Study 1 Replication and Extension of Prior Work

Learning New Words From Overhearing in Children With ASD

The goal of this research is to explore abilities to learn word meanings from overheard conversations in children with ASD (and, as a control, typically developing children).

Specific Aim 1 (Experiment 1): Subaim 1a: Identify child characteristics associated with learning from overhearing. In a prior study, the investigators found that 13 children with ASD were able to learn the meanings of novel words that they heard used in a conversation involving two adults. In the current study, the investigators aim to study a larger sample to identify what child characteristics are associated with good learning in an overhearing situation as compared to a situation in which the child is directly taught the new word. Subaim 1b: Assess retention and generalization of words learned from overhearing. The investigators will re-test children on their knowledge of the word meanings after a 10-minute delay to see if they both retain the word meanings and can generalize the new words to new situations.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Addressed Speech; Behavioral: Overheard Speech

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 342
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02116
      • Emerson College
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10012
      • New York University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 year to 5 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• children with or without a diagnosis of ASD between 18 to 71 months of age

Exclusion Criteria:

• native language is not English
• born premature (< 36 weeks)
• has uncorrected hearing or vision impairments
• has developmental disorders or medical conditions other than ASD that affect language or cognition (excepting psychiatric conditions often comorbid with ASD such as ADHD)
• has a history of photosensitive epileptic seizures

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Addressed; Children participate in an interaction with an experimenter who uses the word to be learned.	Behavioral: Addressed Speech; New words are introduced directly to the child by an experimenter.
Experimental: Overheard; Children observe while an experimenter uses the word to be learned in an interaction with another experimenter.	Behavioral: Overheard Speech; New words are introduced with the child as an observer rather directly taught.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Children Who Select the Target Object as Measured by Gaze Preference.	Children are prompted to identify the object that is associated with the target word.	immediately after viewing 3-minute interaction
Number of Children Who Select the Target Object as Measured by Gaze Preference.	Children are prompted to identify the object that is associated with the target word.	5 minutes after viewing interaction

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: New York University
• Collaborators: Emerson College

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 5, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): December 5, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 31, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 14, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): November 18, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 4, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 280521

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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No