Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Autism Spectrum Disorder - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have word-learning difficulties, with particular weaknesses in developing rich semantic representations over time that can be flexibly applied to new contexts. This negatively impacts academic performance, functional independence, and quality of life. Despite this, there are very few evidence-based intervention techniques that have been directly examined in children with ASD. Within the psychological learning literature, there is a promising teaching technique that highlights not only the input that individuals receive when learning but also opportunities to recall or produce newly taught information. The retrieval of new information is not only important for the assessment of learning, but for learning itself. It is believed that effortful retrieval practice (repeated spaced retrieval RSR) enhances encoding because retrieval of new information prompts individuals to identify features of the word or concept that are necessary to reconstruct the material, which leads to an enriched and potentially elaborated memory trace to support future retrievals. Although retrieval practice studies have yielded robust learning effects in adults, its application to child learning is in its infancy. Given the striking learning effects that have been documented in adults and some emerging findings in children with developmental language disorder, retrieval practice has great potential to enhance word learning in children with ASD. RSR holds promise for children with ASD because its use has been found to facilitate not only learning of word form (corresponding to the sounds that comprise a word), but also word meaning (corresponding to semantic features associated with the newly taught word), which is a particular weakness in children with ASD. Also, RSR may be a key clinical approach to use with children with ASD because it has been found to strengthen not only item-specific learning (e.g., labeling pictured referents that were explicitly taught), but also to enable generalization (e.g., correctly applying newly taught adjectives to novel referents or labels to different referents of the same kind). Thus, Study 1 will assess whether RSR of newly taught labels (nouns) results in more robust learning of word form and meaning of nouns relative to a learning schedule that has the same amount of study without retrieval (repeated study, RS). Also, Study 1 will examine whether RSR promotes generalization in children with ASD in a task that tests children's extension of labels to referents that are similar to but distinct from the referents that were explicitly taught. Study 2 will assess whether RSR facilitates adjective learning, which allows for more stringent analysis of broader language learning and generalization. Across Studies 1 and 2, addressing specific aim 3, we will examine generalization using pictures of similar referents (Study 1) or similar attributes on novel referents (Study 2). Lastly, we will assess whether ASD severity moderates the RSR effect, after controlling for cognitive and language abilities, addressing specific aim 4. Findings from this study will inform our theoretical understanding of language acquisition in children with ASD and will lead to clear clinical implications.
