Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether preschoolers with primary language impairment (PLI) show deficits in executive function (EF) compared with their peers with typical development (TD) when inhibition, updating, and mental-set shifting are examined using both linguistically based and visually based tasks. Method: Twenty-two…

Purpose: The first goal of this research was to compare verbal and nonverbal executive function abilities between preschoolers with and without specific language impairment (SLI). The second goal was to assess the group differences on 4 executive function components in order to determine if the components may be hierarchically related as suggested…

Studies have suggested that language and executive function (EF) are strongly associated. Indeed, the two are difficult to separate, and it is particularly difficult to determine whether one skill is more dependent on the other. Deafness provides a unique opportunity to disentangle these skills because in this case, language difficulties have a…

Purpose: Mounting evidence demonstrates deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI) beyond the linguistic domain. Using meta-analysis, this study examined differences in children with and without SLI on tasks measuring inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Method: Databases were searched for articles comparing children (4-14…

Purpose: There is conflicting evidence regarding if and how a deficit in executive function may be associated with developmental language impairment (LI). Nonlinguistic stimuli are now frequently used when testing executive function to avoid a language confound. However, it is possible that increased stimulus processing demands for nonlinguistic…

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine whether young learners of varying reading and spelling performance, identified in Grade 2, can be distinguished retrospectively from kindergarten, based on their growth profiles in cognitive (planning, attention, working memory--WM) and linguistic (phonological--PA and naming speed--RAN)…

Background: Earlier research and clinical practice show that specific language impairment (SLI) is often associated with nonverbal cognitive deficits and weakened skills in executive functions (EFs). Executive deficits may have a remarkable influence on a child's everyday activities in the home and school environments. However, research…

Purpose: This longitudinal study examined differences in the development of working memory (WM) between children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. Further, it explored to what extent language at ages 7-8 years could be predicted by measures of language and/or WM at ages 4-5 years. Method: Thirty…

Purpose: Potential biases in service provision for preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) were explored. Method: In Study 1, children with SLI receiving treatment (SLI-T) and those with SLI not receiving treatment (SLI-NT) were compared on demographic characteristics and developmental abilities. Study 2 recruited children with…

This longitudinal study examined pragmatic language in boys and girls with Down syndrome (DS) at up to three time points, using parent report, standardized and direct assessments. We also explored relationships among theory of mind, executive function, nonverbal mental age, receptive and expressive vocabulary, grammatical complexity, and pragmatic…

Background: Deafness has an adverse impact on children's ability to acquire spoken languages. Signed languages offer a more accessible input for deaf children, but because the vast majority are born to hearing parents who do not sign, their early exposure to sign language is limited. Deaf children as a whole are therefore at high risk of language…

This study investigated if a period of auditory sensory deprivation followed by degraded auditory input and related language delays affects visual concept formation skills in long-term prelingually deaf cochlear implant (CI) users. We also examined if concept formation skills are mediated or moderated by other neurocognitive domains (i.e.,…

The current study tested 2 models of inhibition in 45 children with language impairment and 45 children with normally developing language; children were aged 7 to 12 years. Of interest was whether a model of inhibition as a mental-control process (i.e., executive function) or as a mental resource would more accurately reflect the relations among…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have traditionally been considered a lifelong condition; however, a subset of people makes such significant improvements that they no longer meet diagnostic criteria for an ASD. The current study examines whether these "optimal outcome" (OO) children and adolescents continue to have subtle pragmatic…

Purpose: Discourse analyses have demonstrated utility for delineating subtle communication deficits following closed head injuries (CHIs). The present investigation examined the discourse performance of a large group of individuals with penetrating head injury (PHI). Performance was also compared across 6 subgroups of PHI based on lesion locale. A…