title: Impaired statistical learning of non-adjacent dependencies in adolescents with specific language impairment.
abstract: Being able to track dependencies between syntactic elements separated by other constituents is crucial for language acquisition and processing (e.g., in subject-noun/verb agreement). Although long assumed to require language-specific machinery, research on statistical learning has suggested that domain-general mechanisms may support the acquisition of non-adjacent dependencies. In this study, we investigated whether individuals with specific language impairment (SLI)-who have problems with long-distance dependencies in language-also have problems with statistical learning of non-adjacent relations. The results confirmed this hypothesis, indicating that statistical learning may subserve the acquisition and processing of long-distance dependencies in natural language.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Audiology and Speech Therapy, National Kaohsiung Normal University Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsinjen J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: J Bruce
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Tomblin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cornell University Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Morten H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Christiansen
keywords: non-adjacent dependencies; specific language impairment; statistical learning