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

NCT ID: NCT06951516

Last Updated: 2025-04-30

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-01-01
• Study Completion Date: 2027-05-31

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

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Utterance Type

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

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Linguistic simplification

Intervention Type: 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).

Interventions

Linguistic simplification

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).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Down syndrome

English as primary language

2-7 years old

Exclusion Criteria

• Acquired brain injury

Cerebral palsy

Uncorrected vision or hearing impairment

• Minimum Eligible Age: 2 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 7 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Michigan State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Courtney E. Venker

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Courtney Venker, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Michigan State University

Locations

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Courtney Venker, PhD

Role: CONTACT

cvenker@msu.edu

517-884-2259

Jennifer Johnson, M.S.

Role: CONTACT

jrj@msu.edu

517-884-2259

Facility Contacts

Courtney Venker, PhD

Role: primary

cvenker@msu.edu

5178842259

Other Identifiers

3R01DC020165-02S1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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