Neural Oscillations Reveal Differences in the Process of Word Learning among School-Aged Children from Lower Socioeconomic Status Backgrounds

Abstract

Building a robust vocabulary in grade school is essential for academic success. Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) households on average perform below their higher SES peers on word learning tasks, negatively impacting their vocabulary; however, significant variability exists within this group. Many children from low SES homes perform as well as, or better than, their higher SES peers on measures of word learning. The current study addresses what processes underlie this variability, by comparing the neural oscillations of 44 better versus worse word learners (ages 8-15 years) from lower SES households as they infer the meaning of unknown words. Better word learners demonstrated increases in theta and beta power as a word was learned, whereas worse word learners exhibited decreases in alpha power. These group differences in neural oscillatory engagement during word learning indicate there may be different strategies employed based on differences in children’s skills. Notably, children with greater vocabulary knowledge are more likely to exhibit larger beta increases; a strategy which is associated with better word learning. This sheds new light on the mechanisms that support word learning in children from low SES households.

Decoding bilingualism from resting‐state oscillatory network organization

“…Specifically, lower beta and delta strength were associated with higher L2 proficiency in vocabulary knowledge (LexTALE) and language production (BEST) measures, respectively. These findings are consistent with previous evidence indicating that higher rates of vocabulary learning correlate with beta power modulations 81 . Additionally, better performance in picture‐naming negatively correlates with rsFC in the DMN, 82,83 as indexed here by delta dynamics.…”

Rethinking household size and children’s language environment.

“…In children, typical reading abilities (word-level and comprehension) and receptive vocabulary were confirmed with English versions of the Test of Word Reading Efficiency-Second Edition (Torgensen et al, 2012), Gray Oral Reading Tests (Wiederholt & Bryant, 2012), and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4; Dunn & Dunn, 2007), respectively. Because data for the current study were collected from a larger study on the links between socioeconomic status and brain and language development (Maguire et al, 2022;Ralph et al, 2020;Schneider et al, 2021Schneider et al, , 2023, a portion of this study included an electroencephalogram task, not presented here, which required that all participants were right-handed children with no history of significant neurological issues (traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular accident, seizure disorders, history of high fevers, tumors, or learning disabilities) or medications other than over-the-counter analgesics, as per parent and self-report. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

Developmental differences in EEG oscillations supporting the identification of novel word meaning from context

“…To evaluate semantic learning, all children completed a meaning identification task during which their EEG was collected. The design of the meaning identification task was motivated by a paradigm used in previous word learning studies (Mestres-Missé, Rodriguez- Fornells & Münte, 2007; Abel et al, 2018 ; Maguire et al, 2018 ; Ralph et al, 2020 ; Schneider et al, 2021 ). While the majority of previous work has focused on the written modality for word and stimulus presentation, the current study used naturally-paced speech in order avoid potential constraints driven by differences in reading ability across children (see Momsen and Abel, 2022 for an identical study design in adults).…”

“…Semantic learning represents a critical foundational step in a multi-stage process where a new word is being mapped to a novel, unique, and robust meaning representation ( Nagy et al, 1985 , Nagy et al, 1987 , Fukkink, 2005 , Horst, 2013 , Schneider et al, 2021 ). As children progress beyond the first stages of language development, the meaning of a new word is often rooted in semantic representations that the child is already familiar with (e.g., flounder is a type of fish).…”

“…Although research into the development of oscillatory neural dynamics underpinning semantic learning is relatively scarce, recent work with school-aged children has provided evidence that theta and beta activity are sensitive to differences in the word learning process between weak and strong learners from low SES homes ( Schneider et al, 2021 ). Thus, oscillatory activity in theta and beta can provide a useful physiological marker for cognitive processes that support semantic learning (see also Bakker et al, 2015 ).…”