# The role of statistical learning in the atypical language development in ASD

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · 2020 · $152,317

## Abstract

Abstract
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Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show enormous heterogeneity in core language abilities, such
as phonology and grammar. Over 50% of verbal children with ASD have borderline or impaired language.
Deciphering how children with ASD learn language is important for understanding the heterogeneity of language
abilities in this population, as well as for the development of more effective interventions for children with ASD
who also have language difficulties. Based on decades of behavioral research in typical language acquisition,
statistical learning is essential for encoding rich regularities and variability for first language development.
Whereas statistical learning has been linked to typical language development and Developmental Language
Disorder (DLD), existing studies investigating statistical learning in ASD lack consensus regarding whether
statistical learning is impaired in ASD. Both the enormous heterogeneity of ASD population and the recently
reported variation in one’s ability to learn statistics across linguistic and non-linguistic domains, as well as across
sensory modalities, might have contributed to such inconclusive results. The overall goal of this research is to
understand whether the language heterogeneity in ASD can be attributed to variations of statistical learning in a
specific domain (linguistic vs. nonlinguistic) or modality (auditory vs. visual). Aim 1 proposes to first characterize
the relationship between children’s language abilities and statistical-learning profiles across domains and
modalities in a large sample of children with ASD (6 to 8 years old) and typically developing (TD) controls. Both
groups will be evaluated using a novel web-based testing platform. Aim 2 will focus on probing the neural
mechanisms during statistical learning in each domain and modality in ASD, and how relative strengths and
weaknesses in the groupings are related to language performance. Comparing the neural responses during
statistical learning tasks among children with ASD in relation to high vs. low statistical learning abilities grouped
by domain and modality, the study will test whether language performance in ASD is related to domain-specific,
modality-specific, or domain/modality-general neural substrates of statistical learning. The proposed study will
pave the way towards a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in language impairment in ASD. The
results will provide crucial preliminary data for future investigations aiming to elucidate the causal relationship
between statistical learning ability and language learning in a longitudinal intervention study and how statistical
learning profile is related to different genetic risks in children with ASD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9962359
- **Project number:** 5R21DC017576-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
- **Principal Investigator:** Zhenghan Qi
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $152,317
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9962359

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9962359, The role of statistical learning in the atypical language development in ASD (5R21DC017576-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9962359. Licensed CC0.

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