Social communication impairments in school-aged children are a fundamental feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and are prominent in a type of language disorder called Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SPCD). A persistent characteristic of both these groups of children is an evident difficulty with pragmatics (rules governing the social use of language) such that there are difficulties with verbal interactions with peers and adults. As part of our programme of research on social communication intervention we wish to refine and validate an observational assessment of conversational ability for the children described above. We want this to function as a key measure in the evaluation of interventions and the development of evidence that could make an impact on clinical and educational services.
The development of better pragmatic assessment instruments has been identified as a priority in recent CATALISE consensus research in Developmental Language Disorders (Bishop et al. 2016). Adams and colleagues have developed an observational measure, the Targeted Observation of Pragmatics in Children’s Conversation (TOPICC), in order to capture outcomes after an intensive social communication intervention. Further modification of the analysis (TOPICC-2) in a recent feasibility study detected significant improvement made in pragmatic skills associated with intervention and potential for TOPICC-2 to serve as a confirmatory outcome in conjunction with other measures. TOPICC-2 now needs to be subjected to extensive validity analyses and further reliability checks as well as extending normative data sets.
The PhD project will be conducted in four phases: 1) a review of the literature, 2) a cross-sectional study of the developmental trajectory of pragmatic skills (as listed in TOPICC-2) in typically developing children aged between 4 and 11 years; 3) development of exemplars of coding levels for pragmatic skills listed in TOPICC-2; 4) content validity, concurrent validity, inter-rater reliability evaluation of TOPICC-2.
Entry Requirements:
Candidates are expected to hold (or be about to obtain) a minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in a related area / subject. Candidates with experience in child language development research or paediatric speech and language therapy research are encouraged to apply. An excellent standard of English language will be required for this project given the nature of the language analysis required. The project is suitable if you require excellent research training, in a stimulating and active environment, in order to become an independent, international researcher. It will also be suitable to you if you are a health professional whose career aspirations involve a combination of research with clinical activities.
For information on how to apply for this project, please visit the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Doctoral Academy website (https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/research/apply/). Informal enquiries may be made directly to the primary supervisor. On the online application form select PhD Psychology.
For international students we also offer a unique 4 year PhD programme that gives you the opportunity to undertake an accredited Teaching Certificate whilst carrying out an independent research project across a range of biological, medical and health sciences. For more information please visit www.internationalphd.manchester.ac.uk