A Complexity Approach to Treatment of Tense and Agreement Deficits: A Case Study

Abstract

The present case study describes a complexity approach to the treatment of tense and agreement deficits in a child (SC, age 3 years and 11 months, male) with a delay in morphosyntax. We investigate whether it is possible to elicit target treatment structures (auxiliary BE in questions) in a child who does not attempt them spontaneously. Furthermore, we ask whether such elicitation promotes accuracy in target form production and generalization to less complex forms as predicted by complexity accounts. Intervention consisted of a play-based drilled task eliciting the target structure. The intervention was effective in eliciting the intervention target, as SC demonstrated increased production of the target and decreased number of prompts required to elicit the target. SC made moderate gains in the spontaneous use of the proposed generalization structures. This preliminary case study demonstrates that a complexity approach may be feasible for treatment of morphosyntax and provides support for future treatment efficacy studies.