Novel Word Learning in Toddlers on the Autism Spectrum

1
Novel Word Learning in Toddlers on the Autism
Spectrum Susan Ellis-Weismer, Elizabeth Roos,
Courtney Erickson, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Heidi
Sindberg, Courtney Karasinski Sheri
Stronach Waisman Center, The University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Waisman Center
Introduction
Results
Within the first three years of life, typically
developing children acquire hundreds of
vocabulary words. To better understand this
process, some researchers have focused on the
earliest stages of word learning in which a child
initially associates an object or event and its
meaning. Fast mapping mechanisms are posited to
facilitate vocabulary acquisition during these
initial exposures as initial lexical
representations are formed. In research settings,
structured fast mapping tasks are typically used
to provide a window into this mechanism. Fast
mapping has been investigated in adults and
children with both typical and atypical
development (e.g., late talkers, children with
Specific Language Impairment, and children with
Down syndrome). There have been few attempts to
implement fast mapping tasks with young children
on the autism spectrum (McDuffie Yoder, 2006).
The goal of the current study was to examine
novel word learning in toddlers on the autism
spectrum and investigate concurrent associations
between performance on a fast mapping task and
linguistic measures and non-linguistic measures
at two time points.
Due to the limited number of children who
correctly produced at least one novel target word
(4/30 at Time 1), analyses focused solely on
novel word comprehension. To ensure that
children could actually distinguish between
familiar and novel object labels, we instituted
two inclusion criteria 1) comprehension of both
familiar words as indicated by parent report on
the CDI 2) above chance performance (gt17) on
the familiar comprehension portion of the novel
word learning task.

• At Time 1, novel word comprehension was
  significantly correlated with SES and RJA.
• At Time 2, novel word comprehension was
  significantly correlated with receptive and
  expressive language.

Conclusions

• Results of this study indicated that a group of
  young children on the autism spectrum who were
  selected based on their comprehension of familiar
  words, demonstrated fast mapping on a novel word
  learning task.
• At Time 1 (33 mo) this structured,
  socially-mediated word learning task was
  extremely challenging for toddlers on the autism
  spectrum and appeared to primarily be related to
  their engagement in the task.
• At a later point in development (Time 2, 46 mo)
  novel word comprehension for these same children
  was significantly associated with extant language
  abilities.
• Future plans include exploration of novel word
  comprehension using eye tracking methods and
  examination of the extent to which novel word
  learning predicts later language outcomes.

Methods
Comprehensive developmental evaluations performed
or supervised by a licensed psychologist were
used to determine autism spectrum status through
the use of the Autism Diagnostic Interview,
Revised (ADI-R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation
Schedule (ADOS or ADOS-Toddler). Language
development was evaluated by a certified
speech-language pathologist (SLP) using both
parent-report and direct assessment measures of
receptive and expressive language abilities.

• At Time 1 (33 mo) children on the autism
  spectrum, as a group, performed just above chance
  level (gt17) on novel word comprehension.
• At Time 2 (46 mo) children on the autism
  spectrum, as a group, performed well above chance
  level on novel word comprehension.

NOVEL WORD LEARNING TASK Two nonsense words
(tade and koob), along with two familiar
words (apple and cookie), were assessed in
the context of a play picnic with puppets. Each
trial of the task took place in three phases.
First, the child was exposed to each of the four
target words and their referents while packing a
picnic (Heres a cookie. Put it in the basket).
Next, the child was prompted for production of
each word when shown its referent (Whats
this?). Finally, the child was prompted to
identify each of the four target objects in the
basket among two additional foils (Can you get
the koob?). This sequence (exposure, labeling,
and identification) was completed three times.
Correlation Analyses Pearson correlation
coefficients were calculated between
familiar/novel word comprehension and linguistic
and non-linguistic variables to examine
associations at Time 1 and at Time 2.
Comprehension of familiar words was
significantly correlated with comprehension of
novel words at Time 1 (r.55, p.00) and Time 2
(r.47, p.02).
Acknowledgments
Funding for this project was provided by NIH R01
DC007223 and by NIH T32 DC05359-06.