Retrieval-based Word Learning in Developmental Language Disorder: Adaptive Retrieval Schedule

Part of paid clinical trials in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Sponsor
Purdue University
Study ID
NCT06995014
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Developmental Language Disorder
  • Language Development
  • Specific Language Impairment

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
48 Months - 71 Months
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Retrieval-based word learning: Standard retrieval practice schedule — BEHAVIORAL
    Novel nouns and their meanings are practiced on 2 consecutive days. At the beginning of each learning session, a retrieval trial will immediately follow hearing the word and what it likes (a study trial). In the standard condition, the remaining retrieval trials for each word will be spaced - occurring only after 3 other words have intervened. This practice schedule is repeated the next day (Day 2).
  • Retrieval-based word learning: Adaptive retrieval practice schedule — BEHAVIORAL
    Novel nouns and their meanings are practiced on 2 consecutive days. At the beginning of each learning session, a retrieval trial will immediately follow hearing the word and what it likes (a study trial). For the remainder of the session, there will be spaced retrieval trials for each word - occurring after 3 words have intervened. In the Adaptive condition, children will have additional retrieval opportunities throughout. These will be provided whenever the child does not remember the word form, whether it is an immediate (initial) or space retrieval trial. This practice schedule is repeated the next day (Day 2).

Study Details

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD; also referred to as specific language impairment) experience a significant deficit in language ability that is longstanding and harmful to the children's academic, social, and eventual economic wellbeing. Word learning is one of the principal weaknesses in these children. This project focuses on the word learning abilities of four- and five-year-old children with DLD. The goal of the project is to determine whether special benefits accrue when these children must frequently recall newly introduced words during the course of learning. In the current study, the investigators compare a "standard" repeated spaced retrieval schedule, with fixed spacing between hearing a word and attempting to retrieve it, to an "adaptive" repeated spaced retrieval schedule in which opportunities to retrieve a given word are tailored to the individual child's current knowledge state. The goal of the study is to determine whether the adaptive schedule can increase children's absolute levels of learning while maintaining the advantages of repeated spaced retrieval.

Key Dates

Start date
Aug 15, 2024
Status verified
May 2025
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2025
Completion
Dec 31, 2025

Study Design

Enrollment
32 participants (estimated)
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

  • Experimental: Children with Developmental Language Disorder
    These children have a significant delay in language development in the absence of hearing impairment, cognitive delay, autism, or neurological injury/disease.
  • Experimental: Children With Typical Language Development
    Children whose language development is as expected for their age.

Primary Outcome Measure

Word Form Recall Accuracy (Number of Words Correctly Recalled) on Adaptive and Standard Retrieval Schedules at 5 Mins [ Time Frame: 5 minutes after end of learning period ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Purdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndiana47907
Patricia L Deevy, PhD
[email protected]
765-496-1821
Laurence B Leonard, PhD
[email protected]
765-496-2253

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Purdue University· West Lafayette, IN

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