THE RELATION OF SPEECH SOUND DISCRIMINATION TO FUNCTIONAL ARTICULATORY DEFECTS IN CHILDREN.

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THE RELATION OP SPEECH SOUND DISCRIMINATION TO FUNCTIONAL ARTICULATORY DEFECTS IN CHILDREN

A Thesis

Submitted to

the F a culty

of

Purdue U n iv e r s i t y

by

Marian H. Donewald

In P a r t i a l

F u l f i l l m e n t o f the

Requirements f o r th e Degree

of

Master of Science

August,

1950

/

,>

PURDUE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

^

Regulations f o r -th e Use o f Manuscript T h e s e s

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The r e s u l t s obtained and the t h e s i s p rep a red i n c o n n e c tio n w it h the r e g u la r ly assigned th esis s u b j e c t a r e th e p r o p e r t y o f th e U n iv e r s it y and no p a rt o f the same may be r e p r o d u c e d o r p u b l i s h e d w ith o u t t h e w r itte n co n sen t of the President o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o r h i s d e s ig n e e . U nless o th e r w ise named, the head o f t h e d e p a r tm e n t s u p e r v i s i n g t h e work s h a l l a c t fo r the President. This t h e s i s by /K p a r t ia l f u lf i l l m e n t o f the req u irem en t s has been used by the following p e r s o n s , accep tan ce o f th e above r e s t r ic t io n s . A lib r a r y which borrows th is t h e s i s expected t o secu re the signature o f e a c h

NAME AND ADDRESS OF USER J

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PURDUE UNIVERSITY

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT TH E T H E S IS P R E P A R E D U N D E R MY S U P E R V IS IO N

Marian H. Donewald

BY

e n title d

TriE R ^ L a TIQM

OF S P E E C H

SOUND D I S C R I M I N A T I O N TO

FU N C T I O N A L A RTI CULATORY D B F L U TS

IN

CHI LDREN

COM PLIES W ITH THE U N IV ER SITY R E G U L A T IO N S O N G R A DU A TIO N T H E S E S

AND IS A P P R O V E D BY ME A S FU L FIL L IN G T H IS PART O F T H E R EQ U IR EM EN TS

FO R TH E D E G R E E O F

Master of Science

P

H

a .

ro fesso r

ead

of

S

in

Charge

chool

or

D

of

T h e s is

epa r tm en t

fT&

TO THE L IB R A R IA N :-----

Wz

TH IS T H E S IS IS N O T TO B E R E G A R D E D A S CON FIDEN TIAL.

2 2 ^ ra o rB S S o n

GRAD.

SCH OO L FO RM

0 -3 -4 0 -1 1 1

o r

o h a eg e

'

-

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The w r i t e r wishes to express h e r s i n c e r e tion

to P rofes sor M. D. S t e e r ,

their

guidance

to t h e

and counsel

various members of

and Dr„ T. D. Hanley f o r

i n s e t t i n g up t h i s the

and Hearing C l i n i c f o r t h e i r

apprecia­

s t a f f of t h e technical

study.

Also

Purdue Speech

advice and a s s i s ­

tanc e. She i s

also g ra te fu l

to

Public School System who a s s i s t e d so g r a c i o u s l y p e r m it t e d the w r i t e r rooms

and a d m i n i s t e r the

o

the members of the

test.

Evansville

in the t e s t i n g

and who

to come into

the c l a s s ­

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ............................................................................................. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. PROBLEM......................................................................................................................................

ij.

THE TEST ...................................................................................................

5

PROCEDURE ...............................................................................................................................

9

Sub jects

.......................................................................................... ......................

A d ministration G

RESULTS . Test

of the

Test

9

..............................................................

11

..................................................................................................................................... R eliability

12

.................................................................................................

12

Group Performances on Speech Sound D i sc r im in a tio n Test .......................................................................................................................

13

Types of E r r o r s on Speech Sound D is c r i m in a t i o n Test .......................................................................................................................

18

Group Performances on S p e c i f i c Sound Types In Speech SoundD i sc r im in a tio n Test ..................................

18

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................

2l±

APPENDIX A.

