Title: Brief Report: Fast mapping predicts differences in concurrent and later language abilities in children with ASD.
Legend: Receptive and expressive language at age 3½ and age 5½ by fast mapping profile group. PLS-4 = Preschool Language Scale, 4th Edition. Error bars represent one standard error. Left panel: At age 3½, poor learners had significantly lower receptive language skills than the other two groups; shallow and rich representers did not significantly differ. For expressive language, only the poor learners and rich representers significantly differed. Right panel: At age 5½, poor learners had significantly lower receptive language skills than the other two groups; shallow and rich representers did not significantly differ. For expressive language, only the poor learners and rich representers significantly differed.
Citation: Venker, C.E., Kover, S., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2016). Fast mapping predicts differences in concurrent and later language abilities in children with ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46, 118-123. doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2644-x
Abstract: This study investigated whether the ability to learn word-object associations following minimal exposure (i.e., fast mapping) was associated with concurrent and later language abilities in children with ASD. Children who were poor learners at age 3½ had significantly lower receptive language abilities than children who successfully learned the new words, both concurrently (n = 59) and 2 years later (n = 53), lending ecological validity to experimental fast-mapping tasks. Fast mapping comprehension at age 3½ was associated with better language outcomes regardless of whether children had produced the new words. These findings highlight the importance of investigating processes of language learning in children with ASD. Understanding these processes will enable the development of maximally effective strategies for supporting word learning.
About the Lab: Ellis Weismer’s research focuses on investigating the developmental course and nature of language processing in typically developing children, late takers, and children with specific language impairment (SLI). She is particularly interested in exploring the relationship between language and aspects of cognitive functioning, such as working memory capacity, in children with language learning difficulties. More recent work has focused on characterizing early language abilities of toddlers on the autism spectrum and examining the overlap between late talkers with and without autism to evaluate the ‘distinct category’ versus ‘dimensional’ accounts of language disorders.