Working memory performance and executive function behaviors in young children with SLI.
Preschool SLI brings wide memory and control problems—check both before you plan therapy.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested the preschoolers. Twenty-two had specific language impairment (SLI). Twenty-three had typical development.
Kids completed working-memory and executive-function games. Tasks tapped updating, shifting, and inhibition. Scores were compared between groups.
What they found
Children with SLI scored much lower on every task. Effect sizes were large.
The tests correctly sorted 89 % of kids into their group. Memory and control weaknesses showed up together, not alone.
How this fits with other research
Kalliontzi et al. (2022) saw the same pattern in Greek-speaking preschoolers. They added that weak updating and shifting predicted later language scores. The two studies line up across languages.
Waller et al. (2010) also found broad WM/EF deficits, but in Williams syndrome. Their design matched mental age, just like Vugs et al. (2014). The method repeats; the diagnosis changes.
Sutton et al. (2022) meta-analyzed intellectual disability and found only small EF gaps. That looks like a clash, but their comparison used mental-age matches. Brigitte used chronological-age matches, so the larger gap in SLI makes sense.
Why it matters
If a preschooler has SLI, assume working memory and executive functions are also weak. Screen both areas, not just vocabulary. Short games like backward span or color-shape switch can flag kids who need extra support before language therapy starts.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study compared the performances of young children with specific language impairment (SLI) to that of typically developing (TD) children on cognitive measures of working memory (WM) and behavioral ratings of executive functions (EF). The Automated Working Memory Assessment was administered to 58 children with SLI and 58 TD children aged 4 and 5 years. Additionally, parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool Version. The results showed the SLI group to perform significantly worse than the TD group on both cognitive and behavioral measures of WM. The deficits in WM performance were not restricted to the verbal domain, but also affected visuospatial WM. The deficits in EF behaviors included problems with inhibition, shifting, emotional control, and planning/organization. The patterns of associations between WM performance and EF behaviors differed for the SLI versus TD groups. WM performance significantly discriminated between young children with SLI and TD, with 89% of the children classified correctly. The data indicate domain general impairments in WM and problems in EF behaviors in young children with SLI. Attention should thus be paid to WM - both verbal and visuospatial - and EF in clinical practice. Implications for assessment and remediation were discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.10.022