Kahta, S. & Schiff, R.
Bar-Ilan University
It has been recently suggested that individuals with DD are deficient in SL. However, the taucity of research leaves the nature of this deficit, particularly the effect of modality, still unclear. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore whether SL deficits are a-modal or modality specific using a classic AGL task. Sixty three adults participated in two experiments, 31 in the DD group, and 32 in the control group. The stimuli for the visual task were letter sequences, and the stimuli for the auditory task were tone strings. Results showed that all participants exceeded chance level in both modalities. However, a significant difference was found between DD and controls in both modalities, supporting the SL learning deficit hypothesis for individuals with DD. In addition, a significant interaction showed a difference in performance between modalities only for DD and not for control group. These results suggest that while the controls' SL skills are a-modal in nature, for the DD participants SL skills are constrained by the modality in which it is presented. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.