Ignite Creation Date:
2024-07-17 @ 11:48 AM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 3:32 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT06466876
Status:
RECRUITING
Last Update Posted:
2024-06-24
First Post:
2024-06-14
Brief Title:
Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Autistic Children
Sponsor:
Louisiana State University and AM College
Organization:
Louisiana State University and AM College
Study Overview
Official Title:
Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Status:
RECRUITING
Status Verified Date:
2024-06
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
Children on the autism spectrum sometimes have difficulty learning new words and using the newly taught information in different situations In this study the investigators are testing whether strategies that have been found to improve word learning in non-autistic children will also help autistic children Specifically the investigators aim to test whether autistic children learn words more successfully if novel words are taught by repeating the words to the child re-study or if the novel words are taught first with labeling each word and then quizzing the child repeated quizzing
The main questions it aims to answer are
When teaching nouns names of exotic animals is learning stronger if autistic children re-study or engage in repeated quizzing of the newly taught words
When teaching adjectives visible features of objects like a bumpy chair is learning stronger if autistic children re-study or engage in repeated quizzing of the newly taught adjectives
Does the word learning condition re-study vs repeated quizzing impact whether autistic children are more successful in demonstrating their knowledge of the newly taught words in different contexts
Are autistic features related to patterns of word learning
Participants will
Learn new words with half of the words being taught in one way re-study and the other half of the words being taught in the other way repeated quizzing
Participate in 5-minute and 1-week tests of the newly taught words to measure child learning
Complete other language thinking and autism clinical assessments
The main questions it aims to answer are
When teaching nouns names of exotic animals is learning stronger if autistic children re-study or engage in repeated quizzing of the newly taught words
When teaching adjectives visible features of objects like a bumpy chair is learning stronger if autistic children re-study or engage in repeated quizzing of the newly taught adjectives
Does the word learning condition re-study vs repeated quizzing impact whether autistic children are more successful in demonstrating their knowledge of the newly taught words in different contexts
Are autistic features related to patterns of word learning
Participants will
Learn new words with half of the words being taught in one way re-study and the other half of the words being taught in the other way repeated quizzing
Participate in 5-minute and 1-week tests of the newly taught words to measure child learning
Complete other language thinking and autism clinical assessments
Detailed Description:
There is a rich literature in cognitive psychology that highlights the importance of opportunities to recall and produce newly taught information when learning The use of retrieval practice during a learning phase improves long-term retention between 50 and 150 relative to conditions without retrieval prompts Recent work documents the power of retrieval practice in word learning studies with preschoolers with developmental language disorders Though retrieval practice is not new its application to child learning is in its infancy Given the striking learning effects that have been documented in adults and emerging findings in children with language impairment retrieval practice has great potential to enhance learning in autistic children a population with significant vocabulary deficits that often persist into adulthood
Though autistic children have initial strengths in learning word form information phonological these word form advantages do not persist over time Autistic children also demonstrate weaknesses in developing robust semantic representations which have been noted by recalling fewer semantic features of newly taught words Also autistic children have difficulties in generalizing newly taught knowledge which can hinder flexible vocabulary use It has been suggested that autistic children may need more input time or practice than typically developing children to develop strong lexical representations
In addition to deficits in breadth and depth of word knowledge many autistic children demonstrate an atypical receptive-expressive vocabulary profile with a reduced receptive advantage Despite traditional therapy approaches recommending that receptive skills be targeted before expressive skills in autistic children research indicates that it may be more effective to target expressive skills ie word production prior to targeting receptive skills One recent study demonstrated that autistic children are more successful when learning words if they are prompted to name newly taught items rather than to identify point to a picture of these items Targeting word expression led to more successful cross-modal generalization with success extending to word comprehension ie expressive-to-receptive generalization This new finding holds promise for clinical practice however it has not been connected to a strong mechanistic explanation which is necessary to strengthen the support for this practice Retrieval-practice theory can provide the key mechanistic explanation that is required
It has been proposed that effortful retrieval now referred to as repeated spaced retrieval RSR for clarity enhances encoding because the retrieval of new information or the attempt to do so prompts individuals to identify features of the word or concept that are necessary to reconstruct the material which leads to the development of an enriched and potentially elaborated memory trace to support future retrievals RSR holds promise for autistic children because it may strengthen item-specific learning of phonological and semantic information word form and meaning that persists beyond immediate tests of learning Furthermore RSR may enable generalization eg applying noun labels to new referents and adjectives to different objects Thus our specific aims are
Aim 1 To determine whether repeated spaced retrieval RSR of labels nouns results in more robust learning of word form and meaning relative to a learning schedule that does not prompt retrieval
