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This study investigates school-age children's arithmetic operations performance while solving larger-size problems which produces interferences in memory. Complex problems can trigger competing responses in working memory, which are irrelevant to a task goal and increase the likelihood of interference from previously learned problems (De Visscher et al., 2018). Interference control in working memory is required to be able to manage and suppress irrelevant information while performing cognitive tasks such as arithmetic problem-solving (Unsworth, 2010). The present study explores potential cognitive processes while performing arithmetic tasks and emphasizes the important role of interference control for better performance in such tasks. This study applied a mixed-effect model experimental design. Forty-four primary school children were involved in the study. The results showed that children's performance in terms of correct responses was similar for both small-size and large-size problems. However, their response speed was significantly lower in larger-size problems, which created more interference in working memory.

This study aimed to investigate the gap between adaptive functioning and cognitive functioning, especially verbal and nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) in Chinese children with ASD. We systematically explored cognitive functioning, ASD severity, early signs of developmental abnormalities, and socioeconomic factors as mediating factors of adaptive functioning. We enrolled 151 children (age: 2.5?6 years) with ASD and categorized them into one group with IQ [greater than or equal to] 70 and another with IQ < 70. The two groups were calibrated for age, age at diagnosis, and IQ, and the relationship of adaptive skills with vocabulary acquisition index (VAI) and nonverbal index (NVI) were separately analyzed. Results show that the gap between IQ and adaptive functioning was significant in children with ASD having IQ [greater than or equal to] 70, with both VAI and NVI showing statistically significant differences (all P < 0.001). VAI correlated positively with scores for overall adaptive skills and specific domains, whereas NVI had no significant correlations with adaptive skill scores. Age of first walking unaided had an independent positive correlation (all P < 0.05) with scores of adaptive skills and specific domains. IQ-adaptive functioning gap is significant in children with ASD having IQ [greater than or equal to] 70, suggesting that defining "high-functioning autism" merely on the basis of IQ is not appropriate. Verbal IQ and early signs of motor development are specific and possible predictors of adaptive functioning in children with ASD, respectively.

We explored associations among the core behavioural features and developmental/cognitive abilities of 155 autistic children, assessed between ages 13-67 months and again around 1-year later to understand predictive directionality. Bidirectional, cross-domain association was apparent, albeit with stronger direction of effect from earlier cognition to later autism features (than vice versa). Exploratory sub-domain analysis showed that early non-verbal developmental/cognitive abilities (only) predicted subsequent "social"- and "restricted/repetitive" autism features, whereas early social features (only) predicted both subsequent "verbal" and "non-verbal" abilities. Although observational study design precludes causal inference, these data support contemporary notions of the developmental interconnectedness of core autism presentation and associated abilities--that behavioural autism features may influence cognitive development, but are likely also "influenced by" an individuals' cognitive capacity.

During human childhood, brain development and body growth compete for limited metabolic resources, resulting in a trade-off where energy allocated to brain development can decrease as body growth accelerates. This preregistered study explores the relationship between language skills, serving as a proxy for brain development, and body mass index at three distinct developmental stages, representing different phases of body growth. Longitudinal data from 2002 children in the EDEN mother-child cohort were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our findings reveal a compelling pattern of associations: girls with a delayed adiposity rebound, signaling slower growth rate, demonstrated better language proficiency at ages 5-6. Importantly, this correlation appears to be specific to language skills and does not extend to nonverbal cognitive abilities. Exploratory analyses show that early environmental factors contributing to enhanced cognitive development, such as higher parental socio-economic status and increased cognitive stimulation, are positively associated with both language skills and the timing of adiposity rebound in girls. Overall, our findings lend support to the existence of an energy allocation trade-off mechanism that appears to prioritize language function over body growth investment in girls.

This study investigated bilingualism effects on the production of focus in 5- to 9-year-old Cantonese-English bilingual autistic children's L1 Cantonese, compared to their monolingual autistic peers as well as monolingual and bilingual typically developing children matched in nonverbal IQ, working memory, receptive vocabulary and maternal education. The results from an elicitation task showed that monolingual autistic children had significantly lower accuracy than typically developing children in producing focus in subject and object positions. Bilingual autistic children in general performed similarly to monolingual autistic children but outperformed their monolingual autistic peers in the production of object focus with a significantly higher accuracy. The total amount of English exposure did not relate to the accuracy of focus production in autistic and typically developing children. Our results also revealed autistic children's tendency to make use of less prosodic means to produce focus. The overall findings indicate that bilingual exposure has no detrimental effect on the language skills of autistic children but might enhance the production of focus in bilingual autistic children's L1 Cantonese.

Concerns have been raised about genomic studies of autism. Most recently, the Spectrum 10 K study was paused due to criticism from the autistic community. This situation raised important questions about how the autistic and autism communities perceive genomic research. The Personal Experiences of Autism and Perceptions of DNA-based-research study was established to address this issue. Twenty parents of nonverbal or minimally verbal autistic children took part in the current study. Data were provided in diverse formats including online interviews, telephone interviews, and writing. This approach was co-produced with autistic experts by experience. Data were analysed using reflexive Thematic Analysis. We found that participants were supportive of autism research, including some genomic research, if it is designed to support autistic people and is ethical and transparent. However, while some believed that polygenic scores, genomic predictors of the statistical probability of being autistic, would be helpful, others argued that this would only be true in an ideal world. Participants felt that they and their children were often excluded from, and unrepresented by, the autistic and autism communities. We conclude that genomic researchers need to work with the autistic and autism communities to design future work, and that it is important to ensure a representative range of voices are heard.

Can brief training on novel grammatical morphemes influence visual processing of nonlinguistic stimuli? If so, how deep is this effect? Here, an experimental group learned two novel morphemes highlighting the familiar concept of transitivity in sentences; a control group was exposed to the same input but with the novel morphemes used interchangeably. Subsequently, both groups performed two visual oddball tasks with nonlinguistic motion events. In the first (attentional) oddball task, relative to the control group, the experimental group showed decreased attention (P300) to infrequent changes in the morpheme-irrelevant dimension (shape) but not the morpheme-relevant dimension (motion transitivity); in the second (preattentive) oddball task, they showed enhanced preattentive responses (N1/visual mismatch negativity) to infrequent changes in motion transitivity but not shape. Our findings show that increasing attention to preexisting concepts in sentences through brief training on novel grammatical morphemes can influence both attentional and preattentive visual processing.

