This study compared comprehension of idioms in 66 children comprising 3 groups: normal 9 year olds, 9-year-old children with mild mental retardation, and younger normal children matched with the retarded children for receptive vocabulary age. Although the normal nine year olds comprehended the most idioms, the mentally retarded children performed…

This study compared judgments of idiom familiarity and transparency by 50 11-year-old children and 50 16-year-old adolescents. Although the children had less familiarity and greater difficulty comprehending the idioms than did adolescents, their transparency judgments were similar. For both groups the easiest idioms were also judged as the most…

The study examined the ability of five deaf-blind subjects to receive fingerspelled materials through the tactual sense, and of six deaf subjects to receive fingerspelling through the visual sense. Results found highly accurate tactual reception at normal rates and suggested that rates for visual reception are limited by the rate of manual…

A 1-year followup of 10 children with delayed onset of early speech skills found that all 4 children who were still delayed had been delayed in language comprehension and gesture tasks the previous year whereas the 6 children who had "caught up" had demonstrated age-appropriate language comprehension and gesture usage earlier. (Author/DB)

This study examined the association of chronological age (CA) with syntax and vocabulary comprehension in 102 children and adolescents with mental retardation. Results indicated that intelligence scores accounted for 55% and 29% of the variability of syntax and vocabulary scores, respectively. Introduction of CA into the regression equation…

Six young children (ages 25 to 40 months) with delays in language comprehension were presented with stimulus items in 3 conditions: (1) object cue and speech, (2) movement cue and speech, or (3) speech alone. All children identified referents with fewer trials when object or movement cues were used with speech compared to use of speech alone.…

This study compared factors contributing to Quick Incidental Learning of new vocabulary by 50 5-year olds with specific language impairment (SLI) and 2 comparison groups. Although SLI children exhibited a robust representational mapping ability, performance was modulated by a minimum input constraint and apparent problems with storage into…

An alternating treatments design was used to evaluate and compare the instructional effectiveness of six treatment packages in teaching receptive picture vocabulary to 12 mildly handicapped children (ages 3-6 years). Independent variables in the treatment packages included: least-to-most prompting, correction, group instruction, and individual…

The study compared results of the Preschool Language Scale, administered to 214 rural and 214 suburban children in Nebraska. Both groups scored above age level, but a higher percentage of rural children failed a wide range of verbal ability and auditory comprehension items. The scale did not meet criteria for nonbiased, ecologically valid…

This study compared speech and language comprehension and production between 249 very low birthweight and 363 normal birthweight 8 year olds. Although low birthweight children tended to score lower, when those with major neurological abnormalities were excluded, no significant differences were found between the two groups. However, general…