Self-Assessment Questions

This section provides a review. Mark each statement on the Answer Sheet according to the factual materials contained in this issue and the opinions of the authors.

Article One (pp. 243-255)

1. What is “executive function”?

   • An individual's ability to make accurate decisions.

   • A set of higher-order cognitive skills involved in goal-directed behavior.

   • When children have worse language abilities than one would expect, based on their IQ

   • An alternative approach to measuring nonverbal IQ.

   • The ability to hold information in mind for an extended period of time.

2. As a group, children with developmental language disorder (DLD)...

   • Perform better on executive function measures than their typically developing peers.

   • Perform equally on executive function measures as their typically developing peers.

   • Perform worse on executive function measures than their typically developing peers.

   • …Are not able to complete tasks that measure executive function.

   • None of the above.

3. Individual children with DLD...

   • Always perform worse on executive function tasks than their peers without DLD.

   • Always perform worse on shifting tasks than their peers without DLD.

   • Sometimes perform as well as their peers without DLD on executive function tasks.

   • Always perform as well as their peers without DLD on executive function tasks.

   • Always perform as well as their peers without DLD on working memory tasks.

4. Choose the statement that is true about diagnosing and/or treating DLD.

   • You can accurately diagnose DLD using a single measure of executive function.

   • You can accurately diagnose DLD using multiple measures of executive function.

   • Because executive function is the same thing as nonverbal IQ, you can use a nonverbal IQ test to accurately diagnose DLD.

   • Children's executive function abilities will not affect how they respond to language therapy.

   • Children's executive function abilities can affect how they respond to language therapy.

5. Based on the authors' findings, what is true about the relationship between language and executive function in children with DLD?

   • Language deficits are caused by executive function deficits because children with DLD perform worse on measures of executive function than their typically developing peers.

   • Executive function deficits are caused by language function deficits because children with DLD perform worse on measures of executive function than their typically developing peers.

   • Language and executive function are unrelated because children with DLD have normal nonverbal IQ.

   • The relationship between language and executive function is likely not causal because children with DLD do not always have deficits in executive function.

   • None of the above.

   Article Two (pp. 256-271)

6. What are some of the reasons for the conflicting outcomes in the literature on cognitive control and bilingualism?

   • Individual differences.

   • Differences in target functions.

   • Publication bias.

   • Tasks that measure multiple functions simultaneously.

   • All of the above.

7. What factors of the bilingual experience affect children's language representations?

   • Age of acquisition of the two languages and amount of bilingual language exposure.

   • The presence of language impairment.

   • Long-term memory abilities.

   • IQ.

   • Native-like accent.

8. Which assessment tool was created for and based on bilingual populations?

   • CELF-5.

   • PPVT.

   • PLS-2.

   • BVAT.

   • A nonverbal intelligence test.

9. Which cognitive control components were found to be useful in differentiating emerging bilingual children from bilingual children with specific language impairment?

   • Working memory updating and interference control.

   • Response inhibition.

   • Selective attention.

   • Short-term memory.

   • Self-regulation and verbal working-memory.

10. What are some useful methods to obtain information about a bilingual child's language proficiency?

    • Total vocabulary.

    • Questionnaire about the bilingual experience.

    • Cognitive control tasks with minimal language demands.

    • Semistructured interview.

    • All of the above.

    Article 3 (pp. 272-290)

11. The Language Development Survey measures early language milestones and provides parents with a vocabulary checklist to fill out. It is included as a supplemental scale on the__.

    • Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

    • The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, 2nd Edition.

    • Child Behavior Checklist.

    • Barkley SCT Scale.

    • Behavior Assessment System for Children, 3rd Edition.

12. One of the strengths of the BASC-3 is that it incorporates many language items into a single scale. The name of this scale is__.

    • The Functional Communication scale.

    • The Functional Impact scale.

    • The Global Executive Composite.

    • The Cognitive Regulation Index.

    • The Functional Impairment scale.

13. Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, a second type of attention disorder, is characterized by a combination of symptoms including__.

    • Often talks excessively and blurts out answers before questions have been completed.

    • Has trouble staying awake/alert and experiences mental fogginess.

    • Shows decreased interest or lack of enjoyment in previously enjoyable activities.

    • Reads slowly and with a lot of effort.

    • Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.

14. Which of the following behavioral scale items is most likely to overlap with language impairment?

    • Is noisy and loud when playing.

