TITLE:
Correlations between Syntactic Development and Verbal Memory in the Spoken Language of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Down Syndrome: Comparison with Typically Developing Children
AUTHORS:
Manami Koizumi, Mariko Maeda, Yuko Saito, Michio Kojima
KEYWORDS:
Intellectual Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down Syndrome, Language Development, Verbal Memory
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
17,
2020
ABSTRACT: Correlations between syntactic development and verbal memory of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) are not well understood. These correlations were investigated in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with intellectual disabilities and children with Down Syndrome (DS). Thirty-seven children with ID (11 with ASD, 16 with DS, and 10 with ID not falling under ASD or DS) and a control group of typically developing (TD) children (N = 58) participated. Their verbal short-term memory was assessed using the digit span tasks. Verbal long-term memory was assessed using Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and syntactic understanding and expression tasks. Syntactic understanding and expression scores of the disability groups were significantly lower than TD children of the same mental age (MA). AVLT’s immediate recall scores were significantly lower in children with ASD, whereas, in children with DS, the digit span forward scores and immediate and delayed recall AVLT scores were significantly lower than in TD children of the same MA. Verbal short-term memory assessed by AVLT in children with ASD and the small capacity of verbal short-term memory in children with DS are correlated with syntactic development.