University of Connecticut

University of Iowa (Communication Disorders)
Autism and Language Impairment as Windows into Word Learning
PCSB 139 (Communication Sciences Building)
Friday, April 24, 2009
4:00 PM
Cognitive Science Colloquium Series - PLEASE NOTE ROOM CHANGE (talk moved to Communication Sciences Building, Room 139)
Abstract

If social and syntactic bootstrapping are necessary for word learning then the social deficits characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the syntactic deficits characteristic of specific language impairment (SLI) should limit the development of the semantic lexicon. To test this prediction, 124 children produced definitions and word associations. The children comprised five groups defined by social and syntactic ability: those with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) had poor social cognition and normal syntactic development; those with specific language impairment (SLI) had normal social cognition and poor syntactic development; those with autism and language impairment (ASDLI) had poor social cognition and poor syntactic development. Two groups had normal ability in both areas; the older group matched the clinical groups in chronological age; the younger group matched the SLI and ASDLI groups in syntactic ability. On both definition and association tasks, the SLI and ASDLI groups performed more poorly than the unaffected age mates and similarly to the younger syntax mates. On neither task did the SLI and ASDLI groups differ; on neither task did the children with ASD differ from their unaffected age mates. In a third task, we asked whether the social deficits associated with ASD limit the use of social gesture (eye gaze cues) in the moment of word learning. Again, children with ASD performed as well as their unaffected age mates. The data demonstrate that children with deficits in social cognition develop a rich semantic lexicon but children with syntactic deficits do not. These results suggest that syntactic bootstrapping is necessary for optimal word learning.

Schedule of Events

Spring 2009 Colloquium Series

Coelho, Hogan, Gajewski, and Sharvit

Karin Stromswold

Marc Hauser

Paul Portner

Marcel Kinsbourne

Karla McGregor