Morphosyntactic Development and Implicit Learning in Down Syndrome and Related Conditions

Authors

  • Jean Rondal Department of Psychology, Logopedics and Education Sciences, University of Liège, B-32 Sart Tilman, 4000 Liège, Belgium

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2017.05.01.4

Keywords:

Attentional focus, associative processes, mental representation, relational semantics, morphosyntactic patterns.

Abstract

Implicit learning of morphosyntax is attracting much interest in psycholinguistics. Limited data are available from experimental studies in people with cognitive handicap. The paper presents and discusses central aspects of the implicit learning model as it applies to morphosyntactic development in typical children and children and adolescents with cognitive handicap. Several possible reasons for the delays and difficulties usually observed in the latter are examined. Suggestions are made for further research and language intervention in cognitive handicap.

References

Rondal JA. L’apprentissage implicite du langage. Wavre, Belgium: Mardaga 2011.

Perruchet P, Poulin-Charonnat B. The learnability of language. Insights from the implicit learning literature. In: Rebuschat P, editor. Implicit and explicit learning of languages. Amsterdam: Benjamins 2015; 139-65. https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.48.07per

Rondal JA, Guazzo GM. Morphosytactic difficulties and rehabilitation in persons with Down syndrome. In: Hodapp R, editor. International review of research in developmental disabilities. New York: Elsevier 2012; pp. 85-107.

Rondal JA. Une théorie du développement et du fonctionnement morphosyntaxique. Paris: L’Harmattan 2014.

Rondal JA. Natural morphosyntax. The case for implicit surface learning and processing. Cogn Linguist Stud 2015; 2: 181-204. https://doi.org/10.1075/cogls.2.2.01ron

Stromswold K. The heritability of language: A review and meta-analysis of twin, adoption, and linkage studies. Language 2001; 77: 647-723. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2001.0247

Gazzaniga M. Human. New York: Harper Collins 2008.

Dominey P, Hoen M, Blanc J, Lelekov-Boissard T. Neurological basis of language and sequential cognition: Evidence from simulation, aphasia, and ERP studies. Brain Lang 2003; 86: 207-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0093-934X(02)00529-1

Osterhout L, Kim A, Kuperberg G. The neurobiology of sentence comprehension. In: Spivey M, McRae K, Joanisse M, editors. The Cambridge handbook of psycholinguistics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press 2012; pp. 365-89. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139029377.025

Ullman M. Contributions of memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition 2004; 92: 231-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2003.10.008

Turk-Browne N, Yi D, Chun M. Linking implicit and explicit memory: Common encoding factors and shared representations. Neuron 2006; 49: 917-927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2006.01.030

Kandel E. In search of memory. New York: Norton 2005.

Bannard C, Mattews D. Stored word sequences in language learning: The effect of familiarity on children’s repetitions of four-word combinations. Psychol Sci 2008; 19: 241-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02075.x

Moerk E. The mother of Eve as a first-language teacher. Norwood, NJ: Ablex 1983.

Moerk E. First language taught and learned. Baltimore, MD: Brookes 1992.

Moerk E. The guided acquisition of first language skills. Stamford, CT: Ablex 2000.

Rondal JA. Comment l’enfant apprend la grammaire de sa langue sans le savoir. Paris: Edilivre 2014.

MacWhinney B. The Childes project. Tools for analyzing talk. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum 1994.

Denison S, Xu F. The origin of probabilistic inference in human infants. Cognition 2014; 130: 335-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2013.12.001

Ambridge B, Kidd E, Rowland C, Theakston A. The ubiquity of frequency effects in first language acquisition. J Child Lang 2015; 42: 239-73. https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500091400049X

Moerk E. Relationships between parental input frequencies and children’s language acquisition: a reanalysis of Brown’s data. J Child Lang 1980; 7: 105-18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900007054

Brown R. A first language. The early stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1973.

Maslen R, Theakston A, Lieven E, Tomasello M. A dense corpus study o past tense and plural over-regularizations in English. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2004; 47: 1319-33. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2004/099)

Matthews D, Theakston A. Errors of omission in English-speaking children’s production of plurals and the past tense: The effects of frequency, phonology, and competition. Cogn Sci 2006; 30: 1027-52. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog0000_66

Rondal JA. Peut-on se dispenser des catégories grammaticales et des règles formelles dans l’explication de l’acquisition de la syntaxe en langue naturelle? Submitted for publication.

Chafe W. Meaning and the structure of language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1973.

Chapman R. Language and communication in individuals with Down syndrome. In: Abbeduto L, editor. International review of research in mental retardation. New York, NY: Academic 2003; pp. 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0074-7750(03)27001-4

Rondal JA. Psycholinguistique du handicap mental. Marseille, France: Solal 2009.

Rondal JA, Hodapp R, Soresi S, Dykens E, Nota L. Intellectual disabilities. Genetics, behaviour and inclusion. London: Whurr 2004.

Rondal JA, Perera J, Eds. Down syndrome. Neurobehavioural specificity. London: Whurr 2006.

Rondal JA, Docquier L. Maternal speech to Down syndrome children. An update. J Speech Lang Pathol Appl Behav Anal 2006; 1: 218-27. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100197

Curtiss S. Abnormal language acquisition and the modularity of language. In: Newmeyer F, editor. Linguistics: The Cambridge survey. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press vol. 2: pp. 96-111.

