Learning and Overnight Retention in Declarative Memory in Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

We examined learning and retention in nonverbal and verbal declarative memory in Hungarian children with (n = 21) and without (n = 21) SLI. Recognition memory was tested both 10 minutes and one day after encoding. On nonverbal items, only the children with SLI improved overnight, with no resulting group differences in performance. In the verbal domain, the children with SLI consistently showed worse performance than the typically-developing children, but the two groups showed similar overnight changes. The findings suggest the possibility of spared or even enhanced declarative memory consolidation in SLI.

Fig 1. Example stimuli from the nonverbal subtask (real and made-up objects) and the verbal subtask (real and made-up words).

Fig 2. Nonverbal subtask performance by Group (SLI vs. TD) and Delay (10 minutes/Recognition vs. 24 hours/Retention), showing mean d’ scores and standard errors.

Fig 3. Nonverbal subtask performance by Group (SLI vs. TD) and Real/Novel, showing mean d’ scores and standard errors.

Fig 4. Verbal subtask performance by Delay (10 minutes/Recognition vs. 24 hours/Retention) and Real/Novel, showing mean d’ scores and standard errors.