This study investigated the executive functions (EF) of preschool children and their associations with emotional, linguistic, and cognitive skills, using parent and teacher reports. A total of 130 children aged 34 to 71 months participated. The preschool version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-P) was completed by both parents and teachers to assess behavioral difficulties in the use of EFs, while children were administered the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC), the Test of Language Evaluation (TVL), and the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM). Statistical analyses revealed significant differences between parents' and teachers' reports, with parents attributing to children more EF difficulties than parents. Children's EF difficulties were negatively associated with emotion comprehension, language ability, and non-verbal intelligence, although correlations were stronger when using teachers' reports. The value of using indirect measurement of preschoolers' EF problems and the importance of adopting a multi-informant approach are discussed.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that individual differences in declarative memory may be an important predictor of second language (L2) abilities. However, the evidence comes from studies using different declarative memory tasks that vary in their reliance on verbal abilities and task demands, which preclude estimating the size of the relationship between declarative memory and L2 learning. To address these concerns, we examined the relationship between verbal and nonverbal declarative memory abilities within the same task while controlling for task demands and stimulus modality, to estimate the upper bound of the relationship between verbal and nonverbal declarative memory. Results indicate that when task demands and stimulus modality are controlled, verbal and nonverbal declarative memory abilities shared a medium-to-large amount of underlying variance. However, future studies should exercise caution in appraising associations between declarative memory abilities and L2 learning until a more precise understanding of the underlying mechanisms is achieved.

We report the validity of a test instrument that assesses the arithmetic ability of primary students by (a) describing the theoretical model of arithmetic ability assessment using Wilson's (2004) four building blocks of constructing measures and (b) providing empirical evidence for the validation study. The instrument consists of 21 multiple-choice questions that hierarchically evaluate arithmetic intended learning outcomes (ILOs) on arithmetic ability, hierarchically, based on Bloom's cognitive taxonomy for 138 primary three grade students. The theoretical model describes students' arithmetic ability on three distinct levels: solid, developing, and basic. At each level, the model describes the characteristics of the tasks that the students can answer correctly. The analysis shows that the difficulty of the items followed the expected order in the theoretical construct map, where the difficulty of each designed item aligned with the cognitive level of the student, the item difficulty distribution aligned with the structure of the person construct map, and word problems required higher cognitive abilities than the calculation problems did. The findings, however, pointed out that more difficult items can be added to better differentiate students with different ability levels, and an item should be revised to enhance the reliability and validity of the research. We conclude that the conceptualizations of such formative assessments provide meaningful information for teachers to support learning and tailoring instruction.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability often do not engage in healthy levels of physical activity despite its many benefits. We conducted a randomized control trial to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the Step It Up program, which used supported self-management strategies, on daily step counts, health measures, and perceived quality of life for adults with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. Forty participants, ages 18 to 57, were randomly assigned to a control or intervention group. Males accounted for 70.6% of participant gender. Both groups received Fitbits and Fitbit training, and they participated in pre- and post-assessments. The intervention group participated in the Step It Up program. Participants in the intervention group had significantly higher step counts and lost more weight. Feasibility and acceptability were also high. This study provides valuable data on using a supported self-managed exercise program as well as insight into its feasibility in home settings.

This article explores turn-taking in Japanese Sign Language ( JSL) by using Baker's (1977) framework. JSL as a language is wholly unrelated to American Sign Language (ASL), but because Baker and other discourse analysts have always been concerned mostly with ASL and European sign languages, it remains to be seen if Asian sign languages such as JSL have similar discourse mechanisms at work. Baker introduces three types of regulators that manage who has the floor in ASL conversations: initiation regulators, continuation regulators, and shift regulators. The sequential analysis, which looks closely at each case of regulatory behavior as they happen in chronological order, will be used. The video analyzed consists of three fluent deaf JSL users recorded on a virtual platform. While Baker's turn-taking system holds water for the most part, there are some crucial differences that deserve further examination. As the recording was done remotely rather than in person, a turn-taking mechanism not made explicit by Baker has been observed, and an addition to the sign language turn-taking process is put forward.

The effects of transcription skills, comprising both spelling and handwriting fluency, on sentence writing among young Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners were evaluated and compared to those of reading and oral language using a one-year longitudinal study design. Various writing models postulated that transcription skills are essential in early writing development; however, studies have not yet clarified its role in CSL writing alongside other important writing component skills such as reading and oral skills. Participants included 204 primary-school-level CSL learners. These learners were evaluated in copying, spelling, character reading, oral language skills, and sentence writing at the end of the Grades 4 and 5 school year. Regression and path analysis evaluated the direct and indirect effects of the component skills on sentence writing. The results showed that, while controlling for non-verbal reasoning, (1) Time-1 transcription skills predicted sentence writing concurrently and longitudinally, but their influences at Time 2 diminished considerably for the substantial autoregressive effect of writing; (2) character reading predicted sentence writing both at Times 1 and 2, and contributed to spelling development; and (3) compared with transcription and reading, oral language skills weakly influenced writing, which was mediated largely by character reading. The findings suggest that transcription skills are vital constituents of CSL sentence writing and that reading plays a primary role in the reading-writing relationship in this stage.

This study characterizes the subcortical auditory brainstem response (speech-ABR) and cortical auditory processing (P1 and Mismatch Negativity; MMN) to speech sounds and their relationship to autistic traits and sensory features within the same group of autistic children (n = 10) matched on age and non-verbal IQ to their typically developing (TD) peers (n = 21). No speech-ABR differences were noted, but autistic individuals had larger P1 and faster MMN responses. Correlations revealed that larger P1 amplitudes and MMN responses were associated with greater autistic traits and more sensory features. These findings highlight the complexity of the auditory system and its relationships to behaviours in autism, while also emphasizing the importance of measurement and developmental matching.

