paul yoder | Vanderbilt University (original) (raw)

Papers by paul yoder

For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the ability to use speech to communicate by age... more For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the ability to use speech to communicate by age 6 predicts a number of desirable outcomes in adulthood, including employment, social relationships, and behavioral health. We conducted this study to examine the utility of a novel measure – child vocal contingency – to predict spoken language in children with ASD. Child vocal contingency refers to the degree to which children’s speech-like vocalizations are contingent on the immediately preceding event being adult speech. The automated data collection and analysis made possible by Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) lends particular value to child vocal contingency as a putative predictor variable by minimizing the resources required to use large quantities of audio data. Our hypotheses were that child vocal contingency would positively correlate with later expressive vocabulary, as well as with speech-likeness of vocalizations, response to joint attention, consonant inventory, attention to child-directed speech, and parental responsivity, all of which have been linked to language abilities in children with ASD. We analyzed daylong audio recordings obtained with LENA’s wearable recording equipment for 33 preschool-age minimally verbal participants with ASD, and used sequential analysis to quantify the contingency between adult and following child vocalizations in a way that ist independent from their base -rates. This process yielded an index of child vocal contingency for each participant. We conducted a generalizability study on the child vocal contingency index, showing that this variable reached a stable estimate within two daylong recording sessions. The audio data we analyzed included two daylong recordings per participant for 88% (n = 29) of participants; the remaining participants had only one recording available. There were no significant simple correlations between child vocal contingency and its hypothesized correlates. However, subsequent exploratory analysis revealed a significant concurrent correlation between child vocal contingency and speech-likeness of vocalizations that was moderated by motor imitation skills (R2-change = .325, p < .001). This might indicate that children with ASD who tend to both respond vocally to adult speech and imitate adult actions are able to use more speech-like vocalizations, a necessary component of communicative speech. Replication of this finding is needed.

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 1991

The present study examined whether the relative efficacy of two language teaching methods was pre... more The present study examined whether the relative efficacy of two language teaching methods was predicted by pretreatment subject characteristics. Forty handicapped preschoolers were randomly assigned to two language teaching methods (i.e., Milieu Teaching and the Communication Training Program). No main effects of treatment were found. However, seven statistical interactions between pretreatment subject characteristics and language teaching method indicated that lower-functioning children benefitted more from the Milieu method and higherfunctioning children benefitted more from the Communication Training Program. The results were discussed in relation to the extant literature reporting subject-by-language-teachingmethod interactions. The importance of replicating the present results and specific suggestions for subject selection criteria and pretreatment subject characteristics likely to interact with language teaching methods similar to those used in this study are discussed.

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, Oct 25, 2019

PubMed, Nov 1, 1994

A determination was made of whether an empirically derived interaction style improves the usefuln... more A determination was made of whether an empirically derived interaction style improves the usefulness of the language sampling and transcription in 17 children with developmental disabilities in Brown's (1973) Stages I and II. Whether the interaction style affected the diversity and complexity of the language the children produced during the samples was also examined. All subjects experienced two 20-minute interaction sessions that differed according to whether topic-continuing wh-questions were used. Results indicated that, regardless of order of exposure to the styles, children talked more often and produced proportionally more transcribable utterances. In addition, they produced a larger sample of productive vocabulary in the style using topic-continuing wh-questions. There were no style effects on vocabulary diversity or length of utterance. The importance of using interaction styles that maximize the information available from language samples of young children with disabilities was discussed.

PubMed, Jul 1, 1988

Some investigators have suggested that mothers of severely handicapped infants do not attribute c... more Some investigators have suggested that mothers of severely handicapped infants do not attribute communication to their infants' behavior as frequently as do other mothers because such infants exhibit developmentally younger and more ambiguous behavior. This premise was tested, and several factors that may influence the frequency with which mothers attribute communication to their babies' behavior were examined. Sixteen mother-handicapped infant pairs participated. Results did not support the simple notion that mothers of severely handicapped babies attribute less communication than do mothers of mildly handicapped infants. Results suggest that the mothers' attributions of communication may be influenced by a number of factors besides the actual behavior emitted by the infants, factors that may allow the mothers to interact effectively with an even severely handicapped baby.

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, Sep 1, 1990

This sequential analysis tested the relative extent to which several adult utterance types elicit... more This sequential analysis tested the relative extent to which several adult utterance types elicited conversational replies from developmentally delayed children. Eight developmentally delayed children in Brown’s stages I and II and their primary parents were the subjects. Parent-child pairs were video and audio taped during their interactions with experimenter-provided toys in a lab setting. Transcripts of the interactions were coded for adult topic relatedness and obligation level and for child topic relatedness, length, and intelligibility. The results indicated that child replies of any length were elicited by adult topic continuations more than by any other adult utterance type. If a new topic was initiated, explicit prompts for child talk elicited child replies more than other adult utterance types. Multiword child replies were most likely to be elicited by explicit prompts that continued the child’s topic. Child effects on the presence and effectiveness of adult conversational recruiting strategies were also tested.

PubMed, Sep 1, 1992

The current study is the first to test the hypotheses that children with developmental delays use... more The current study is the first to test the hypotheses that children with developmental delays use more frequent language and more diverse vocabulary in routines than in nonroutines. The 19 child participants were in Brown's (1973) first stage of language learning. Using a novel method of measuring routines, 18 of the parents identified at least one routine in a videotaped play session with their children. Results support both hypotheses and provide descriptive information about the content of the routines displayed by the parents and children in the free-play context. The importance of replicating the findings in the context of an experimental design before concluding that "routineness" caused the children to talk more often and with more diverse vocabulary was emphasized.

First language, Feb 1, 1995

Co-ordinated attention to objects and adults is positively associated with later language develop... more Co-ordinated attention to objects and adults is positively associated with later language development in children with and without disabilities. This relationship may occur because of social correlates of co-ordinated attention, which may in turn facilitate language development. This study investigated two potential social correlates of co-ordinated attention. Both of them have been suggested to have a role in facilitating later language development.