Investigating Task Persistence in Preschool Children With Developmental Language Disorder

The present study was designed to investigate persistence in preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) compared to similar-age peers with typical language (TL) on tasks designed to be moderately challenging, yet equivalent in difficulty for both groups.

Sixteen preschool-age children with DLD were matched to 16 children with TL based on chronological age, biological sex, and maternal education. The children completed two play-based tasks that were designed to elicit some success but impossible to complete. Task persistence was measured by the total time spent attempting to complete each unachievable task.

Despite equivalent task difficulty for both groups, the children with DLD exhibited less persistence than the TL group. This reduced persistence behavior on the part of the DLD group was a generalized and not a task-specific response.

Despite experiencing the same degree of success on moderately challenging play-based tasks, the children in the DLD group exhibited reduced task persistence relative to the TL group. Potential implications for reduced persistence for children with DLD are discussed.