Students' understanding of the meaning of the equal sign develops slowly over the primary grades. In addition to updating their representations of equations to recognize that the equal sign represents an equivalence relation rather than signaling an operation, students need to move beyond full computation to efficiently solve equivalence problems. In this study, we examined the longitudinal relation between arithmetic and equivalence for students who were capable of accurately solving arithmetic problems in different formats. Chinese students (N = 612; M[subscript age] = 9.0 years in Grade 3, 57% boys) completed measures of arithmetic fluency and equivalence fluency in Grade 3 and again in Grade 4. They also completed a non-verbal reasoning task in Grade 3. We tested a cross-lagged structural equation model to examine the reciprocal relations between arithmetic and equivalence fluency. We found reciprocal relations between the development of arithmetic and equivalence fluency from Grades 3 to 4, with a greater influence of arithmetic on the development of equivalence than the reverse. Furthermore, non-verbal reasoning predicted the development of equivalence, but not the development of arithmetic. Based on our findings, we conclude that for Chinese students with prior basic understanding of equivalence, flexible access to arithmetic facts supports their development of equivalence fluency.

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from seven UK labs, enabling the characterisation of cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental trajectories of verbal and non-verbal development in the largest sample of individuals with WS to-date. In Study 1, we report cross-sectional data between N = 102 and N = 209 children and adults with WS on measures of verbal and non-verbal ability. In Study 2, we report longitudinal data from N = 17 to N = 54 children and adults with WS who had been tested on at least three timepoints on these measures. Data support the WS characteristic cognitive profile of stronger verbal than non-verbal ability, and shallow developmental progression for both domains. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data demonstrate steeper rates of development in the child participants than the adolescent and adults in our sample. Cross-sectional data indicate steeper development in verbal than non-verbal ability, and that individual differences in the discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability are largely accounted for by level of intellectual functioning. A diverging developmental discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability, whilst marginal, is not mirrored statistically in the longitudinal data. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data are discussed with reference to validating cross-sectional developmental patterns using longitudinal data and the importance of individual differences in understanding developmental progression.

Skilled adult readers are those who read fluently, but multilingual learners do not always exhibit the same reading proficiency in the different languages they know. Among the variables that influence learners' silent reading fluency, a research trend points to musical aptitude as an individual ability that affects language learners' reading competency. Common auditory features of reading and musical skills have been observed in studies with children and adolescents, but studies involving multilingual adults learning an additional language are scarce. This study aims to observe the potential relationship of multilingual learners' musical aptitude and their silent reading fluency in all the languages the learners know and in Spanish, an additional language they are learning as adults. 157 Flemish university students were tested in Dutch, French, English, and Spanish. Learners' sociocultural data , their musical aptitude and their silent contextual word reading fluency in all languages were tested. In addition, a reading comprehension test in L4 (Spanish) was administered. The statistical results indicate a significant correlation between their musical aptitude and their L1, L2, L3 silent reading fluency, but not with L4 (Spanish).

"Purpose:" ASD is associated with relative strengths in the visuospatial domain but varying abilities in the linguistic domain. Previous studies suggest parallels between spatial language and spatial cognition in older autistic individuals, but no research to date has examined this relationship in young autistic children. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the connection between children's spatial language production and nonverbal spatial cognition over time. We also examined two potential predictors of spatial language observed in previous literature, ASD symptom severity and parent spatial language input. "Methods:" In past work investigating spatial language in NT children of the same age, parent-child interactions have been a primary context for study. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed transcripts of dyadic naturalistic play interactions between autistic children and their parents over three visits from age 30 to 66 months and administered standardized cognitive and ASD diagnostic assessments at each visit. "Results:" Spatial language production was related to nonverbal spatial cognition even when accounting for overall language production, though the strength of that relationship decreased over time. Parent spatial input (but not ASD severity) significantly predicted children's spatial language production over and above the effect of overall language production. "Conclusion:" Spatial language is associated with spatial cognition in young autistic children and appears to reflect the interaction of overall linguistic skills and nonverbal spatial cognitive ability regardless of autism severity. Parent-mediated interventions may be a promising context for increasing spatial language in autistic preschoolers.

Although extensive research has focused on the perceptual abilities of second language (L2) learners, a significant gap persists in understanding how cognitive functions like phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and nonverbal intelligence (IQ) impact L2 speech perception. This study sets out to investigate the discrimination of L2 English monophthongal vowel contrasts and to assess the effect of PSTM and nonverbal IQ on L2 speech perception. The participants consisted of adult monolingually-raised Greek speakers, who completed an AX discrimination test, a digit span test, and a nonverbal intelligence test. A control group of English speakers also completed the AX test. Data were analyzed using Bayesian regression models. The results revealed that Greek speakers exhibited below chance discrimination for the majority of L2 vowel contrasts, consistently underperforming in comparison to the control group. Intriguingly, the study did not provide substantial evidence in favor of more accurate discrimination of L2 contrasts by Greek participants with high PSTM compared to those with low PSTM. However, the study yielded compelling evidence indicating that Greek participants with higher IQ demonstrated superior accuracy in discriminating most L2 contrasts compared to their lower IQ counterparts. The limited influence of PSTM on speech perception suggests the need for further exploration, considering the potential impact of test methodologies and the intricate interplay of other confounding factors. Furthermore, the study uncovers a noteworthy relationship between nonverbal IQ and L2 speech perception, likely linked with the association of high IQ with enhanced attentional capacities, information processing abilities, and learning skills--all of which are pivotal for accurate speech perception.

Background: Spelling is a prevalent strategy to teach children to read. However, research on the mechanism underlying the contribution of spelling to reading comprehension in Chinese children is limited. Methods: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal associations between spelling and reading comprehension and further test the mediating role of word reading fluency with 127 Chinese children (M[subscript age] = 76.01 months). Children were required to perform the tasks of nonverbal intelligence, expressive vocabulary, morphological awareness, phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, spelling, word reading fluency and reading comprehension at Grade 1. Then, reading comprehension was measured again 1 year later at Grade 2. The concurrent and longitudinal mediation models were fitted to the data by structural equation modelling. Results: The results showed that spelling was related to reading comprehension concurrently, and it predicted reading comprehension 1 year later while controlling for nonverbal intelligence, age, expressive vocabulary, metalinguistic awareness and the autoregressive effect of reading comprehension. Moreover, word reading fluency played mediating roles in the influence of spelling on reading comprehension in the concurrent and longitudinal models. Conclusions: These findings provided evidence that spelling is an important factor of reading comprehension and shed light on the nature of this association, highlighting the role of word reading fluency in linking spelling and Chinese children's reading comprehension.

