The Relationship between Cognition and Learning a Novel Language

Abstract

By Sarah Ferguson, Communication Sciences and Disorders

Advisor: John Clark

Presentation ID: AM_C01

Abstract: Little is known about how cognition plays a role in how individuals with hearing loss learn novel language. The development of this research is valuable for children with listening difficulties and children with hearing loss to better understand and help them acquire language. At Cincinnati Children's Hospital Communication Sciences Research Center, an independent literature review was conducted to create hypothesizes on the role of cognition and novel language learning through statistics. Data was retrieved from two ongoing studies. Participants were split into three categories: children who are 1) typical developing, 2) have listening difficulties and 3) have mild to moderate hearing loss. Outcome measures came from two behavioral tasks present in both studies. First, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox test battery assessing: executive function, episodic memory, attention and cognitive flexibility. Second, a test of statistical word learning during exposure to a novel language. The outcome of this work will explore whether four cognitive functions play a role in learning language.