Experiment conducted to determine the different effects of a mediational method of verbal learning and visual-discrimination verbal learning. (Author/MM)

The effects of expressive modeling experiences on the observational learning of generative language by children with severe mental retardation was investigated. All six children (aged six-nine) demonstrated observational learning of responses modeled by their peers. Organizing the modeling experiences according to matrix-training principles…

A six-year-old nonvocal girl with autism who had acquired a variety of signs and imitative responses consistently failed to acquire a tact (labeling) repertoire. When procedures to transfer stimulus control from verbal to nonverbal stimuli were implemented, the subject quickly learned to tact all 18 target stimuli. (Author/DB)

Examination of the influence of verbal working memory on sentence comprehension in 12 children with specific language impairment suggested that: (1) these children have less functional verbal working memory capacity than chronological age peers and (2) have greater difficulty managing working memory and general processing abilities than both age…

Comparison of 13 children with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss but normal language skills and 12 children with normal hearing and development found no significant group differences on three verbal metaphor tasks (comprehension, preference, and completion), and one visual metaphor task. (Author/DB)

The purpose of the study was (1) to examine the results from a two-association perceptual-motor task as to their implications for Luria's theory about the development of verbal control of non-verbal behavior; (2) to explore the effects of various learning experiences upon this development. The sample consisted of 20 randomly selected children in…

The present study affords an explanation for the consistent, but not always statistically significant, pattern showing superior verbal discrimination learning performance for low- as compared to high-frequency words. In a frequency judgment task it was found that relative to high-frequency words, low-frequency words for which subjects (sixth…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether by structuring and sequencing the same monosyllabic CVC, CVVC, and CVCe English words in two different patterns (EI and EII), administered with the same controlled procedures, boys and girls in grade one would be facilitated in detecting, identifying, and discriminating among single vowels and…

The hypothesis explains the early lexical development of children and the predictions of this hypothesis are shown to be consistent with available data on overextension. (Author/NCR)

The transition from preverbal to verbal communication of 13 retarded and nonretarded children was explored in a prospective, longitudinal study. Mental development was tested at ages 13 months and at 2 and 3 years. Results seem to support the postulate of a skill-specific homology in the transition from preverbal to verbal communication.…

People of ages 4, 6, 8, 10, 20 and 70 years named pictures selected to represent the entire range of lexical consensus among 20-year-olds. Consensus within each group increased with age, up to 20. Data indicate words coding culturally important events are acquired earliest. (CHK)

This study compared verbal comprehension, verbal production, and gesture production in 40 children (ages 10-49 months) with Down Syndrome (DS) and 40 normally developing children (ages 8-17 months). DS children showed a dissociation between verbal comprehension and production but synchronous development between vocal lexical comprehension and…

A study examined how preschool children use information about linguistic contrast in learning new words. The 72 subjects were assigned to four groups to play a game. They were asked to get an unfamiliar item, one of nine swatches of different colors, shapes, and materials. In the first group, the children were told only one label (color, shape, or…

The present study explored the effects of complex relational sentences upon the acquisition and recall of surrounding material in immediate and long-term memory. The study also investigated the effects of an immediate prompted recall test upon long-term retention, and the recallability of different types of content. Reading time (subject-paced; 16…