Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36871399›Full record

ArticleCognition2023

Caregiver linguistic alignment to autistic and typically developing children: A natural language processing approach illuminates the interactive components of language development.

Riccardo Fusaroli, Ethan Weed, Roberta Rocca, Deborah Fein, Letitia Naigles

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cognition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
14.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. The impact of individual factors on linguistic alignment of autistic boys and their mothers.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Riccardo FusaroliDepartment of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Market St, Suite 810, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2653, USA. Electronic address: fusaroli@gmail.com.
Ethan WeedDepartment of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Roberta RoccaDepartment of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Deborah FeinPsychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 0629-1020, USA.
Letitia NaiglesPsychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 0629-1020, USA.
Aarhus University · DKUniversity of Connecticut · USUniversity of Pennsylvania · US

Funding

Language Development and Outcome in Children with AutismR01DC007428 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS · PI NAIGLES, LETITIA R · 2005 to 2012
$2.8M
Early Predictors to School Age Language: Individual and Interactional Child and Parent FactorsR01DC016665 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS · PI NAIGLES, LETITIA R · 2019 to 2023
$1.6M
NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC007428NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC016665
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLanguage development is a highly interactive activity. However, most research on linguistic environment has focused on the quantity and complexity of linguistic input to children, with current models showing that complexity facilitates language in both typically developing (TD) and autistic children.

aimsAfter reviewing existing work on caregiver engagement of children's utterances, we aim to operationalize such engagement with automated measures of linguistic alignment, thereby providing scalable tools to assess caregivers' active reuse of their children's language. By assessing the presence of alignment, its sensitivity to the child's individual differences and how well it predicts language development beyond current models across the two groups, we showcase the usefulness of the approach and provide initial empirical foundations for further conceptual and empirical investigations.

methodsWe measure lexical, syntactic and semantic types of caregiver alignment in a longitudinal corpus involving 32 adult-autistic child and 35 adult-TD child dyads, with children between 2 and 5 years of age. We assess the extent to which caregivers repeat their children's words, syntax, and semantics, and whether these repetitions predict language development beyond more standard predictors.

resultsCaregivers tend to re-use their child's language in a way that is related to the child's individual, primarily linguistic, differences. Caregivers' alignment provides unique information improving our ability to predict future language development in both typical and autistic children.

conclusionsWe provide evidence that language development also relies on interactive conversational processes, previously understudied. We share carefully detailed methods, and open-source scripts so as to systematically extend our approach to new contexts and languages.

Indexed as

Autistic DisorderCaregiversChildHumansLanguage DevelopmentLinguisticsNatural Language ProcessingAutismConversationLanguage developmentLinguistic alignmentLinguistic entrainmentNatural language processing

Identifiers

PMID36871399
PMCPMC11223773
OpenAlexW4323051335

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.