In Study 1 4- to 8-year-old autistic children will learn novel nouns in an RSR condition and a Repeated Study only RS condition The investigators hypothesize that the children will recall more labels word form and semantic information meaning for RSR words and that their learning gains will persist at the 1-week test
Aim 2 To determine whether repeated spaced retrieval RSR of adjectives results in more robust learning relative to a learning schedule that does not prompt retrieval Study 2 will examine novel adjective learning which has not been examined in autistic children Autistic children will learn novel adjectives for unusual attributes displayed on familiar objects eg The cow is zogy It is predicted that the children will benefit from the RSR schedule when learning adjectives at immediate and 1-week tests
Aim 3 To determine whether RSR enhances learning to the extent that children are able to generalize newly learned words to new imagesreferents To demonstrate durable learning the investigators will test beyond the explicitly taught stimuli Study 1 will examine whether children will extend the labels nouns to referents that differ slightly in positioning and color Study 2 will test for generalization of the newly taught adjectives when applied to objects from different categories eg a zogy cow taught and zogy table generalization It is predicted that generalization will be higher for words taught in the RSR condition than the RS condition
Aim 4 To explore the moderating effect of autism severity on response to RSR The investigators will examine whether autism symptom severity moderates word learning overall and if it predicts whether children benefit from RSR relative to RS learning schedules in Studies 1 and 2 The investigators will also explore associations between word learning and cognitive vocabulary and grammatical skills and when warranted statistically control for these variables
Though autistic children have initial strengths in learning word form information phonological these word form advantages do not persist over time Autistic children also demonstrate weaknesses in developing robust semantic representations which have been noted by recalling fewer semantic features of newly taught words Also autistic children have difficulties in generalizing newly taught knowledge which can hinder flexible vocabulary use It has been suggested that autistic children may need more input time or practice than typically developing children to develop strong lexical representations
In addition to deficits in breadth and depth of word knowledge many autistic children demonstrate an atypical receptive-expressive vocabulary profile with a reduced receptive advantage Despite traditional therapy approaches recommending that receptive skills be targeted before expressive skills in autistic children research indicates that it may be more effective to target expressive skills ie word production prior to targeting receptive skills One recent study demonstrated that autistic children are more successful when learning words if they are prompted to name newly taught items rather than to identify point to a picture of these items Targeting word expression led to more successful cross-modal generalization with success extending to word comprehension ie expressive-to-receptive generalization This new finding holds promise for clinical practice however it has not been connected to a strong mechanistic explanation which is necessary to strengthen the support for this practice Retrieval-practice theory can provide the key mechanistic explanation that is required
It has been proposed that effortful retrieval now referred to as repeated spaced retrieval RSR for clarity enhances encoding because the retrieval of new information or the attempt to do so prompts individuals to identify features of the word or concept that are necessary to reconstruct the material which leads to the development of an enriched and potentially elaborated memory trace to support future retrievals RSR holds promise for autistic children because it may strengthen item-specific learning of phonological and semantic information word form and meaning that persists beyond immediate tests of learning Furthermore RSR may enable generalization eg applying noun labels to new referents and adjectives to different objects Thus our specific aims are
Aim 1 To determine whether repeated spaced retrieval RSR of labels nouns results in more robust learning of word form and meaning relative to a learning schedule that does not prompt retrieval
In Study 1 4- to 8-year-old autistic children will learn novel nouns in an RSR condition and a Repeated Study only RS condition The investigators hypothesize that the children will recall more labels word form and semantic information meaning for RSR words and that their learning gains will persist at the 1-week test
Aim 2 To determine whether repeated spaced retrieval RSR of adjectives results in more robust learning relative to a learning schedule that does not prompt retrieval Study 2 will examine novel adjective learning which has not been examined in autistic children Autistic children will learn novel adjectives for unusual attributes displayed on familiar objects eg The cow is zogy It is predicted that the children will benefit from the RSR schedule when learning adjectives at immediate and 1-week tests
Aim 3 To determine whether RSR enhances learning to the extent that children are able to generalize newly learned words to new imagesreferents To demonstrate durable learning the investigators will test beyond the explicitly taught stimuli Study 1 will examine whether children will extend the labels nouns to referents that differ slightly in positioning and color Study 2 will test for generalization of the newly taught adjectives when applied to objects from different categories eg a zogy cow taught and zogy table generalization It is predicted that generalization will be higher for words taught in the RSR condition than the RS condition
Aim 4 To explore the moderating effect of autism severity on response to RSR The investigators will examine whether autism symptom severity moderates word learning overall and if it predicts whether children benefit from RSR relative to RS learning schedules in Studies 1 and 2 The investigators will also explore associations between word learning and cognitive vocabulary and grammatical skills and when warranted statistically control for these variables
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
False
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None
Secondary IDs
| Secondary ID | Type | Domain | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| R21DC018872 | NIH | None | None |