Learning New Words From Overhearing in Children With ASD
Phase: NA
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Sponsor: New York University

Title: Study 1 Replication and Extension of Prior Work  
NCT Number: NCT04166591  
Document date: 12/24/2024 

The objective of this study was to see whether autistic and non-autistic children learn new words 
when they are presented in one of two conditions: as part of speech directly addressed to the 
child (Addressed condition), as part of speech they overhear (Overheard condition). Children 
participated in the experimental task in both conditions (within-subject design). The method was 
a behavioral experiment in which children were exposed to a novel word (e.g., “toma”) in the 
context of one of three objects. The exposure either occurred with the experimenter looking 
directly at the child (Addressed condition) or looking at another adult (Overheard condition). 
They were then shown the three objects and given a prompt to identify which object is labeled by 
the novel word (e.g., “where is the toma?”). Children’s eye gaze was coded as a measure of 
which object they preferred to look at after the prompt. After a delay of a few minutes, the test 
was repeated as a measure of retention. 
 
The primary dependent variable reported here is the number of children who look at the target 
object more than would be expected by chance for each of the first test and the retention test; 
because there are three objects, chance is 33.33%.  
 
The primary statistical analysis involves asking whether children in each condition (Addressed or 
Overheard) look at the target significantly more than chance levels. Binomial tests are used to 
see if the number of children who do so is significantly greater than would be expected by 
chance.