLIunder conditions that enabled them to disperse processing effortsacross verbal and spatial response modalities. It appears thatlimitations in general cognitive capacity and central executivefunctions in working memory work synergistically with responsemodality to constrain information processing in children withSLI