We inquired whether introducing variability into a word-learning task would facilitate, inhibit, or have a neutral effect on adults' speech production and language learning. Twenty young adults from the U.S. Midwest with typical development participated. They repeated four novel words 10 times sequentially (blocked practice) and another four novel…

Background: This study reports the language and memory progress over five years of 30 adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome, and investigates the relationship of earlier phonological memory abilities to later language development. Methods: Tests of nonverbal ability, receptive vocabulary, grammar comprehension, digit span and nonword…