THE TEST........................................................

26

APPENDIX B.

DIRECTIONS FORADMINISTERING THE TEST . .

28

APPENDIX C.

THE TEST BLANK.....................................................................

APPENDIX D.

FREQUENCY RESPONSE CURVE .............................................

32

BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................°..........................................................

33

30

L I S T S OP TABLES AND FIGURES L i s t of Tables Table 10 2« 3*

Page Frequency o f Types o f Items i n Speech Sound D iscrim in ation Test ......................................

6

L i s t o f Equipment Used i n Recording and Administering Test ....................................................

8

D e s c r i p t i o n of Experimental Group by Number of Subjects Manifesting S p e cif ic A rtic u lato ry Errors ..........................

9

D e s cr ip tio n of Experimental Group by Number of Sounds I n c o r r e c t l y Produced by ................................................ Subjects 5» 6o 7. 8* 9* 10«

10

C h i l d r e n 's Performance on Sound Discrimina­ t i o n Test ...................................

l4

Analysis o f E rrors i n Sound D i sc r im in a tio n Test - F r i c a t i v e Sounds .................

20

Analysis o f Errors i n Sound D iscrimination Test - Plosive Sounds .................

20

Analysis of E rrors In Sound Discrimination Test - F r i c a t i v e - p l o s i v e Sounds ........................

21

Analysis of Errors i n Sound Discrim in ation Test - Semi-vowel Sounds ...................................

22

Analysis o f E r r o r s i n Sound D iscrimination Test - Blend Sounds ..................................................

23

List

of Figu res

Figure le 2*

Group Performance on Speech Sound Dis­ c r i m in a t i o n Test .................................................

15

Percent of Subjects Exhibiting Errors on Sound Discrim in ation T e s t ..........................................

17

.1

ABSTRACT

Donewald, Marian H. ’’The R e l a ti o n of Speech Sound Discrim­ i n a t i o n to F unctional A r t i c u l a t o r y Defects i n C h ild r e n ," 3 J4. pages, 1 0 t a b l e s , 2 f i g u r e s , 1 3 t i t l e s i n bibliography*

This study was undertaken i n r e l a t i o n s h i p between f u n c t i o n a l ab ility

an attempt

to f i n d

the

articulato ry

defects

and

to d i s c r i m i n a t e between the same or d i f f e r e n t

sounds.

Accordingly,

based on types of

speech

a t e s t of one hundred p a ir e d sounds

e r r o r s made on the a r t i c u l a t i o n

tests

administered to t h e k i n d e r g a r t e n c h il d r e n of the E v a n s v il l e , Indiana p ublic te st

schools was prepared.

Recordings of t h i s

as spoken by the experimenter were made and administered

under s e m i - c o n t r o l l e d c o n d it i o n s first

grade

to the f i f t y - t h r e e

c h i l d r e n and twenty-five p a i r s

pairs of

from the second

grade.

The c h i l d r e n were matched as to hearin g a b i l i t y ,

age,

Q.,

I,

tea ch er,

grade,

the

le ng th of time i n

Apparently the

test

reliab ility is e ffe c tiv e

was determined to be

on f r i c a t i v e s ,

plosives

.9 8 .

in d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between

and d e f e c t i v e s u b j e c t s on the b a s i s

between means for the whole t e s t errors

sex and

d i f f e r e n c e being t h a t of speech*

The t e s t - r e t e s t

normal

school,

and i t s

of d i f f e r e n c e s

component p a r t s

and blends.

Performance on

the Speech Sound D iscrimination Test has low r e l a t i o n s h i p to I .

Q., as measured by the C a l i f o r n i a

Maturity -

Primary S-Porm.

