Forward masking and cognitive-language skills in children as a function of literacy stage

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the relation between forward masking and cognitive-language skills in children as a function of literacy stage. Methods: twenty-seven children registered in literacy stage at public schools, aged from 6 to 9 years old, with no learning difficulties or audiological problems reported, participated in this study. Frequency Following Responses were registered in two test conditions: 1) /da/ alone; 2) /da/ presented 4 milliseconds after a speech noise. Two language protocols were applied: a cognitive-linguistic skills protocol and a phonological awareness one. Results: forward masking was evident in Frequency Following Responses of all children regardless of literacy stage. Frequency Following Responses latencies in both testing conditions showed no difference among participants’ age. Cognitive-language skills scores were below those expected for all children, with significant improvement noticed as a function of age. No correlation between language performance and forward masking was found. Conclusion: there was no relation between forward masking and cognitive-language skills in children, as a function of literacy stage.

摘要：
研究目的：探究儿童前向掩蔽效应（forward masking）与认知语言能力之间的关联，并考察该关联随读写阶段（literacy stage）的变化情况。
研究方法：招募27名就读于公立学校、处于读写阶段的儿童作为受试对象，年龄介于6至9岁之间，无已知学习困难或听力学问题。实验设置两种测试条件以记录频率跟随反应（Frequency Following Responses）：1）单独呈现/da/音节；2）在语音噪声后4毫秒处呈现/da/音节。本研究采用两套语言测试范式：其一为认知语言能力测试范式，其二为语音意识测试范式。
研究结果：所有受试儿童的频率跟随反应均表现出显著的前向掩蔽效应，且该效应与读写阶段无关。两种测试条件下的频率跟随反应潜伏期均未呈现出随年龄的显著差异。所有受试儿童的认知语言能力得分均低于同龄群体的预期水平，且得分随年龄增长呈现出显著提升。未发现语言表现与前向掩蔽效应之间存在相关性。
研究结论：儿童的前向掩蔽效应与认知语言能力之间并无关联，且该关联不受读写阶段的影响。