Yamada J. Laura: A case for the modularity of language. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press 1990.

Rondal JA. Exceptional language in Down syndrome. Implications for the cognition-language relationship. New York: Cambridge University Press 1995. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511582189

Smith N, Tsimpli I. The mind of a savant: Language learning and modularity. Oxford, UK: Blackwell 1995.

Witt A. L’apprentissage implicite d’une grammaire artificielle chez l’enfant avec et sans retard mental: rôle des propriétés du matériel et influence des instructions. Thèse de Doctorat en Psychologie. Dijon, France: Université de Bourgogne. NNT HAL Open archives: 20010DIJOL019; 2011.

Wyatt B, Conners F. Implicit and explicit memory in individuals with mental retardation. Am J Ment Retard 1998; 102: 511-26. https://doi.org/10.1352/0895-8017(1998)102<0511:IAEMII>2.0.CO;2

Atwell J, Conners F, Merrill E. Implicit and explicit learning in Young adults with mental retardation. Am J Ment Retard 2003; 108: 55-68. https://doi.org/10.1352/0895-8017(2003)108<0056:IAELIY>2.0.CO;2

Vinter A, Detable C. Implicit learning in children and adolescents with mental retardation. Am J Ment Retard 2003; 108: 94-107. https://doi.org/10.1352/0895-8017(2003)108<0094:ILICAA>2.0.CO;2

Krinsky-McHale S, Devenny D, Kitter P, Silverman W. Implicit memory in aging adults with mental retardation with and without Down syndrome. Am J Ment Retard 2003; 108: 219-33. https://doi.org/10.1352/0895-8017(2003)108<219:IMIAAW>2.0.CO;2

Reber A. Implicit learning and tacit knowledge: An essay on the cognitive unconscious. New York: Oxford University Press 1993.

Fletcher J, Maybery M, Bennett S. Implicit learning differences: A question of developmental level? J Exp Psych [Learn Mem Cogn] 2000; 26: 246-52. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.26.1.246

Bussy G, Charrin E, Brun A, Curie A, des Portes V. Implicit procedural learning in Fragile X and Down syndrome. J Intellect Disabil Res 2011; 55: 521-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01410.x

Desmottes L, Meulemans T, Maillart, C. Implicit spoken words and motor sequences learning are impaired in children with Specific language Impairment. J Int Neuropsych Soc 2016; 22: 520-29. https://doi.org/10.1017/S135561771600028X

Gabriel A, Meulemans T, Parisse C, Maillart C. Procedural learning across modalities in French speaking children with specific language impairment. Appl Psycholing 2014; 36: 747-69. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716413000490

Desmottes L, Meulemans, L, Maillart C. Later learning stages in procedural memory are impaired in children with Specific Language Impairment. Res Dev Disabil 2016; 48: 53-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2015.10.010

Cashon C, Ha O, Graf Estes K, Saffran J, Mervis C. Infants with Williams syndrome detect statistical regularities in continuous speech. Cognition 2016; 154: 165-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.05.009

Schellenberg EG, Reber A, DiGirolamo K, Wang P. Implicit learning in children and adults with Williams syndrome. Dev Neuropsych 2003; 23: 201-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2003.9651892

Vicari S. Implicit versus explicit memory function in children with Down and Williams syndrome. Down Synd Res Pract 2001; 7 (1): 35-40. https://doi.org/10.3104/reports.112

Conners F. Phonological working memory difficulty and related interventions. In: Rondal JA, Buckley S, editors. Speech and language intervention in Down syndrome. London: Whurr 2003; pp. 31-49.

Rondal JA. Psycholinguistique du handicap mental. Marseille, France: Solal 2009.

Fox R, Oross S. Perceptual deficits in mildly retarded adults. In: Bray N, editor. International review of research in mental retardation. New York: Basic Books 1992; pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0074-7750(08)60114-7

Wang Y, Chang C, Chen S, Wang, C, Wuang Y. Profiles of visual perceptual functions in Down syndrome. Res Dev Dis 2015; 37: 112-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.11.008

Burack J, Evans D, Klaiman C, Iarocci G. The mysterious myth of attention deficits and other defect theories: Contemporary issues in the developmental approach to mental retardation. In: Glidden L, editor.International review of research in mental retardation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press 2001; pp. 299-320.

Faught G, Conners F, Himmelberger Z. Auditory and visually sustained attention in Down syndrome. Res Dev Dis 2016; 53-54: 135-146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.01.021

Carlesimo G, Marotta Vicari S. Long-term memory in mental retardation: Evidence for a specific impairment in subjects with Down’s syndrome. Neuropsychologia 1997; 35: 71-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(96)00055-3

Rondal JA. La rehabilitation des personnes porteuses d’une trisomie 21. Suivi medical, neuropsychologie, pharmacothérapie et thérapie génétique. Paris: L’Harmattan 2013.

Witt A, Vinter A. Children with intellectual disabilities may be impaired in encoding and recollecting incidental information. Res Dev Disabil 2013; 864-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2012.11.003

Rondal JA, Edwards S. Language in mental retardation. London: Whurr 1997.

Downloads

Published

2017-04-10

How to Cite

Rondal, J. (2017). Morphosyntactic Development and Implicit Learning in Down Syndrome and Related Conditions. Journal of Intellectual Disability - Diagnosis and Treatment, 5(1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2017.05.01.4

Issue

Section

General Articles