Vocabulary Intervention for Late Talkers

Shape Bias Training as a Vocabulary Intervention for Late Talkers

Most studies regarding word learning have focused on understanding when and how infants learn words. At 24 months, typically developing infants know between 200 and 300 words and add new words to their vocabularies at a rapid rate. It is also during the first years of life that some principles that promote vocabulary learning are developed. The shape bias, which is a tendency to infer that objects that share the same shape will also share the same name, is the one that has been studied the most. At 24 months, typically developing infants use this principle as a strategy to learn novel words. In contrast, Late Talkers (children with a language delay in the absence of a physiological, cognitive or genetic disorder that may account for this delay) do not exhibit this preference. It has been found that teaching typically developing infants a shape bias prior to the end of the second year of life can boosts their word learning. Despite this, the possibility of teaching Late Talkers this principle and its effect on their vocabulary and language development has not been explored.

Over a series of 9 weekly sessions, Late Talkers (diagnosed by Language Therapists from the Birmingham Community Healthcare National Health Services Foundation Trust, United Kingdom) will be introduced to one of two possible interventions: a shape bias intervention and a more conventional intervention called "specific word intervention". Both interventions will be compared after 9 weeks. One year later, a follow up study will be conducted to assess the long-term effects each intervention has in word learning. Participants will be referred by a Speech and Language Therapists from the Birmingham Community Healthcare National Health Services Foundation Trust, United Kingdom, and all assessments and interventions will take place at the Infant and Child Lab at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Language Development Disorders; Language Delay
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Specific word training; Behavioral: Shape training intervention

Detailed Description

The objectives of the present study are:

A. To investigate whether it is possible to teach Late Talkers to attend to objects' shapes as a useful property for learning and generalizing novel object labels.

B. To assess the benefits that this intervention programme has on Late Talkers' short-term vocabulary development compared to an intervention where infants will be taught specific words ('specific word' intervention).

C. Assess whether the success of teaching Late Talkers a shape bias for noun extension is related to their sensitivity to object shape similarities.

D. Assess whether the success of teaching Late Talkers a shape bias for noun extension is related to their ability of sustain their attention to novel objects that are presented to them.

E. To assess the benefits of the intervention programme on language and cognitive development one year after the intervention compared to the 'specific word' intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Birmingham
    • Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom, B15 2TT
      • Infant and Child Laboratory, University of Birmingham

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 2 years to 4 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children (boys and girls) between 24 and 48 months.
• Children from Birmingham (United Kingdom) and its surrounding areas.
• Monolingual English native speakers
• Children with a moderate or severe language delay, as diagnosed by a Speech and Language Therapist of the Birmingham Community Healthcare National Health Service Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with a developmental, physiological, neurological or cognitive disorder that could explain their language delay.
• Children with a mild language delay, as diagnosed by a Speech and Language Therapist of the Birmingham Community Healthcare National Health Service Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
• Children that speak or know another language different than English, either as first or additional language.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Specific word training intervention; This training programme will be similar to a typical word learning intervention. Infants will be introduced to 28 real objects and their names (e.g. biscuit, trousers). These objects will be divided into 7 sets of four words, and during each session, infants will be presented with one of this sets. Each session will consist of a 15 min play session in which each object will be presented at least 10 times and each object name will be mentioned at least 10 times. Additionally, techniques such as focused stimulation and modelling target words, which have proved to be useful for word learning, will be used.	Behavioral: Specific word training; In this intervention, participants will be taught the names of 28 real objects. The target words have been selected from the "Wordbank database", which is an open database that lists the proportion of children that know a specific word at a specific age. Twenty-eight words that are understood by 80% of the total child population at 25 months were randomly selected as target words. Techniques such as focused stimulation and modelling target words, which have proved to be useful for word learning, will be used.
Experimental: Shape training intervention; In the shape training intervention, infants will be presented with four novel words paired with four novel sets of objects. Each set consists of two exemplars with the same shape but with different colors and textures, and a contrasting object. Each set will be presented in a play session, and the name of the objects will be mentioned at least 10 times. The other three sets of exemplars will be presented in the same way. Each session will last 15 minutes. This intervention is based on a study conducted by Smith and colleagues (2002), where they found that typically developing infants that are taught to attend to shape at 17 months old, can enhance significantly their word learning.	Behavioral: Shape training intervention; This intervention is based on on a study conducted by Smith and colleagues (2002), where they found that teaching typically developing infants to attend to shape by the end of the second year of life significantly enhances their word learning. Participants will be taught that the significant property they should focus in when learning and extending novel labels is shape. This will be done through play-like sessions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Shape Choices in Two Noun Extension Tests.	Assessed using two noun extension tests with known and novel names and objects. The objective was to assess if participants would extend known or novel names to objects sharing the same shape. The test with known names was conducted in week 8. The test with novel names was conducted at week 9 after starting the intervention. In each test, participants completed 8 trials. For each trial, participants were shown an object and heard its name. They were then asked to get another object that was also called the same from a set of 3 objects shown to them (one object shared the same shape, a second one shared the same colour and a third one shared the same texture). The same procedure was used on each trial but the objects and names used were different each time. If participants learned a shape bias, they should have mainly chosen the objects that shared the same shape. Below we show the average percentage of shape choices in each group for both tests.	At week 8 after starting the interventions for known names and objects. At week 9 after starting the interventions for novel names and objects.
Assessment of Number of Words Known Before and After the Interventions.	In order to assess the benefits of each intervention programme, parents/guardians filled in a vocabulary checklist before (week 1) and after (week 9) the interventions. We compared the vocabulary growth (receptive and expressive vocabulary) in the group of children that took part in the shape bias intervention programme with that of the group of children that took part in the 'specific word' intervention.	Parents/guardians filled in a vocabulary checklist before (week 1) and after (week 9) the interventions.
Long-term Effects of Each Intervention on Language Development.	This was expected to be assessed with a language test. Due to closures related to the covid-19 pandemic, this assessment was not able to be conducted and the study was stopped.	Was expected to be assessed one year after the end of the intervention programme.
Long-term Effects of Each Intervention on Visual Spatial Skills.	Each child was expected to be assessed with a standardized visual spatial test. Due to closures related to the covid-19 pandemic, this assessment was not able to be conducted and the study was stopped.	Visual spatial skills assessed one year after the end of the intervention programme.
Long-term Effects of Each Intervention on Working Memory.	Each child was expected to be assessed with a memory test. Due to closures related to the covid-19 pandemic, this assessment was not able to be conducted.	Was expected to be assessed one year after the end of the intervention programme.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Children's Sensitivity Towards Shape Similarities.	Assessed by relating children's ability to sort objects by shape before the intervention.	Assessed in the first week of the intervention.
Children's Attention to Novel Objects.	Assessed by relating children's sustained attention during the presentation of a video showing a person presenting and moving novel objects before the intervention. Note that two participants preferred not to complete this assessment, therefore they are not included in this analysis.	Assessed with an attention task in the first week of the intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Birmingham
• Collaborators: National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico
• Investigators: Study Director: Andrea Krott, Dr, University of Birmingham; Principal Investigator: Claudia Zuniga-Montanez, University of Birmingham

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 19, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 13, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): July 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 6, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 19, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): December 20, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 19, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 7, 2024
• Last Verified: May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Shape bias; Late Talkers
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Language Development Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: RG_17-142

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No