Background: Children's numerical and arithmetic skills differ greatly already at an early age. Although research focusing on accounting for these large individual differences clearly demonstrates that mathematical performance draws upon several cognitive abilities, our knowledge concerning key abilities underlying mathematical skill development is still limited. Aims: First, to identify key cognitive abilities contributing to children's development of early arithmetic skills. Second, to examine the extent to which early arithmetic performance and early arithmetic development rely on different or similar constellations of domain-specific number abilities and domain-general cognitive abilities. Sample: In all, 134 Swedish children (M[subscript age] = 6 years and 4 months, SD = 3 months, 74 boys) participated in this study. Method: Verbal and non-verbal logical reasoning, non-symbolic number comparison, counting knowledge, spatial processing, verbal working memory and arithmetic were assessed. Twelve months later, arithmetic skills were reassessed. A latent change score model was computed to determine whether any of the abilities accounted for variations in arithmetic development. Results: Arithmetic performance was supported by counting knowledge, verbal and non-verbal logical reasoning and spatial processing. Arithmetic skill development was only supported by spatial processing. Conclusions: Results show that young children's early arithmetic performance and arithmetic development are supported by different cognitive processes. The findings regarding performance supported Fuchs et al.'s model ("Dev Psychol, 46," 2010b, 1731) but the developmental findings did not. The developmental findings align partially to Geary et al.'s ("J Educ Psychol, 109," 2017, 680) hypothesis stating that young children's early arithmetic development is more dependent on general cognitive abilities than number abilities.

Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) has been widely recognized as a reliable predictor of reading proficiency. Although RAN represents the speed of cognitive processing, there are few studies that have addressed RAN as a cognitive process in its own right Furthermore, RAN performance of ELL (English Language Learners) has been less frequently investigated. We have two parts to this study. First, we examine the factor structure of an enlarged composite measure of speed measure by adding four additional tests comprising color naming, and two number naming tasks to the traditional RAN of digit and letter naming. In the second part, we determine the association of Speed with broad cognitive processes comprising Executive Functions, and Information processing. Participants were students in English medium schools in India. They were divided into two age groups (8-14 and 15-20) for statistical analyses of six Speed measures Results show a strong unitary speed factor in the 8 to 14 age group. In contrast, in the 15 to 20 group RAN tests comprising digits and letters showed a very small loading on the same factor. Addressing the second objective, which is the impact of speed on various cognitive tasks, the results show that response speed has a minimal influence on Nonverbal Configurations (simultaneous) tasks, and tasks of executive functions comprising Working Memory, and Visual-Spatial Processing. These tests will enable us to isolate specific cognitive deficiencies from response speed. In a re-examination of the relation between Reading & RAN-type tests, we could suggest that serial articulation is the common and essential feature that binds rapid naming tasks and reading fluency.

The purpose of the current study was to examine whether morphological awareness measured before children are taught to read (Kindergarten in Israel) predicts reading accuracy and fluency in the middle of first grade, at the very beginning of the process of learning to read pointed Hebrew -- a highly transparent orthography, and whether this contribution remains after controlling for phonemic awareness. In a longitudinal design, 680 Hebrew-speaking children were administered morphological and phonemic awareness measures at the end of the preschool year (before they were taught to read) then followed up into first grade when reading was tested in mid-year. The results indicated that even at this early point in learning to read a transparent orthography, preschool morphological awareness contributes significantly to both reading accuracy and reading fluency, even after partialling out age, non-verbal general ability, and phonemic awareness. The current results extend the Functional Opacity argument (Share, 2008) which proposes that at the initial stages of reading acquisition, when children still have incomplete mastery of some aspects of the spelling-sound system, non-phonological sources of information about word identity such as morphology can assist in the decoding process. The practical implications of these results with regard to early reading instruction are discussed.

Adaptive functioning of autistic children is traditionally measured through informant-report, often from parents. Behaviour varies across settings though, and context-specific reports should be considered. Limited and inconsistent results show low parent-education professional concordance, but no research has yet explored item level response variation. We investigated Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales-II concordance using 233 lower ability autistic children from the PACT-G sample. Domain and item level agreement was low, but better on objectively measured behaviours. Higher child nonverbal ability improved concordance. Where disagreements occurred, education professionals identified emergent skills more and parents were more likely to rate present/absent. Parents and education professionals view the adaptive abilities of autistic children differently and both should be considered when developing personalised interventions and support.

We inquired whether introducing variability into a word-learning task would facilitate, inhibit, or have a neutral effect on adults' speech production and language learning. Twenty young adults from the U.S. Midwest with typical development participated. They repeated four novel words 10 times sequentially (blocked practice) and another four novel words 10 times in a mixed order (varied practice). We compared participants' speech production and language learning in the blocked practice and varied practice conditions. We also repeated the language-learning probes after a period of consolidation. In comparison with the blocked practice condition, a varied practice schedule did not improve speech production, short-term language learning, or long-term language learning. Introducing variability into this word-learning task had a neutral effect on young adults' speech production and language learning. Further research is necessary to determine how to apply these concepts to teaching word-learning strategies to children or adults with typical or atypical development.

Interest in identifying factors influencing educational success is growing. It is often observed that a group of students share the same external variables (school environment) yet have different results, which states that individual variables have more impact on the determination of academic performance. Therefore, the present study aimed to substantiate this fact by investigating the association between non-verbal fluid intelligence and academic performance in a population of schoolchildren in Eastern Morocco. The investigation was a cross-sectional study based on a self-administered questionnaire. Items included the standard Raven's progressive matrices. Students' grades were collected from the administrative offices of the visited schools. Significant and positive correlations between the non-verbal intelligence scores and the school results were found: for the general average, the correlation was 0.574; for the school subject French, the correlation coefficient was 0.475; and for mathematics, we found a relatively low coefficient of 0.381. Non-verbal fluid intelligence significantly and positively predicted academic performance ([beta] = 0.574, p = 0.000). These results call for policymakers to implement the use of intelligence tests with school directors and teachers as a diagnostic tool to guide support efforts for low-achieving children and even to create pilot classes for the best-performing students.

What is the foundational knowledge that children rely on to provide meaning as they construct an exact symbolic number system? People and animals can quickly and accurately distinguish small exact quantities (i.e., 1 to 3). One possibility is that children's ability to map small quantities to spoken number words supports their developing exact number system. To test this hypothesis, it is important to have valid and reliable measures of the efficiency of quantity-number word mapping. In the present study, we explored the reliability and validity of a measure for assessing the efficiency of mapping between small quantities and number words--speeded naming of quantity. Study 1 (N = 128) with 5- and 6-year-old children and Study 2 (N = 182) with 3- and 4-year-old children show that the speeded naming of quantities is a simple and reliable measure that is correlated with individual differences in children's developing numeracy knowledge. This measure could provide a useful tool for testing comprehensive theories of how children develop their symbolic number representations.

