Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Fractionating nonword repetition
T2 - The contributions of short-term memory and oromotor praxis are different
AU - Krishnan, Saloni
AU - Alcock, Katherine J.
AU - Carey, Daniel
AU - Bergstrom, Lina
AU - Karmiloff-Smith, Annette
AU - Dick, Frederic
PY - 2017/7/13
Y1 - 2017/7/13
N2 - The ability to reproduce novel words is a sensitive marker of language impairment across a variety of developmental disorders. Nonword repetition tasks are thought to reflect phonological short-term memory skills. Yet, when children hear and then utter a word for the first time, they must transform a novel speech signal into a series of coordinated, precisely timed oral movements. Little is known about how children's oromotor speed, planning and co-ordination abilities might influence their ability to repeat novel nonwords, beyond the influence of higher-level cognitive and linguistic skills. In the present study, we tested 35 typically developing children between the ages of 5-8 years on measures of nonword repetition, digit span, memory for non-verbal sequences, reading fluency, oromotor praxis, and oral diadochokinesis. We found that oromotor praxis uniquely predicted nonword repetition ability in school-age children, and that the variance it accounted for was additional to that of digit span, memory for non-verbal sequences, articulatory rate (measured by oral diadochokinesis) as well as reading fluency. We conclude that the ability to compute and execute novel sensorimotor transformations affects the production of novel words. These results have important implications for understanding motor/language relations in neurodevelopmental disorders.
AB - The ability to reproduce novel words is a sensitive marker of language impairment across a variety of developmental disorders. Nonword repetition tasks are thought to reflect phonological short-term memory skills. Yet, when children hear and then utter a word for the first time, they must transform a novel speech signal into a series of coordinated, precisely timed oral movements. Little is known about how children's oromotor speed, planning and co-ordination abilities might influence their ability to repeat novel nonwords, beyond the influence of higher-level cognitive and linguistic skills. In the present study, we tested 35 typically developing children between the ages of 5-8 years on measures of nonword repetition, digit span, memory for non-verbal sequences, reading fluency, oromotor praxis, and oral diadochokinesis. We found that oromotor praxis uniquely predicted nonword repetition ability in school-age children, and that the variance it accounted for was additional to that of digit span, memory for non-verbal sequences, articulatory rate (measured by oral diadochokinesis) as well as reading fluency. We conclude that the ability to compute and execute novel sensorimotor transformations affects the production of novel words. These results have important implications for understanding motor/language relations in neurodevelopmental disorders.
KW - LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT
KW - WORKING-MEMORY
KW - INHERITED SPEECH
KW - PHONOLOGICAL MEMORY
KW - YOUNG-CHILDREN
KW - VOCABULARY
KW - SKILLS
KW - MOTOR
KW - ACCURACY
KW - FLUENCY
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0178356
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0178356
M3 - Journal article
VL - 12
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 7
M1 - 0178356
ER -