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Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Procedural and declarative memory in children with and without specific language impairment.
Jarrad A G Lum1, Celin Gelgic, Gina Conti-Ramsden
1Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. jarrad.lum@deakin.edu.au
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders
|November 11, 2009
Summary
Children with specific language impairment show deficits in both procedural and verbal declarative memory, indicating broader memory challenges beyond working memory.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Specific language impairment (SLI) is associated with memory deficits, primarily studied in working memory.
- Functioning of other memory systems in children with SLI remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate procedural and declarative memory in young children with and without SLI.
- To identify specific memory system impairments in children with SLI.
Main Methods:
- Compared 15 children with SLI to 15 typically developing children.
- Assessed procedural memory using a Serial Reaction Time (SRT) Task.
- Evaluated verbal and visual declarative memory via paired associative learning tasks.
Main Results:
- Children with SLI demonstrated impaired procedural memory learning on the SRT Task.
- Group differences were significant for verbal declarative memory, but not visual declarative memory.
- Verbal declarative memory deficits persisted after controlling for vocabulary and phonological short-term memory.
Conclusions:
- Children with SLI exhibit an uneven memory profile.
- Difficulties in verbal declarative memory and procedural memory are indicated in SLI.
- Findings suggest multiple memory system impairments in specific language impairment.
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