Numerous neurological, psychological, and transfer studies confirmed the role of learning music in cognitive development and education. However, exploring the long-term impacts of early musical abilities on academic achievement has gained relatively little attention thus far. In a seven-year longitudinal study, we examined the predictive role of musical abilities in future success in school. The sample consisted of 76 Hungarian students. The independent variables were mothers' education and the tests administered to Grade-1 students, which included Raven's Progressive Matrices and tests on word reading, mathematics, and musical abilities. The dependent variable was GPA in Grade 7. All tests demonstrated adequate reliability. In the regression model with the most significant predictive role, the independent variables explained 46% of GPA in Grade 7 when taken together. We established the long-term predictive role of musical abilities in later success in school. Rhythm perception and reproduction demonstrated the most significant explanatory power (11%) of variance for GPA. Mathematics and mothers' education each explained 10% of the variance. The findings shed light on the positive impacts that early musical training may play in later academic achievement, even in the long run.

The longitudinal changes of the average grades in four study semesters before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning are presented in the current study. 11th grade students' (n=586; age M=17.38, SD=0.53) average grades were assessed, as well as their verbal and non-verbal reasoning abilities, and self-evaluations of problem-solving and self-management skills. The main findings of the study are: (1) There is a general pattern for the grades to increase during the four semesters from the autumn 2019 to the spring 2021; (2) The general tendency of changes in the grades is similar to various students' groups based on their level of skills; (3) Higher level of students' skills and cognitive abilities determined that students' grades were higher and were more likely to increase during the "second wave of the pandemic", compared to the middle and low-level skill groups. Results of the current study show a tendency for the average grades to increase during the pandemic and distance learning, however, there are group differences in the findings, relating the grade level to the individual level of students' skills and abilities.

This study investigated which domain-specific and domain-general skills measured at grade 1 predict mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) status at grade 3. We used different cut-off criteria and measures of mathematics performance for defining the MLD status. Norwegian children's (N = 206) numeracy, cognitive, and language skills were measured at grade 1 and arithmetic fluency and curriculum-based mathematics (CBM) at grade 3. Logistic regression analyses showed that symbolic numerical magnitude processing, verbal counting, and rapid automatized naming predicted MLD25 status (performance [less than or equal to] 25th percentile) based on arithmetic fluency, whereas verbal counting skills and nonverbal reasoning predicted the status based on CBM. The same predictors were found for MLD10 status (performance [less than or equal to] 10th percentile), and in addition, rapid automatized naming also predicted the status based on CBM. Only symbolic numerical magnitude processing and verbal counting predicted LOW status (performance between 11-25th percentile) based on arithmetic fluency, whereas nonverbal reasoning and working memory predicted LOW status based on CBM. Different cut-off scores and mathematics measures used for the definition of MLD status are important to acknowledge, as these seem to lead to relatively significant variation in which students are identified as having MLD and which factors contribute to the MLD status.

This article synthesizes the roles of morphology in English reading acquisition and reports a meta-analytic structural equation modeling study (k = 107, N = 21,818) that tested the effects of morphological awareness (MA) on reading comprehension in school-aged readers. Moderator analysis was conducted through a set of subgroup comparisons based on readers' language status (monolingual vs. bilingual), age/grade (lower elementary, upper elementary, vs. middle/high school), and MA task modality (spoken vs. written). MA had significant indirect effects on reading comprehension via both word reading and vocabulary knowledge in the full sample as well as all subgroups. Its direct effect on reading comprehension, controlling for nonverbal reasoning, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge, was also significant in all subgroups except the lower elementary subgroup. Multi-group path analyses showed no significant subgroup difference in the magnitude of the direct effect of MA on reading comprehension for any moderator. However, two notable findings surfaced on the indirect effects of MA on reading comprehension: bilingual readers showed a smaller indirect effect of MA via word reading than did monolinguals; older readers showed a stronger indirect effect via vocabulary knowledge than did younger readers, whereas a converse pattern was found for the indirect effect via word reading. We conclude by pointing out the robust contribution of morphology to English reading comprehension and suggesting a strong meaning focus in morphological instruction, especially for bilingual and older school-aged readers.

Intellectual impairments in preschoolers have been widely studied. A regularity that emerges is that children's intellectual impairments have an important impact on later adjustments in life. However, few studies have looked at the intellectual profiles of young psychiatric outpatients. This study aimed to describe the intelligence profile of preschoolers referred to psychiatry for various cognitive and behavioral problems in terms of verbal, nonverbal, and full-scale IQ and to examine their association with diagnoses. Three hundred four clinical records from young children aged under 7 years and 3 months who consulted at an outpatient psychiatric clinic and who had one intellectual assessment with a Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence were reviewed. Verbal IQ (VIQ), Nonverbal IQ (NVIQ), and Full-scale IQ (FSIQ) were extracted. Hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward's method was employed to organize data into groups. The children had, on average, a FSIQ of 81, which is significantly lower than that expected in the general population. Four clusters were identified by the hierarchical clusters analysis. Three were characterized by low, average, and high intellectual ability. The last cluster was characterized by a verbal deficit. Findings also revealed that children's diagnoses were not related to any specific cluster, except for children with an intellectual disability with, as expected, low abilities. Children referred to an intellectual assessment in an early childhood mental health clinic showed an altered intellectual development, more specifically in the verbal domain.

Children's idiom comprehension is an important aspect of language development. Idioms have both literal and figurative meanings, and there are often great differences between literal meaning and figurative meaning, which brings great difficulties to children's accurate understanding of idioms. As a kind of underlying language ability, metalinguistic awareness can promote the understanding of idioms. This study adopted a two-year three-wave cross-lag design to investigate the developmental relationship between children's compounding awareness and idiom comprehension and its mechanism of action. A total of 132 Chinese children in grades 3 participated in a series of tests at three-time points. After controlling the homophone awareness, homograph awareness, phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, rapid automatic naming, and non-verbal IQ, the following results were obtained: (1) children's compounding awareness in grade 4 had a significant predictive effect on the level of idiom comprehension in grade 5; (2) children's idiom comprehension level could predict the development of compounding awareness from grade 3 to grade 4 and from grade 4 to grade 5; (3) there was a bidirectional longitudinal relationship between children's compounding awareness and idiom comprehension from grade 4 to grade 5. The current research results emphasize the important role of compounding awareness in idiom comprehension, which brings enlightenment for future idiom teaching.

