Verbal rehearsal and memory in language-disordered children

Twelve language-disordered (mean age 10:7) and 12 normal children (mean age 10:10) received a series of free-recall lists composed of pictorial items. They were instructed to rehearse aloud after each item. From the rehearsal periods and recalls 12 variables were calculated. They represented retention of item and order information, semantic organization, effects of primacy and recency in input order, repetition, and intrusion errors. These variables were submitted to factor and discriminant analyses and linear regression; the intrusion errors were also classified. The analyses suggest that rehearsal and recall reflect three components: capacity for item and order information, semantic organization, and susceptibility to non-list intrusion. The predominant differences between groups were in capacity and intrusions. The memory deficits of the language-disordered subjects are described as diminished verbal capacity, a description that has implications for the relationship between language and memory and the specific nature of the disorder.