{"title":"Introducing the Intra-Individual Variability Hypothesis in Explaining Individual Differences in Language Development.","authors":"Anna Kautto, Henry Railo, Elina Mainela-Arnold","doi":"10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00527","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Response times (RTs) are commonly used in studying language acquisition. However, previous research utilizing RT in the context of language has largely overlooked the intra-individual variability (IIV) of RTs, which could hold significant information about the processes underlying language acquisition.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We explored the association between language abilities and RT variability in visuomotor tasks using two data sets from previously published studies. The participants were 7- to 10-year-old children (<i>n</i> = 77).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our results suggest that increased variability in RTs is associated with weaker language abilities. Specifically, this within-participant variability in visuomotor RTs, especially the proportion of unusually slow responses, predicted language abilities better than mean RTs, a factor often linked to language skills in past research.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Based on our findings, we introduce the IIV hypothesis in explaining individual differences in language development. According to our hypothesis, inconsistency in the timing of cognitive processes, reflected by increased IIV in RTs, degrades learning different aspects of language, and results in individual differences in language abilities. Future studies should further examine the relationship between IIV and language abilities, and test the extent to which the possible relationship is causal.</p>","PeriodicalId":51254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00527","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/6/24 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Response times (RTs) are commonly used in studying language acquisition. However, previous research utilizing RT in the context of language has largely overlooked the intra-individual variability (IIV) of RTs, which could hold significant information about the processes underlying language acquisition.
Method: We explored the association between language abilities and RT variability in visuomotor tasks using two data sets from previously published studies. The participants were 7- to 10-year-old children (n = 77).
Results: Our results suggest that increased variability in RTs is associated with weaker language abilities. Specifically, this within-participant variability in visuomotor RTs, especially the proportion of unusually slow responses, predicted language abilities better than mean RTs, a factor often linked to language skills in past research.
Conclusions: Based on our findings, we introduce the IIV hypothesis in explaining individual differences in language development. According to our hypothesis, inconsistency in the timing of cognitive processes, reflected by increased IIV in RTs, degrades learning different aspects of language, and results in individual differences in language abilities. Future studies should further examine the relationship between IIV and language abilities, and test the extent to which the possible relationship is causal.
期刊介绍:
Mission: JSLHR publishes peer-reviewed research and other scholarly articles on the normal and disordered processes in speech, language, hearing, and related areas such as cognition, oral-motor function, and swallowing. The journal is an international outlet for both basic research on communication processes and clinical research pertaining to screening, diagnosis, and management of communication disorders as well as the etiologies and characteristics of these disorders. JSLHR seeks to advance evidence-based practice by disseminating the results of new studies as well as providing a forum for critical reviews and meta-analyses of previously published work.
Scope: The broad field of communication sciences and disorders, including speech production and perception; anatomy and physiology of speech and voice; genetics, biomechanics, and other basic sciences pertaining to human communication; mastication and swallowing; speech disorders; voice disorders; development of speech, language, or hearing in children; normal language processes; language disorders; disorders of hearing and balance; psychoacoustics; and anatomy and physiology of hearing.