Back to Search Start Over

Predictive Processing and Developmental Language Disorder

Authors :
Jones, Samuel David
Westermann, Gert
Source :
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. Jan 2021 64(1):181-185.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Purpose: Research in the cognitive and neural sciences has situated predictive processing--the anticipation of upcoming percepts--as a dominant function of the brain. The purpose of this article is to argue that prediction should feature more prominently in explanatory accounts of sentence processing and comprehension deficits in developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: We evaluate behavioral and neurophysiological data relevant to the theme of prediction in early typical and atypical language acquisition and processing. Results: Poor syntactic awareness--attributable, in part, to an underlying statistical learning deficit--is likely to impede syntax-based predictive processing in children with DLD, conferring deficits in spoken sentence comprehension. Furthermore, there may be a feedback cycle in which poor syntactic awareness impedes children's ability to anticipate upcoming percepts, and this, in turn, makes children unable to improve their syntactic awareness on the basis of prediction error signals. Conclusion: This article offers a refocusing of theory on sentence processing and comprehension deficits in DLD, from a difficulty in processing and integrating perceived syntactic features to a difficulty in anticipating what is coming next.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1092-4388
Volume :
64
Issue :
1
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ1283944
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00409