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Similarities in semantic processing across verbal and pictorial domains in school children with developmental language disorder

Lindfors, Hanna ; Hansson, Kristina LU orcid ; Cohn, Neil and Andersson, Annika (2025) In Frontiers in Psychology 16.
Abstract

This study investigates whether Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a specific language impairment or a domain-general disorder, thereby addressing the broader question of whether language processing is distinct from or comparable to cognitive processing in other domains. Specifically, we investigate semantic processing in verbal and pictorial domains among 9–12-year-old children with DLD in comparison to an age-matched control group. We measured the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) effect indicating semantic processing, the N400, to narratives in the form of both auditorily presented sentences and of wordless picture sequences (comic strips). We compared the N400 effect of predictability in both domains across group.... (More)

This study investigates whether Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a specific language impairment or a domain-general disorder, thereby addressing the broader question of whether language processing is distinct from or comparable to cognitive processing in other domains. Specifically, we investigate semantic processing in verbal and pictorial domains among 9–12-year-old children with DLD in comparison to an age-matched control group. We measured the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) effect indicating semantic processing, the N400, to narratives in the form of both auditorily presented sentences and of wordless picture sequences (comic strips). We compared the N400 effect of predictability in both domains across group. Our findings from a total of 39 participants show an expected N400 effect in both domains in age-matched controls, though with longer latency for the more unfamiliar picture domain but no N400 effect in either domain in children with DLD. This study, thus, indicates similarities in semantic processing across the verbal and the pictorial domains in children with DLD, which is consistent with domain general theories of language.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
developmental language disorder (DLD), domain general, event-related potentials (ERPs), N400, semantic processing
in
Frontiers in Psychology
volume
16
article number
1548289
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
external identifiers
  • pmid:40236961
  • scopus:105002609545
ISSN
1664-1078
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1548289
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
84d5bbd7-26e6-45c4-bb9a-62a08b5f91cc
date added to LUP
2025-09-01 12:10:55
date last changed
2025-10-27 17:08:59
@article{84d5bbd7-26e6-45c4-bb9a-62a08b5f91cc,
  abstract     = {{<p>This study investigates whether Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a specific language impairment or a domain-general disorder, thereby addressing the broader question of whether language processing is distinct from or comparable to cognitive processing in other domains. Specifically, we investigate semantic processing in verbal and pictorial domains among 9–12-year-old children with DLD in comparison to an age-matched control group. We measured the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) effect indicating semantic processing, the N400, to narratives in the form of both auditorily presented sentences and of wordless picture sequences (comic strips). We compared the N400 effect of predictability in both domains across group. Our findings from a total of 39 participants show an expected N400 effect in both domains in age-matched controls, though with longer latency for the more unfamiliar picture domain but no N400 effect in either domain in children with DLD. This study, thus, indicates similarities in semantic processing across the verbal and the pictorial domains in children with DLD, which is consistent with domain general theories of language.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lindfors, Hanna and Hansson, Kristina and Cohn, Neil and Andersson, Annika}},
  issn         = {{1664-1078}},
  keywords     = {{developmental language disorder (DLD); domain general; event-related potentials (ERPs); N400; semantic processing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Psychology}},
  title        = {{Similarities in semantic processing across verbal and pictorial domains in school children with developmental language disorder}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1548289}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1548289}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}