title: Linguistic performance as a function of abstract task demands in children with spina bifida.
abstract: Children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus (SBH) have been observed to have deficits in discourse, characterized by a high frequency of irrelevant utterances and poorer performance with abstract than concrete language. The Preschool Language Assessment Instrument (PLAI) was used to compare children with SBH and language-age controls on discourse skills at four levels of abstraction. In addition, a qualitative assessment of differences in types of inadequate productions was conducted. Children with SBH performed comparably to controls on concrete levels of the PLAI, but they produced significantly more 'no response' and irrelevant responses than the controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Rhode Island, Kingston 02881.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Culatta
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior