This longitudinal investigation examines developmental changes in orofacial movements occurring during the early stages of communication development. The goals were to identify developmental trends in early speech motor performance and to determine how these trends differ across orofacial behaviors thought to vary in cognitive and linguistic…

There have been few investigations of the effects of very immature preterm birth on specific linguistic competencies and phonological working memory at preschool age. Study 1 aimed to investigate early grammatical abilities in very immature healthy preterms, taking into account their cognitive development and biological and social factors. The…

The development of the concept of object permanence was investigated with eight infants with cleft lip/palate and four nonimpaired infants. Superior performance of the cleft lip/palate group was found, possibly due to increased environmental stimulation provided by parents. (DB)

A bird study found that with sufficient time and training after hair cell and hearing loss and hair cell regeneration, the mature avian auditory system can accommodate input from a newly regenerated periphery sufficiently to allow for recognition of previously familiar vocalizations and the learning of new complex acoustic classifications.…

This article presents data showing that two of the four forms of neuroplasticity, homologous area adaptation and map extension, are relevant to recovery from aphasia. It discusses factors related to neuroplastic activity during language recovery, including neurophysiological, subject, and environmental treatment variables. (Contains references.)…

Four conditions of a standard false belief task were administered to 10 children with specific language impairment (SLI), 10 children of the same age, and 9 younger children with comparable language skills. Results found that linguistic competence served as a limiting factor in false belief performance in children with SLI. (Contains references.)…

The practice of cognitive referencing to determine the presence of a specific language impairment (SLI) and eligibility for services is questioned by a study which compared the variability of the IQ scores of children with specific language impairment over time. The study found high IQ variability, suggesting that IQs reflect current abilities…