engleski

An electrophysiological and reaction time account for working memory functioning in children with specific language impairment

During the last decade researchers concerned with specific language impairment (SLI) started to examine the role of working memory as a potential factor in explaining the problems some children have in language processing. The obtained data suggest that the problems SLI children have in lexical/morphological learning and sentence processing are associated with the deficit in their working memory functioning (Montgomery, 2003). In this study working memory functioning is investigated by means of combining two different on-line methods. The Sternberg memory task using verbal and nonverbal stimuli was used to asses working memory functioning in two groups of children: SLI children and typical developing children. Electrophysiological recordings of brain activity and reaction time data were collected while the participants performed the task. Different type of stimuli and different load of the memory sets were manipulated in order to investigate the specifities of working memory functioning. Levels of memory load difficulty and specific stimuli type yielded different electrophysiological patterns and reaction times latencies. Significant differences in results were obtained in a between groups comparison. Although it is not possible to state the direct causational link between working memory deficit and language impairment, the obtained results together with the current available results of other studies suggests that a deficit in working memory could be a clinical marker of SLI.

working memory; children with specific language impairment. reaction time; ERP

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