ERIC Number: EJ1300366
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-May
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Is a Procedural Learning Deficit a Causal Risk Factor for Developmental Language Disorder or Dyslexia? A Meta-Analytic Review
West, Gillian; Melby-Lervåg, Monica; Hulme, Charles
Developmental Psychology, v57 n5 p749-770 May 2021
Impaired procedural learning has been suggested as a possible cause of developmental dyslexia (DD) and developmental language disorder (DLD). We evaluate this theory by performing a series of meta-analyses on evidence from the six procedural learning tasks that have most commonly been used to test this theory: the serial reaction time, Hebb learning, artificial grammar and statistical learning, weather prediction, and contextual cuing tasks. Studies using serial reaction time and Hebb learning tasks yielded small group deficits in comparisons between language impaired and typically developing controls (g = -0.30 and -0.32, respectively). However, a meta-analysis of correlational studies showed that the serial reaction time task was not a reliable correlate of language-related ability in unselected samples (r = 0.03). Larger group deficits were, however, found in studies using artificial grammar and statistical learning tasks (g = -0.48) and the weather prediction task (g = -0.63). Possible reasons for the discrepancy in results from different tasks that all purportedly measure procedural learning are highlighted. We conclude that current data do not provide an adequate test of the theory that a generalized procedural learning deficit is a causal risk factor for developmental dyslexia or developmental language disorder.
Descriptors: Dyslexia, Developmental Disabilities, Language Impairments, Reaction Time, Incidental Learning, Serial Learning, Prediction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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