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ERIC Number: EJ851393
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Aug
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Sustained Attention in Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Finneran, Denise A.; Francis, Alexander L.; Leonard, Laurence B.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v52 n4 p915-929 Aug 2009
Purpose: Information-processing limitations have been associated with language problems in children with specific language impairment (SLI). These processing limitations may be associated with limitations in attentional capacity, even in the absence of clinically significant attention deficits. In this study, the authors examined the performance of 4- to 6-year-old children with SLI and their typically developing (TD) peers on a visual sustained attention task. It was predicted that the children with SLI would demonstrate lower levels of performance in the absence of clinically significant attention deficits. Method: A visual continuous performance task (CPT) was used to assess sustained attention in 13 children with SLI (M= 62.07 months) and 13 TD age-matched controls (M = 62.92 months). All children were screened for normal vision, hearing, and attention. Accuracy (d[prime]) and response time were analyzed to see if this sustained attention task could differentiate between the 2 groups. Results: The children with SLI were significantly less accurate but not significantly slower than the TD children on this test of visual sustained attention. Conclusion: Children with SLI may have reduced capacity for sustained attention in the absence of clinically significant attention deficits that, over time, could contribute to language learning difficulties. (Contains 3 figures, 1 table and 1 footnote.)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Indiana
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Columbia Mental Maturity Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A