University of Louisville

The Relationship between Early Language Skills and the Ability to Make Causal Connections

Institution

University of Louisville

Abstract

Understanding causal connections is imperative for skills such as writing, reading, and comprehension of television programs. It has also been shown to be related to school readiness and academic achievement. Multiple studies have shown that causal understanding begins to appear at age 4, but does not reach adult level until age 9. Previous research has also indicated that 3-year-olds show little evidence of causal understanding. The current study examined the relationship between children’s ability to produce causal connections in a storytelling task and several standardized measures of language. Fifty-nine children, ages 3- to 4-years, were recruited and assessed at their private preschool during two storytelling sessions. For each session, three wordless picture books were randomly assigned to each child. Their elicited story was then coded for causal connections, causal distance, presence of a goal, outcome of presented goal, and prompting by the experimenter. Additionally, children completed standardized assessments of language, including the KBIT-Verbal, TERA, PPVT-III and NEPSYLanguage. Data is currently being analyzed. Pearson correlations will be used to assess the relationship between storytelling variables and performance on standardized language measures. Standard scores will be used for each of the independent variables. Multiple regression analyses will be used to determine which language measures best predict performance in the storytelling task. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized that there will be a positive relationship between the children’s ability to produce causal connections and their scores from the standardized language measures.

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The Relationship between Early Language Skills and the Ability to Make Causal Connections

Understanding causal connections is imperative for skills such as writing, reading, and comprehension of television programs. It has also been shown to be related to school readiness and academic achievement. Multiple studies have shown that causal understanding begins to appear at age 4, but does not reach adult level until age 9. Previous research has also indicated that 3-year-olds show little evidence of causal understanding. The current study examined the relationship between children’s ability to produce causal connections in a storytelling task and several standardized measures of language. Fifty-nine children, ages 3- to 4-years, were recruited and assessed at their private preschool during two storytelling sessions. For each session, three wordless picture books were randomly assigned to each child. Their elicited story was then coded for causal connections, causal distance, presence of a goal, outcome of presented goal, and prompting by the experimenter. Additionally, children completed standardized assessments of language, including the KBIT-Verbal, TERA, PPVT-III and NEPSYLanguage. Data is currently being analyzed. Pearson correlations will be used to assess the relationship between storytelling variables and performance on standardized language measures. Standard scores will be used for each of the independent variables. Multiple regression analyses will be used to determine which language measures best predict performance in the storytelling task. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized that there will be a positive relationship between the children’s ability to produce causal connections and their scores from the standardized language measures.