Purpose: Verbal fluency tasks assess the ability to quickly and efficiently retrieve words from the mental lexicon by requiring subjects to rapidly generate words within a phonological or semantic category. This study investigated differences between cochlear implant users and normal-hearing peers in the clustering and time course of word retrieval during phonological and semantic verbal fluency tasks. Method: Twenty-eight children and adolescents (aged 9--17 years) with cochlear implants and 33 normal-hearing peers completed measures of verbal fluency, nonverbal intelligence, speech perception, and verbal short-term/working memory. Phonological and semantic verbal fluency tests were scored for total words generated, words generated in each 10-s interval of the 1-min task, latency to first word generated, number of word clusters, average cluster size, and number of word/cluster switches. Results: Children and adolescents with cochlear implants generated fewer words than normal-hearing peers throughout the entire 60-s time interval of the phonological and semantic fluency tasks. Cochlear implant users also had slower start latency times and produced fewer clusters and switches than normal-hearing peers during the phonological fluency task. Speech perception and verbal working memory scores were more strongly associated with verbal fluency scores in children and adolescents with cochlear implants than in normal-hearing peers. Conclusions: Cochlear implant users show poorer phonological and semantic verbal fluency than normal-hearing peers, and their verbal fluency is significantly associated with speech perception and verbal working memory. These findings suggest deficits in fluent retrieval of phonological and semantic information from long-term lexical memory in cochlear implant users.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore when and how Mandarin-speaking children use contextual cues to normalize speech variability in perceiving lexical tones. Two different cognitive mechanisms underlying speech normalization (lower level acoustic normalization and higher level acoustic-phonemic normalization) were investigated through the lexical tone identification task in nonspeech contexts and speech contexts, respectively. Besides, another aim of this study was to reveal how domain-general cognitive abilities contribute to the development of the speech normalization process. Method: In this study, 94 five- to eight-year-old Mandarin-speaking children (50 boys, 44 girls) and 24 young adults (14 men, 10 women) were asked to identify ambiguous Mandarin high-level and mid-rising tones in either speech or nonspeech contexts. Furthermore, in this study, we tested participants' pitch sensitivity through a nonlinguistic pitch discrimination task and their working memory using the digit span task. Results: Higher level acoustic-phonemic normalization of lexical tones emerged at the age of 6 years and was relatively stable thereafter. However, lower level acoustic normalization was less stable across different ages. Neither pitch sensitivity nor working memory affected children's lexical tone normalization. Conclusions: Mandarin-speaking children above 6 years of age successfully achieved constancy in lexical tone normalization based on speech contextual cues. The perceptual normalization of lexical tones was not affected by pitch sensitivity and working memory capacity.

In Canada, approximately 12% of school-aged children are enrolled in French Immersion (FI), with some provinces estimating close to 30%. FI programs are intended to produce bilingual individuals who can functionally communicate in both of Canada's official languages. Yet, we are currently underinformed as to how to identify children with French word reading difficulties in such programs. Within this context, and in the interests of informing early identification of second language reading challenges, we examined early English predictors of French word reading difficulties. We also examined potential overlap of these difficulties as well as the stability of these difficulties over time. A total of 108 children in FI participated, completing measures of English nonverbal intelligence, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and receptive vocabulary in kindergarten, as well as English and French word reading in grades 1, 2, and 3. Logistic regressions revealed that kindergarten English phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) distinguished between good and poor French word readers in grade 3, with adequate sensitivity and specificity. These results suggest that English phonological awareness and RAN may be appropriate early skills to identify children at risk of word reading challenges in bilingual programs. Chi-square analyses demonstrated significant overlap of English and French word reading challenges in grades 1, 2, and 3, highlighting the possibility that English and French word reading difficulties do not exist independently. Finally, chi-square analyses revealed retrospectively stable word reading difficulties in English and French. Interestingly, prospective stability was stronger for French than English word reading challenges. Overall, our results underscore the importance of considering the specific nature of word reading difficulties in bilingual readers.

Purpose: Sign language, like spoken language, incorporates phonological and articulatory (or motor) processing components. Thus, the learning of novel signs, like novel spoken word forms, may be problematic for children with developmental language disorder (DLD). In the present work, we hypothesize that phonological and articulatory deficits in novel sign repetition and learning would differentiate preschool-age children with DLD from their typical peers. Method: Children with DLD (n = 34; aged 4-5 years) and their age-matched typical peers (n = 21) participated. Children were exposed to four novel signs, all iconic, but only two linked to a visual referent. Children imitatively produced these novel signs multiple times. We obtained measures of phonological accuracy and articulatory motion stability as well as of learning of the associated visual referent. Results: Children with DLD showed an increased number of phonological feature (i.e., handshape, path, and orientation of the hands) errors when compared with their typical peers. While articulatory variability did not overall differentiate children with DLD from typical peers, children with DLD showed instability in one novel sign that obligated bimanual oppositional movement. Semantic aspects of novel sign learning were unaffected in children with DLD. Conclusions: Deficits that have been documented in phonological organization of spoken words in children with DLD are also evident in the manual domain. Analyses of hand motion variability suggest that children with DLD do not show a generalized motor deficit, but one that is restricted to the implementation of coordinated and sequential hand motion.

Understanding of the complement principle has been proposed as closely related to computational skills, but few studies have investigated their interrelations. The present longitudinal study attempted to clarify the picture by examining their potential cross-lagged relation. Fourth graders (n = 221) in Hong Kong received 3 cognitive assessments at intervals of 6 months, consisting of multiple measures of complement understanding, a nonverbal intelligence test, and a computational skills measure. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed that complement understanding significantly predicted future computational skills, but the reciprocal prediction was nonsignificant. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the close relation between complement understanding and computational skills and call for future endeavors to examine the interrelations between computational skills and understanding of other arithmetic principles.

