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Feasibility of Wh-Question Test in NT and ASD
Objectives:
The study was conducted to assess 1) the feasibility of administrating a computer based Wh-Question assessment to identify language goals in NT and ASD elementary school children 2) whether error patterns were different in the two groups.
Methods:
The Wh- Question Test is a computer program that assesses the question forms of who, what, where and when with multiple-choice responses presented through verbal and visual stimuli. The test contains 10 unique contextual sentences, each with an accompanying illustration, and a corresponding who, what, where, and when question, resulting in 40 total questions. Each contextual sentence includes a subject, transitive verb, object, location and time; therefore, all information needed to answer each question form is provided in the contextual sentence.
Example item:
‘The children played with blocks in the classroom before music.’
Question: ‘What did they play with?’
a) blocks
b) before music
c) the children
d) drums
e) in the classroom
The program collects both accuracy as well as error type.
Group |
Mean Age |
N |
SD |
Minimum Age |
Maximum Age |
NT |
6.54 |
41 |
0.977 |
5 |
8 |
ASD |
8.81 |
16 |
1.515 |
6 |
10 |
Figure 2. Participants
Results:
A mixed model between group (2) within wh- question form (4) ANOVA a significant interaction was present between wh- question form accuracy and group (ASD or NT) (F=6.657, p=0.001). 'When' questions were most difficult for both groups, but especially for the ASD group.
Conclusions:
The Wh-Question test is a feasible and engaging way to assess Wh-Question comprehension in both NT and ASD elementary school age children. Both groups showed similar patterns of difficulty, but the ASD group showed more difficulty relative to the NT group especially for ‘When’ questions.
See more of: Diagnostic, Behavioral & Intellectual Assessment