Bachourou Theodora, Stavrakaki Stavroula, Koukoulioti Vasiliki, Talli Ioanna
Center of Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counseling and Support (KE.D.A.S.Y.), 271 00 Ileia, Greece.
Department of Italian Language and Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Brain Sci. 2024 Jun 5;14(6):580. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14060580.
The present study explores comparatively the effectiveness of a cognitive (verbal short-term memory (vSTM), verbal working memory (vWM)) and of a linguistic training (10-week duration each) in the diffusion of gains in cognitive abilities (vSTM and vWM) of in school-aged Greek-speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To this purpose, two computerized training programs i.e., a linguistic and a cognitive one, were developed and applied to three groups (A, B, and C) of children with DLD (N = 49, in total). There were three assessments with two vSTM tasks (non-word repetition and forward digit span) and a vWM task (backward digit span): pre-therapeutically (time 1), where no significant between-group differences were found, post-therapeutically I (time 2), and post-therapeutically II (time 3) and two training phases. In phase Ι, group A received meta-syntactic training, whereas group B vSTM/vWM training and group C received no training. In phase ΙΙ, a reversal of treatment was performed for groups A and B: group A received vSTM/vWM while group B meta-syntactic training. Again, group C received no training. Overall, the results indicated a significant performance improvement for the treatment groups and revealed beneficial far-transfer effects as language therapy can affect vSTM and vWM in addition to direct and near transfer effects. In addition, the intervention type order affected performance as follows: first, better performance on the vSTM task (non-word repetition) was shown when the linguistic treatment was delivered first; second, better performance on the vWM in Time 2 and Time 3 was shown by group B, for which the cognitive treatment was delivered first. Concluding, not only intervention type but also intervention type order can affect performance in DLD.
本研究比较了认知训练（言语短期记忆（vSTM）、言语工作记忆（vWM））和语言训练（各为期10周）对患有发育性语言障碍（DLD）的希腊语学龄儿童认知能力（vSTM和vWM）提升的效果。为此，开发了两个计算机化训练程序，即语言训练程序和认知训练程序，并将其应用于三组DLD儿童（共49名）。通过两项vSTM任务（非词重复和顺背数字广度）和一项vWM任务（倒背数字广度）进行了三次评估：治疗前（时间1），此时未发现组间显著差异；治疗后I（时间2）和治疗后II（时间3），以及两个训练阶段。在第一阶段，A组接受元句法训练，B组接受vSTM/vWM训练，C组不接受训练。在第二阶段，对A组和B组进行了治疗逆转：A组接受vSTM/vWM训练，而B组接受元句法训练。同样，C组不接受训练。总体而言，结果表明治疗组的表现有显著改善，并揭示了有益的远迁移效应，因为语言治疗除了直接和近迁移效应外，还可以影响vSTM和vWM。此外，干预类型的顺序对表现的影响如下：首先，当首先进行语言治疗时，在vSTM任务（非词重复）上表现更好；其次，B组在时间2和时间3的vWM任务上表现更好，该组首先接受了认知治疗。总之，不仅干预类型，而且干预类型的顺序都会影响DLD患者的表现。