In this study, we investigated the direct and indirect associations of different cognitive-linguistic skills and Chinese reading comprehension in Hong Kong kindergarteners. We assessed 179 children's nonverbal IQ, cognitive-linguistic skills, word reading, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Results showed significant correlations between all variables and reading comprehension. Further path analysis results indicated that rapid automatized naming, orthographic knowledge, and morphological awareness contributed to reading comprehension via word reading. Nonverbal IQ and vocabulary knowledge were associated with reading comprehension through listening comprehension. Beyond that, nonverbal IQ and morphological awareness still contributed directly to reading comprehension. Overall, our findings elucidated the importance of nonverbal IQ and cognitive-linguistic skills within the framework of the simple view of reading in Chinese and highlighted the unique roles of nonverbal IQ and meaning-related skills in Chinese reading comprehension, which contributed to understanding the simple view of reading in Chinese.

Background: In countries with German as an official language, children with German as a second language perform overall worse in school than their German native speaking peers. This particularly affects written language skills, which require advanced language knowledge. The reasons are manifold, but one is prominent, namely poor vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary, however, consists not only of the number of known words but also of a complex and hitherto under-researched lexico-semantic framework, which is referred to as vocabulary depth. Method: In the present study, a sample of 373 children (322 German native speakers and 51 with German as a second language) was examined longitudinally in Grade 2 and 3 for their reading comprehension and vocabulary breadth and depth. Vocabulary depth was defined as relational and semantic word knowledge. Latent change score models on vocabulary breadth and depth development including reading precursor skills, non-verbal intelligence and SES were conducted. Results: The children with German as a second language scored lower than the native German speakers in reading and vocabulary tests, with the difference in vocabulary depth being more pronounced than in vocabulary breadth. Importantly, the differences did not tend to diminish over time, which could have been expected. The differences in reading comprehension can be accounted for mainly by the variations in vocabulary, especially in vocabulary depth. Conclusions: These findings emphasise the importance of including not only vocabulary breadth but also vocabulary depth in the context of reading research on children who do not speak the majority language.

Previous research has identified possible sex-based differences in restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, this finding is mixed, particularly among preschool-aged children. We investigated the presence of sex-based differences in parent-rated ASD symptomatology, using the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS). Participants consisted of a large (n = 481,100 female), clinically-referred sample of preschoolers (ages 2-5) diagnosed with ASD (NVIQ: M = 67.11, SD = 21.79). Females had less severe symptoms on the Total, Unusual Behaviors, DSM-5, and Stereotypy scales on the ASRS. The effects were small-to-medium, but statistically significant. There was evidence of differential relationships between nonverbal IQ and ASRS scores among males and females. This study provides additional evidence of sex-based differences in ASD symptoms present from an early age.

Input is considered one of the most important factors in the acquisition of lexical and grammatical skills. Input has been found to interact with other factors, such as learner cognitive skills and the circumstances where language is heard. Language learning itself has sometimes been found to enhance cognitive skills. Indeed, intensive contact with another language has been found to sometimes boost cognitive skills, even in intensive instructed settings, such as immersion programs (bilingual advantage hypothesis). In this paper, we report a cross-sectional study to assess grammar learning of 79 fourth grade German students learning L2 English in two immersion schools. Verbal teacher input was assessed using the Teacher Input Observation Scheme (TIOS, Items 14-25), and the learners' L2 grammar comprehension was tested with the ELIAS Grammar Test II. Cognitive skills, including phonological awareness, working memory, and non-verbal intelligence, were determined using standardized assessment procedures. The results show that verbal input quantity and quality correlated significantly with the learners' L2 grammar comprehension. None of the cognitive skills moderated the effect of input on grammar comprehension but all predicted it independently. The combination of L2 input and phonological awareness was found to be the most robust predictor of L2 grammar comprehension.

Purpose: For many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), postsecondary outcomes are poor. This may be due to insufficient academic supports, particularly with regard to literacy skills, during high school. More information is needed about skill profiles so that we can better differentiate support for students with varying social, communication, cognitive, and academic proficiency levels. This study was designed to (a) identify unique literacy profiles of high school students with ASD, (b) assess profile stability over time, (c) identify predictors of profile membership, and (d) analyze stakeholder reports of required school support intensity. Method: Participants were a diverse sample of high school students with ASD, 14-21 years old (N = 544), their parents, and their teachers who participated in a randomized controlled trial of a comprehensive treatment model for high school students with ASD. Standardized measures were administered to assess nonverbal IQ, autism symptomatology, language/adaptive communication, reading comprehension, academic knowledge, and parent/teacher report of school support needs intensity. Latent transition analysis was conducted to examine sample heterogeneity and to explore the stability of the profiles. Associations between profiles and reports of support intensity were examined. Results: Four literacy profiles were identified that were stable over 2 years: Emergent Literacy/Comprehensive Support, Low Literacy/Intensive Support, Average Literacy/ Moderate Support, and Average Literacy/Limited Support. Parent and teacher reports of school support intensity generally aligned with the profiles. Conclusions: These analyses provide insight into the diverse literacy and support needs in ASD. Implications for practice and the role of speech-language pathologists in assessment and intervention are discussed.

The recent introduction of inclusive schooling settings in France has allowed children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as young as 3 years to benefit from teaching adapted to their special needs, while sharing the same educational environment as their typical peers. The present study examined (1) whether children with ASD attending an inclusive unit exhibit significant gains in cognitive and communicative skills, and (2) whether chronological age, autistic symptoms, sensory processing, language abilities, and nonverbal intellectual functioning are associated with these gains. Outcome measures, repeated every 8 months during two years included standardized assessments of cognitive and communicative development. Results indicated that children make significant progresses both in cognitive and communicative domain, although the pace of development varied from one child to another. Nonverbal intellectual functioning, chronological age and language abilities are significantly correlated with gains made by children in two years. The implications of these encouraging initial results and their limitations are discussed from the perspective of ensuring the best educational opportunities and wellbeing of children with ASD in inclusive early school settings.

