The Effect of Prior Learning on Word Learning

NCT ID: NCT05921188

Last Updated: 2025-06-27

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE2
• Total Enrollment: 22 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-06-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-06-06

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two treatment conditions for late talking toddlers. In 8 weeks of word learning treatment, toddlers will be taught words that sound more like the words they already know or sound less like the words they already know. The investigators see which group learns more, to understand if choosing words that let children use the knowledge they already have helps with learning.

Detailed Description

Late talking toddlers will be assigned to be in the More Familiar Sounds condition or the Less Familiar Sounds condition. Both groups will receive 8 weeks of Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) word learning treatment (2x/week for 30 minutes per session) using their words. The investigators will compare learning within children (taught words v. control words that are not explicitly taught) to make sure the learning that is happening is due to the treatment and not just maturation. The investigators will compare across groups to see if the group treated with More Familiar Sounding words learns more than the group treated with Less Familiar Sounding words.

Conditions

Language Development Disorders

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

More Familiar Sounds

Children in this condition will learn new words whose sounds are more like the sounds in the words the child already understands.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

VAULT Phase 4

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Children will receive an input-based word learning treatment that is designed based on principles of statistical learning.

Less Familiar Sounds

Children in this condition will learn new words whose sounds are less like the sounds in the words the child already understands.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

VAULT Phase 4

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Children will receive an input-based word learning treatment that is designed based on principles of statistical learning.

Interventions

VAULT Phase 4

Children will receive an input-based word learning treatment that is designed based on principles of statistical learning.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Native English Speaking
• Pass pure tone hearing screening or medical report of normal hearing
• 2-3 Years of age at start of study
• MCDI expressive scales <10th percentile

Exclusion Criteria

• Parental reports of other diagnoses
• Enrolled in concurrent treatment elsewhere
• Nonverbal IQ <75 as measured by the Bayley scales
• Parents unable to consistently bring child to treatment sessions

• Minimum Eligible Age: 2 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 4 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Arizona

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Mary Alt, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Arizona

Locations

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

2R01DC015642-06

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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Late Talker Phase 4

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id