Musical rhythmic grouping production in DLD (Kreidler et al., 2023)

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) show evidence of domain-general deficits in sequentially patterned motor skills. This study focuses on the production of rhythmically grouped sequences drawn from a music task, with the hypothesis that children with DLD will show a sequential pattern learning deficit that crosses language and action domains.Method: Fifty-seven 4- to 5-year-old children (36 with DLD) drummed and clapped a developmentally appropriate musical rhythmic sequence 24 times (clapped 12 times, drummed 12 times). The accuracy of rhythmic events (markings of claps, drums, and pauses in a target sequence) was assessed through a modification of classic speech and language transcription procedures. The variability and prosodic structure of the rhythmic groupings were also measured.Results: Children with DLD produced less accurate and more variable rhythmic groupings compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. While the final-position grouping of the sequence was especially vulnerable for all children, those with DLD included more co-occurring errors in initial and final groupings of the same rhythmic sequence. Both TD children and children with DLD were less accurate in the clapping than the drumming task. Neither rhythmic drumming nor clapping accuracy correlated with motor skill in either group of children.Conclusions: This study provides novel evidence of a manual rhythmic grouping deficit in DLD, one that is motivated by language—not motor or speech—factors. Cognitive abilities necessary to organize rhythmic events into higher order groupings are impaired across music and language in children with DLD. Rhythmic organization and sequencing may serve an important role in diagnosis and intervention in this population.Supplemental Material S1. Motor and rhythmic accuracy means, standard deviations, and correlations in TD group (n = 21).Supplemental Material S2. Motor and rhythmic accuracy means, standard deviations, and correlations in DLD group (n = 33).Supplemental Material S3. Speech sound and rhythmic accuracy means, standard deviations, and correlations in DLD group (n = 36).Kreidler, K., Vuolo, J., & Goffman, L. (2023). Children with developmental language disorder show deficits in the production of musical rhythmic groupings. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00197

目的：发育性语言障碍（DLD）的儿童表现出在序列化模式化运动技能方面的领域泛化缺陷。本研究聚焦于从音乐任务中提取的有节奏分组序列的产生，假设发育性语言障碍的儿童将表现出跨语言和动作领域的序列模式学习缺陷。方法：五十七名4至5岁的儿童（其中36名患有DLD）进行了24次（敲击12次，鼓击12次）符合发育阶段的音乐节奏序列的敲击和鼓击。通过改进经典的言语和语言转录程序，评估了节奏事件的准确性（目标序列中敲击、鼓击和停顿的标记）。同时，还测量了节奏分组的变化性和韵律结构。结果：与典型发展（TD）的同伴相比，发育性语言障碍的儿童产生了更不准确且更多变动的节奏分组。尽管所有儿童的序列末位分组特别脆弱，但DLD儿童的同一节奏序列的起始和末位分组中同时出现的错误更多。在敲击任务中，典型发展的儿童和DLD儿童的准确性均低于鼓击任务。无论是节奏鼓击还是敲击的准确性，都与两组儿童的运动技能无相关性。结论：本研究为DLD在手动节奏分组缺陷方面提供了新的证据，这种缺陷由语言因素而非运动或言语因素引起。将节奏事件组织成高级分组所需的认知能力在DLD儿童的音乐和语言中均受到损害。节奏组织和排序可能在诊断和治疗这一人群方面发挥重要作用。补充材料S1：典型发展组（n = 21）的运动和节奏准确性均值、标准差和相关系数。补充材料S2：DLD组（n = 33）的运动和节奏准确性均值、标准差和相关系数。补充材料S3：DLD组（n = 36）的语音音素和节奏准确性均值、标准差和相关系数。Kreidler, K., Vuolo, J., & Goffman, L. (2023). 发育性语言障碍儿童在音乐节奏分组产生上的缺陷。言语、语言和听力研究杂志。在线预发布。https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00197