The presented study focuses on children aged from 5 to 6.5 who attend Czech kindergartens. Its purpose is to explore a potential positive impact of an educational game application on malleability of children's spatial skills through the application usage. The research was conducted as a pedagogical experiment in which the pre-test and post-test phases were carried out with the Mosaics, Puzzles and Patterns subtests of the SON-R 2.5-7 test battery, which is suitable for measuring general non-verbal intelligence in children aged 2.5-7. The game application which was created in the initial phase of the research was applied in the treatment phase to the experimental group. The results showed a statistically significant difference in the preschool children's spatial ability test scores in favour of the experimental group and confirmed statistically significant benefits of the game application in each of the measured skills. The results have clearly shown that supporting the development of spatial skills through game applications is more effective than a mere use of toys and activities recommended in the current educational guidelines for pre-school children elaborated by the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic.

Current models of the affinity between syntax and vocabulary are complex and recognize the contribution of bootstrapping and computational processes. To date, the mutual facilitation between these two constructs over time has not been studied in second language (L2) school children. The present study investigated longitudinally the direction and strength of the associations between syntactic and vocabulary skills in English Language Learners (ELLs; N = 409, 204 females, M age = 78 months, low socioeconomic status backgrounds) and their monolingual English-speaking peers (EL1; N = 157, 92 females, M age = 77 months, low socioeconomic status backgrounds). Children were assessed annually from Grade 1 to Grade 4 on a syntactic and a vocabulary task. Overall, autoregressive cross-lagged analyses indicated that early syntax predicted later vocabulary and vice versa, yet, the magnitude of prediction varied across groups. Notably, in the early stages of L2 learning, the predictive power from vocabulary to syntax was stronger than that in the opposite direction. Moreover, the predictive power from vocabulary to syntax was consistently stronger in the ELL than in the EL1 group. The results suggest that, in general, with sufficient quantity and quality of exposure to the L2, lexical and syntactic bootstrapping coexist. However, among novice young ELLs, bootstrapping is stronger from vocabulary to syntax than the other way around. Results underscore the importance of studying the relations between vocabulary and syntax longitudinally, and caution about an injudicious application of L1-based models to young L2 children's language development.

Background: Despite accumulated evidence that language development depends on basic cognitive processes, the balance in contributions of verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills to language abilities is still underexplored. Little is known about which cognitive measures best predict the degree of severity in children with language disorder (LD). Aims: To examine the association between verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities with language abilities in typically developing and language impaired 8-year-old children, as well as which cognitive abilities are most effective in distinguishing LD severity levels. Methods & Procedures: Children (N = 509) from the Language-8 Study, which oversampled probable cases of children with LD from a population-based cohort in Norway, were assessed at 8 years. Language skills were assessed using the Norwegian Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals--4 (CELF-4). Children's verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities were assessed via standardized cognitive measures. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was first conducted to uncover the underlying factor structure of the cognitive variables. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, we then examined to what extent the non-verbal cognition factor explained language abilities above and beyond verbal cognition factors. Lastly, multinomial logistic regression was used to examine which cognitive measures best predicted the degree of severity in the children with LD. Outcomes & Results: The EFA resulted in three factors (Verbal Cognition, Processing Speed and Memory, and Non-Verbal Cognition). The hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that all three cognitive factors contributed significantly to individual variation in language abilities. Non-Verbal Cognition explained 5.4% variance in language abilities above and beyond that accounted for by Verbal Cognition and Processing Speed and Memory. Results from the multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that cognitive subtests, including Familiar Sequences, WASI Vocabulary and WASI Similarities, not only distinguished LD from typically developing children, but were also efficient in distinguishing severity of LD symptoms. Conclusions & Implications: This study confirms concurrent links between language and non-verbal cognitive skills above and beyond the contribution of verbal cognitive skills. The results provide further evidence that children with LD experience both language and cognitive problems in mid-childhood. Our findings suggest implications for LD intervention and diagnosis. The findings support the importance of measuring both verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills when making an LD diagnosis, and point to the potential of targeting underlying cognitive skills as one strategy to support language abilities.

There is currently much controversy surrounding the cognitive advantages that are often associated with bilingualism, especially regarding the so-called executive control advantage. Recently, it has been suggested that bilingualism emerging from immersion education may not lead to an advantage in executive control, but rather to an improvement specifically at the level of attentional abilities. In order to test this hypothesis, the current large sample study involving over 500 participants investigated whether foreign-language immersion education can be associated with an advantage in attentional functions. We recruited 12-year-old children and 18-year-old adolescents enrolled in immersion education in French-speaking Belgium for at least 6 years. They were compared to non-immersed children and adolescents on tasks assessing auditory sustained attention, auditory and visual selective attention and divided attention. Several control variables such as nonverbal intelligence, socioeconomic status and other potentially relevant background variables were also considered. The results indicate no measurable difference between the immersed and the non-immersed participants, for none of the examined attentional abilities. These findings are discussed in the light of the cognitive implications of becoming bilingual through a formal education experience.

Visual, as compared to verbal, tasks are often assumed to be easier for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but is this true for story comprehension? This study evaluated story comprehension monitoring across visual, listening, and written modalities and assessed predictors in two closely matched groups (age, socioeconomic status, language, nonverbal cognition, and word reading) of children and adolescents (8-14 years) with ASD (n = 20) and typical development (typically developing [TD]; n = 20). The results of mixed-effects models indicated that story comprehension monitoring was low overall, and performance was comparable across visual, listening, and written modalities for participants with ASD. Age, vocabulary, nonverbal working memory, response and distractor inhibition, and social communication significantly predicted comprehension monitoring.

Research Findings: The study investigated whether preschool code-related home literacy experiences had direct associations with regular and irregular word reading in the first year of primary school as well as exploring whether there were indirect associations between these experiences and later word reading via children's language skills or inhibitory control. The parents of 274 preschool children completed a home learning questionnaire at time 1 (M[subscript age] = 3:11). At time 2, the children completed phonological awareness, vocabulary, inhibitory control and nonverbal reasoning assessments (M[subscript age] = 4:3) and at time 3 a word reading assessment (M[subscript age] = 5:3). Letter-sound interactions (a code-related home literacy index that included discussions about letter-sound associations) bore significant associations with children's word reading, whereas letter activities (a code-related index that was less focussed on letter-sound links) did not. Path analyses indicated that letter-sound interactions directly predicted regular word reading and predicted regular and irregular word reading indirectly via children's phonological awareness. These findings highlight that different aspects of code-related home literacy experiences are differentially associated with later word reading skills. Practice and Policy: The findings suggest that parents' integration of interactive, age-appropriate discussions that focus on letter-sound associations into children's everyday experiences may support emerging word decoding skills.