Bavin Edith L, Kidd Evan, Prendergast Luke A, Baker Emma K
School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne VIC, Australia.
Research School of Psychology and ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia.
Front Psychol. 2016 Feb 19;7:171. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00171. eCollection 2016.
Research with adults and older children indicates that verb biases are strong influences on listeners' interpretations when processing sentences, but they can be overruled. In this paper, we ask two questions: (i) are children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are high functioning sensitive to verb biases like their same age typically developing peers?, and (ii) do young children with ASD and young children with typical development (TD) override strong verb biases to consider alternative interpretations of ambiguous sentences? Participants were aged 5-9 years (mean age 6.65 years): children with ASD who were high functioning and children with TD. In task 1, biasing and neutral verbs were included (e.g., eat cake versus move cake). In task 2, the focus was on whether the prepositional phrase occurring with an instrument biasing verb (e.g., 'Chop the tree with the axe') was interpreted as an instrument even if the named item was an implausible instrument (e.g., candle in 'Cut the cake with the candle'). Overall, the results showed similarities between groups but the ASD group was generally slower. In task 1, both groups looked at the named object faster in the biasing than the non-biasing condition, and in the biasing condition the ASD group looked away from the target more quickly than the TD group. In task 2, both groups identified the target in the prepositional phrase. They were more likely to override the verb instrument bias and consider the alternative (modification) interpretation in the implausible condition (e.g., looking at the picture of a cake with a candle on it'). Our findings indicate that children of age 5 years and above can use context to override verb biases. Additionally, an important component of the sentence processing mechanism is largely intact for young children with ASD who are high functioning. Like children with TD, they draw on verb semantics and plausibility in integrating information. However, they are likely to be slower in processing the language they hear. Based on previous findings of associations between processing speed and cognitive functioning, the implication is that their understanding will be negatively affected, as will their academic outcomes.
针对成年人和大龄儿童的研究表明，动词偏向在句子处理过程中对听众的理解有很大影响，但这种影响是可以被推翻的。在本文中，我们提出两个问题：（i）高功能自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童是否像同龄的正常发育儿童一样对动词偏向敏感？以及（ii）患有ASD的幼儿和正常发育（TD）的幼儿是否会推翻强烈的动词偏向，以考虑对歧义句子的其他解释？参与者年龄在5至9岁之间（平均年龄6.65岁）：高功能ASD儿童和TD儿童。在任务1中，包含了偏向性动词和中性动词（例如，吃蛋糕与移动蛋糕）。在任务2中，重点在于与工具偏向性动词一起出现的介词短语（例如，“用斧头砍树”）是否会被解释为工具，即使所提及的物品是不合理的工具（例如，“用蜡烛切蛋糕”中的蜡烛）。总体而言，结果显示两组之间存在相似之处，但ASD组通常速度较慢。在任务1中，两组在偏向性条件下比非偏向性条件下更快地看向所提及的物体，并且在偏向性条件下，ASD组比TD组更快地将目光从目标上移开。在任务2中，两组都在介词短语中识别出了目标。在不合理的条件下（例如，看着上面有蜡烛的蛋糕图片），他们更有可能推翻动词工具偏向并考虑其他（修饰）解释。我们的研究结果表明，5岁及以上的儿童可以利用语境来推翻动词偏向。此外，对于高功能ASD幼儿来说，句子处理机制的一个重要组成部分在很大程度上是完整的。与TD儿童一样，他们在整合信息时会利用动词语义和合理性。然而，他们在处理所听到的语言时可能会更慢。基于先前关于处理速度与认知功能之间关联的研究结果，这意味着他们的理解以及学业成绩都会受到负面影响。
