Children’s languagedevelopment is a learnt skill that is intricately
linked to their ability to recognise patterns in their environment,
according to research published in Child Development
(http://tinyurl.com/j974fof). The study found that children who
were better at identifying patterns in non-verbal tasks also had better
knowledge of grammar.
A/Prof Evan Kidd from the Australian Research Council Centre
of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language said the indings counter
traditional theories of language, which argue that grammar cannot
be learnt. “For a long time people thought of grammar as some sort
of special cognitive system, like a box in our brain that we are born
with, but our study shows that language proiciency is associated
with learning – which helps to explain why some people pick it up
faster than others,” Kidd said. “These indings are exciting because
in the long-term they could help us develop strategies to assist chil-
dren who may not be typically developing for their age.”
The study assessed 68 children aged 6–8 years on two critical
tests – one on grammatical knowledge and the other a visual patternlearning task including an exposure phase (where children aren’t
asked to learn anything) and a surprise test phase. The results revealed
a strong connection between those who were able to identify the
patterns in a seemingly trivial series of alien cartoon sequences on
the computer, and those who performed better on the grammar test.
A/Prof Joanne Arciuli of The University of Sydney said the
research shows children have a remarkable capacity to learn without
conscious awareness. “Unbeknownst to children themselves, their
brains are constantly computing these patterns or statistics – for
example, which words co-occur regularly, which words follow others,,
and different contexts in which words are used. Their ability to iden-
tify patterns is very much related to how they learn to use the conven-
tions of language.”
Based on these indings, the researchers will now carry out a 3-
year study investigating the underlying cognitive mechanisms of
language development in kids. Currently recruiting 5-year-olds, it is
the irst longitudinal study to look at how recognition of statistical
patterns is related to children’s learning of grammar.6 | JUNE 2016
A review of brain scan studies has determined
that ADHD is a real medical condition that
requires educational reform, and is not simply a
matter of children misbehaving.
Dr Helen Boon of James Cook University
analysed 174 MRI studies that compared the
brain function of people diagnosed with ADHD
against a control group, and found significant
anatomical and processing differences in the
ADHD group. “The brain circuitry in someone
with ADHD is different from someone without –
no question,” Boon said.
Among the differences in children with ADHD
were reduced volumes in the basal ganglia and
thalamus, cerebellar grey matter and cortical
grey matter thinning, and white matter
connecting regions involved in memory and
executive functions such as impulse control,planning, prioritisation and organisation.
Boon said that some teachers and parents
didn’t believe ADHD was a genuine condition.
“International surveys indicate that many
teachers are ambivalent about recognising
ADHD as a real disease,” she said. Furthermore,
school resources and support staff such as
teacher aides are not automatically provided to
children with ADHD unless they also have major
cognitive impairments or disabilities like autism.
“It is clear that students with ADHD need to
have access to special educational provision
through the public education system under the
Disabilities Act, like others with disabilities such
as hearing impairment or autism,” Boon
concluded in her review for Educational
Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
Boon said that cognitive and behaviouralapproaches, rather than medication, are the best
way to help children with ADHD. “The prefrontal
cortex responsible for executive functions like
planning, attention, cognitive flexibility and
attention setting is one of the last cortical
regions to reach its mature thickness in
adolescence and is therefore amenable to
training... For example, many of the grey matter
structural abnormalities found in ADHD with
MRI imaging have been shown to be improved
or eliminated entirely with cognitive training.
“Some examples of tasks used in the training
are labyrinths (planning), word list recall
(memory), detecting the missing numbers from
numerical lists (attention), creating lists of
objects sharing certain characteristics
(cognitive flexibility) and code deciphering
(problem solving).”Scans Reveal Brain Changes in ADHD
BROWSEPattern Learning Aids Language Development in Kids
Syda Productions/adobe