How Simplified Language Affects Comprehension and Learning in Young Children With Down Syndrome

NCT06951516 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 3R01DC020165-02S1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The long-term study goal is to experimentally evaluate the components (and likely active ingredients) of early language interventions for young children with Down syndrome (DS). The overall objective is to determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects real-time language processing and word learning in young children with DS (relative to full, grammatical utterances). The proposed project will investigate three specific aims: 1) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects language processing. 2) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects word learning. 3) Evaluate child characteristics that may moderate the effects of linguistic simplification on language processing and word learning. Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that children with DS will process grammatical utterances faster and more accurately than telegraphic or single-word utterances. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that overall, children will demonstrate better word learning in the grammatical compared to the single-word and telegraphic conditions. Aim 3 will test the hypothesis that receptive language and nonverbal cognitive abilities will be significant moderators, such that children with stronger linguistic and cognitive skills will show the greatest benefit from grammatical input but children with lower linguistic and cognitive scores will perform similarly across conditions.

Conditions

Down Syndrome

Keywords

Down syndrome; language development; language processing; language input

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Gaze location on Looking-While-Listening (LWL) tasks

  LWL involves a child looking at a screen with two images, one on each side of the screen, while being provided an auditory cue that includes the name of the target image. The primary outcome is a dichotomous variable indicating whether the child is fixated on the target image or the distracter image; gaze directed at neither image will be considered missing. It will be determined whether gaze is to the left or right image, using trained coders who are blind to target side. Gaze location will be observed every 33 ms from 300 ms after onset to 2000 ms after target word onset, for a total of 51 observations per trial. Analyses will focus on differences across trial types and child characteristics in the trajectory of gaze location over the course of the trial.

  Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Gaze location in Teaching Phase of Study 2b (Fast Mapping)

  Baseline

Study Arms (1)

Utterance Type

EXPERIMENTAL

This study uses a within-participant experimental manipulation. All participants will be exposed to all utterances types (across trials).

Behavioral: Linguistic simplification

Interventions

Linguistic simplification BEHAVIORAL

Children will participate in screen-based language processing and word learning tasks in which they hear utterances with different types and amounts of linguistic simplification (i.e., a within-group manipulation).

Utterance Type

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 2 Years - 7 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Down syndrome
• English as primary language
• years old

You may not qualify if:

• Acquired brain injury
• Cerebral palsy
• Uncorrected vision or hearing impairment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Michigan State University: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Down Syndrome

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Intellectual Disability; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Abnormalities, Multiple; Congenital Abnormalities; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; Chromosome Disorders; Genetic Diseases, Inborn

Study Officials

• Courtney Venker, PhD

  Michigan State University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Courtney Venker, PhD

CONTACT

517-884-2259; cvenker@msu.edu

Jennifer Johnson, M.S.

CONTACT

517-884-2259; jrj@msu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 16, 2025
• First Posted: April 30, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2027
• Last Updated: April 30, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Locations

US (1)