Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Fourteen twin pairs, aged 8 to 10 years, were tested 3 times over 12 months; they included 11 children with language impairment (LI), 11 control children matched on nonverbal ability and age, and 6 co-twins who did not meet criteria for LI or control status. Thresholds were estimated for detecting a brief backward-masked tone (BM), detection of frequency modulation (FM), and pitch discrimination using temporal cues (deltaf0). Both BM and FM thresholds improved with training, and by the 2nd test session, FM thresholds were in the adult range. There were marked individual differences on BM and deltaf0 and, for both tasks, performance correlated with Tallal's Auditory Repetition Task administered 2 years previously. However, no auditory measure gave significant differences between LI and control groups; performance was influenced more by nonverbal than language ability. Some children did have a stable pattern of poor performance on certain auditory tasks, but their good FM detection raised questions about whether processing of auditory temporal information is abnormal. We found no evidence that auditory deficits are a necessary or sufficient cause of language impairments.

Original publication

DOI

10.1044/jslhr.4206.1295

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Speech Lang Hear Res

Publication Date

12/1999

Volume

42

Pages

1295 - 1310

Keywords

Adult, Auditory Threshold, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Perceptual Disorders, Perceptual Masking, Pitch Perception, Retrospective Studies, Speech Disorders, Speech Perception, Time Perception