Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that specifically language-impaired (SLI) children have a qualitatively different cognitive system from that of normal language (NL) children. Twenty NL and 20 SLI children between the ages of 4:2 (years: months) and 5:11 were presented with experimental language-learning measures, experimental nonverbal measures, and verbal and nonverbal norm-referenced tests. A confirmatory analysis of the covariance matrix structures of the two subject groups indicated that relations among cognitive skills differed between NL and SLI children. In addition, a planned comparison indicated that the relation between nonverbal rule-induction and novel bound-morpheme learning differed significantly between groups. The findings indicate that a "qualitative-differences" model of specific language impairment better accounts for the co-occurrence of poor verbal and poor nonverbal cognitive skills in SLI children than a "low-normal" model.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 205-219 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Communication Disorders |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1992 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics and Language
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- LPN and LVN
- Speech and Hearing