Retrieval-based Word Learning in Developmental Language Disorder: Adaptive Retrieval Schedule

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD; also referred to as specific language impairment) experience a significant deficit in language ability that is longstanding and harmful to the children's academic, social, and eventual economic wellbeing. Word learning is one of the principal weaknesses in these children. This project focuses on the word learning abilities of four- and five-year-old children with DLD. The goal of the project is to determine whether special benefits accrue when these children must frequently recall newly introduced words during the course of learning. In the current study, the investigators compare a "standard" repeated spaced retrieval schedule, with fixed spacing between hearing a word and attempting to retrieve it, to an "adaptive" repeated spaced retrieval schedule in which opportunities to retrieve a given word are tailored to the individual child's current knowledge state. The goal of the study is to determine whether the adaptive schedule can increase children's absolute levels of learning while maintaining the advantages of repeated spaced retrieval.

Inclusion Criteria: * a significant deficit in language ability (language test score below cutoff for best sensitivity/specificity) or documented age-appropriate language ability. * normal hearing. * no evidence of neurological damage or disease. * scores on tests of nonverbal intelligence above the intellectual disability range * not within Autistic range on Autism screening test * native English speaker (can be bilingual) Exclusion Criteria: * failed hearing screening * known neurological damage or disease * scores on tests of nonverbal intelligence below the intellectual disability range (standard score less than 75) * autism spectrum disorder * non-native English speaker