1. Core Vocabulary Automaticity
& Neurodevelopment: A Neuropsychologist’s Perspective
Dr. John D. Strang, C.Psych. (November, 2016)
Director, Ozad Institute, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare

2. Today’s Topics Foundations of core vocabulary
Roger Brown’s language development stages and “Mental Age”
Communication, motivation, emotion, other language functions and cognition
Facilitating automaticity, communicative competence, & fostering healthy development

3. http://www.minspeak.com/CoreVocabulary.php - .WCyCJmQrIzU
About Core Vocabulary
350 most frequently used words across development
Toddler stage words (e.g., I, in, go, want ) are building blocks for continuing language competency
Word use is influenced by personal situation and circumstance (e.g. home use, functional capabilities)*
- .WCyCJmQrIzU

4. Brown’s Stages of Language Development
Five stages span 12 months to 48 months
One to two-word functional sentences (e.g., “All gone”) … to more complex, full sentences (e.g., “I went to Florida and saw Minnie Mouse.”)
Mental age range associated with each stage*
“Typical” development of “stages” is sequential (set sequence) and invariant (set order)*

5. The Concept of Mental Age
Mental age scores based on age-related cognitive competence for “typically developing” individuals
Most often available for early or middle childhood tests and can provide a guideline for competency expectations (e.g., MSEL, PPVT4, RIAS)
Age-equivalency scores will over-estimate or under-estimate depending on individual’s experience and the capability measured*

6. Sequential and Invariant Developmental Stages
Earliest stages set foundations for future development
In normal (typical) development each succeeding stage builds on previous stages
Quality of each stage development impacts on next stages
Stages tied to brain development and experiences*

8. concept from Lev Vygotsky

9. Communication, Motivation* & Development
Language supports additional cognitive development (e.g., self-guidance, concept formation, problem-solving)
Communicating information or feelings relevant to oneself, and accomplishing tasks, is motivating
Motivation promotes learning and activity
Learning and productive activity promote growth, self-efficacy and independence

10. Emotional Energy & Motivation
Motivation requires emotional energy
Two basic elements of emotion:
Arousal - how activated we feel
2. Valence - the attractiveness (positive valence*) or aversiveness (negative valence) of input, sensations, or thoughts

11. Emotion, Motivation & Learningy
Emotion, Motivation & Learning
Positive and negative emotions promote (energize) motivation (e.g., approach vs. avoid)
Strong positive and negative emotions also promote long term conscious and unconscious memories through proximal brain connections*
Positive motivation fosters memory development and subsequent learning*

12. THE LIMBIC SYSTEM

13. Language, Communication
& Motivation
Individuals are motivated by having their needs met*, success, and mastery
Motivated individuals are most persistent and successful over time
Expectations must be set to promote frequent, legitimate success experiences, especially for children with disabilities

14. Word/Phrase Comprehension & Expression
Must be within child’s competency zone to be persistently motivating
Brain processing complexity dependent on degree of automaticity*
Novelty of word, phrase and context (situation) determines brain processing requirements
More complex language requirements involves the Cognitive Control Network* .

15. The Cognitive Control Network
Somewhat “flexibly wired”* connected brain regions are central to the cognitive control network (CNN)
Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), posterior parietal cortices (PPC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC) form the CNN*
The CCN development is shaped by neural maturation, experience, as well as formal learning and practice .

18. Automaticity and the Motor Control System(s)
Connected system from frontal areas to the brain stem and spinal cord*
Involved with language production at preverbal and verbal levels*
Practiced acts and routines involve the motor system and promote motor-assisted memory*
Motor assisted memory is especially resistant to decay* .

19. Motor System & “Hard Wiring”
Magnetoencephalography & Diffusion Tensor Imaging results: Developmental white matter changes promoting increased visual-motor processing speed in children 4-13 years. (N. Scantlebury et. al. 2013)

20. Automaticity, Communication, Learning & Motivation
Making information processing and output automatic through practice benefits communication and learning
Automating core vocabulary and first stage sentences are easiest, most likely to be “wired to go”, and most useful for the developing child
Facilitating automated communicative competence is motivating for further communication & facilitates additional learning (e.g, concept building on: “in & out”) .

21. AAC User Students & Automaticity
AAC user students require easy access to core words and sentence components at their cognitive level
Automaticity reduces working memory*, short term memory*, and explicit memory* and CCN requirements*
Automaticity also reduce motor and cognitive energy requirements* .

22. Lee, Heimer,Giedd, Lein, Šestan, Weinberger & Casey, (2014)