Semantic attributes and aural encoding: A study of young children

Abstract

This study investigated the fast-mapping ability of young children with normal language (NL) and specific language impairment (SLI). It compared their ability to fast-map semantic and lexical information in different conditions. Children had to fast map visual information only, visual plus non-linguistic auditory information, and visual plus linguistic auditory information. Children with SLI performed worse than children with NL overall. They showed specific deficits when the task did not meet their expectations and when they were asked to map phonologically infrequent linguistic information. A nonword repetition task was correlated with both semantic and lexical fast-mapping. The findings are discussed in light of their support for a limited capacity model of processing, and for the need to evaluate children with SLI for semantic deficits.