    • Has trouble getting started on tasks.

    • Is easily distracted.

    • Has difficulty following directions.

    • Is hard to motivate.

15. Some behavioral rating scales include validity checks to identify overly positive or overly negative ratings. This feature is important for the evaluation of children with language impairments because__.

    • The number of items on the rating scale's inventory becomes more manageable.

    • Functional impacts associated with different behavioral problems are measured.

    • Children with language impairments have an increased likelihood of receiving overly negative ratings.

    • Some of the behavioral rating scales do not include children with language impairments in their normative samples.

    • Test–retest reliability for parent rating scales is generally low.

    Article Four (pp. 291-304)

16. A core characteristic of autism spectrum disorder is:

    • Executive function deficits.

    • Social communication impairments.

    • Grammar impairments.

    • Limited vocabulary.

    • Difficulty with goal maintenance.

17. Which of the following phrases best describes the link between executive function domains?

    • Completely distinct.

    • Entirely overlapping.

    • Related, but unique constructs.

    • Overlapping in young children, distinct in older children.

    • Distinct in young children, overlapping in older children.

18. Why is it important to study language and executive functions in tandem in autism spectrum disorder?

    • Both are important in academic settings.

    • They are related to one another.

    • Both can impact social and friendship development.

    • One domain may impact performance on another domain.

    • All of the above.

19. In the context of this review, the Hierarchical Competing Systems Model involves:

    • Language guiding reflection on behavior and impacting executive function performance.

    • Cognitive skills being the sole mechanism for executive function performance.

    • Verbally rehearsing instructions aloud to recall expectations.

    • Executive functions being constructs that do not rely on language.

    • Arranging executive functions into a hierarchy.

20. Intervention studies on executive functions and/or language have found the following:

    • Interventions will not help either domain.

    • Intervention in one domain may have a positive influence on the other domain.

    • Intervention in language will never result in executive function improvements.

    • Intervention in executive function will always result in language improvements.

    • All of the above.

    Article Five (pp. 305-319)

21. Which of the following are considered to be core components of executive function?

    • Cognitive flexibility.

    • Working memory.

    • Inhibition.

    • All of the above.

    • None of the above.

22. Which of the following is not considered to be a domain-specific process?

    • Language skills.

    • Motor skills.

    • Executive function skills.

    • Speech skills.

    • Sensory skills.

23. Which of the following measures have been used to examine short-term and working memory in children who stutter?

    • Forward and backward span tasks.

    • Go/NoGo task.

    • Stop-signal task.

    • Dimension Card Change Sort task.

    • Grass-snow and baa-meow tasks.

24. Of the studies that have been conducted thus far, in which area are findings most consistent in suggesting weakness in children who stutter, relative to children who do not stutter?

    • Working memory.

    • Cognitive flexibility.

    • Language.

    • Inhibitory control.

    • Temperament.

25. Which of the following is not true of the Executive Function Model of Developmental Stuttering?

    • The direct pathway assumes a bidirectional relationship between fluency and executive function.

    • The indirect pathway specifies that subtle weaknesses in the language skills of children who stutter could affect executive function development.

    • The direct pathway posits that weaknesses in executive function could emerge as a consequence of stuttering or as the antecedent.

    • One assumption of this model is that all children who stutter have weaknesses in executive function.

    • None of the above (i.e., they are all true).

    Article Six (pp. 320-332)

26. Which of the following areas of development directly relate to a child's ability to access and use aided AAC?

    • Communication.

    • Cognition.

    • Motor skills.

    • Sensory perception.

    • All of the above.

27. Which of the following communication milestones emerges between 18 and 24 months in typically developing children?

    • Joint attention.

    • Gestures.

    • Two-word combinations.

    • Words.

    • Gestures plus words.

28. Which type of AAC display embeds language concepts as hotspots within integrated, naturalistic scenes, such as photographs?

    • Visual scene display.

    • Grid-based display.

    • Hybrid display.

    • Orthographic display.

    • Keyboard display.

29. During what age range do the majority of young children with Down's syndrome walk independently?

    • 6-12 months.

    • 12-18 months.

    • 18-24 months.

    • 24-30 months.

    • 30-36 months.

30. Which one of these visual atten-tional functions continues to develop into the second and third years?

    • Alertness.

    • Spatial orienting.

    • Attention to object features.

    • Endogenous attention.

    • Object permanence.