Date of Completion
8-24-2011
Embargo Period
8-3-2011
Advisors
Deborah Fein; James (Jim) Magnuson
Field of Study
Psychology
Degree
Master of Science
Open Access
Open Access
Abstract
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have impairments in language acquisition, but the underlying mechanism of these deficits is poorly understood. Implicit learning appears potentially relevant to language development, particularly in speech segmentation, which relies on sensitivity to the transitional probabilities between speech sounds. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between implicit learning and current language abilities in school-aged children with autism (n = 17) and typical development (n = 24) using a well-studied artificial language learning task. Results suggest that the ASD and TD groups were equally able to implicitly learn transitional probabilities from a lengthy stimulus stream. Furthermore, task performance was not strongly associated with current language abilities. Implications for implicit learning research in ASD are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Mayo, Jessica, "Intact Statistical Word Learning in Autism Spectrum Disorders" (2011). Master's Theses. 181.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/181
Major Advisor
Inge-Marie Eigsti
Included in
Clinical Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons