TALK: The Thinking and Language in Kids Study
Principal Investigators at Durham Site:
Jane Lidstone (now based at Cardiff University)
Supervisors at Durham Site:
Charles Fernyhough
Adviser/collaborator:
Sue Leekam
Start and End Dates: May 2007 - April 2009
Some people with autism say that they think in pictures rather than words
and there is preliminary evidence from several lines of scientific enquiry
to back up these anecdotal reports. This is an important topic for research
because psychologists believe that language is useful for thinking. A low
propensity to think in words, or use “inner speech”, could potentially
help to explain why children with autism have difficulty planning and regulating
their behaviour in social and non-social contexts, and why they often have
problems in thinking in a flexible and open-ended way.
1) See if this non-verbal style of thinking extends to children who have language impairments but not autism.
2) See if children with language impairments are less likely to use inner speech if they have symptoms of autism than if they do not.
3) See if using inner speech to think is always beneficial or if it is disruptive to thinking if a child has impaired language.
This sort of research might eventually help psychologists advise teachers and therapists on whether or not to encourage children with autism and language impairments to think in words.
Further details about this study can be found by contacting the Principal Investigator.