-

Test of Mental

The f i n d i n g s of t h i s

study

suggest t h a t a b i l i t y are of the sk ill*

the

dynamics o f

speech sound d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

to be considered i n terms

a b ility rather

of d i f f e r i n g

amounts

than the absence or presence of the

THE RELATION OF SPEECH SOUND DISCRIMINATION TO FUNCTIONAL ARTICULATORY DEFECTS IN CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION o

That t h e r e

a r e many c o n t r i b u t i n g f a c t o r s

a r ti c u la to r y defects

is

well known*

It

has

to f u n c t i o n a l

also long been

recognized t h a t Speech Sound Discrim in ation a b i l i t y an Important p a r t

i n Speech Therapy,

speech sound d i s c r i m i n a t i o n as d istin ctio n

among meaningful

L id d e ll

( 6 ) says

next

is

to t r a i n th e

° cu rately,"

Robbins

a "judgment

step

calling

d e f in e s for

in p ho netics i s

f o r given s y l l a b l e s ;

vocal organs (10)

(12)

sounds."

"the f i r s t

l e a r n to hear normal c o n st a n t

Travis

plays

to reproduce

says t h a t b e f o r e

the

them ac-

speech t r a i n i n g

i s begun b e t t e r

sound d i s c r i m i n a t i o n should be t a u g h t ,

Mase

study o f

(7)

in his

Speech Defects tory t e s t s clinic,

the E tio lo g y of A r t i c u l a t o r y

recognizes

as a p a r t of

Reid

the

value of a u d i t o r y a r t i c u l a ­

the examination In the

and suggests t h a t

are p r e s c r i b e d ,

they be used b e fore

a b ility .

speech therapies

(9 ) recommends sound d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

as p a r t of the program of speech r e e d u c a t i o n ,

Various

to

0

studies have been made of sound discrim inatio n

Utley 03) devised a t e s t

of words d i f f e r i n g only in vowels, d if f e rin g In consonants.

consisting»of 131 p a ir s and 254- p a ir s o f words 0

This t e s t was used fo r c h ild ren

with, hearing l o s s e s grade l e v e l ,

and r e q u i r e d r e a d in g a b i l i t y

Ansberry (1)

using eleven vowel hundred p a i r s

and

of words

Here again the g r e a t e s t

devised a "paired-word" t e s t

twenty-one consonant

sounds. Two

were used n in e

with a d u l t s .

times

concern was with h e a r i n g .

(Ip) in h e r s t u d y o f the comparison o f f u n c t i o n a l tory speech d e f e c t i v e s speakers, tion

speakers

sought to

in th e auditory in te g ra tio n s

c r im in a tio n between speech sounds.

above as

all

o f the

p lex t e s t ,

Hansen

Travis-Rasmus

test

(5)

i n grades

The Travis-Rasmus

for

two and f o r use

Speech

as a more como

co ll e g e s t u d e n t s

test

consists

used the

of t h r e e hundred

t h r e e hundred of th e

and s i x t y - s i x being vowels.

In

each sound of t h e E ng lish language was p a i r e d

with every o t h e r sound and w ith i t s e l f . quires

(12)

was used as well

of speech sounds,

p a i r s being consonants, p rinciple

study was con­

and a vowel t e s t .

The Travis-Rasmus six ty -six p airs

and normal

techniques were n ot s u i t a b l e

Sound Discrim in ation Test

ques­

demanded by d i s ­

This

and with c h i l d r e n

with younger c h i l d r e n .

o

articula­

answer the

d i f f e r e n c e s between d e f e c t i v e s

ducted with a d u l t s

Hall

with a matched group of normal

among o t h e r t h i n g s ,

as to t h e

o f second

about an hour to a d m i n i s t e r ,

l e v e l must be given i n d i v i d u a l l y Plummer ( 8 ) devised a t e s t

This t e s t

and a t

and i n

re­

the primary

two i n s t a l l m e n t s ,

using the

dominant use of the high frequency band o f

consonants making the

speech

range. test,

He e s t a b l i s h e d the c r i t e r i a stating

f o r a speech sound

that

the speech sound d i s c r i m i n a t i o n t e s t b e s t s u i t e d to the d e te rm i n a t i o n o f an i n d i v i d u a l ' s a b i l i t y to recognize the d i f f e r e n c e between, or s i m i l a r i t y o f , two speech sounds when p r e s e n te d o r a l l y , i s a t e s t made up of p a i r e d sounds which can be d i s c r i m i n a t e d upon the b a s i s of t h e l e a s t p o s s i b l e number o f d i s ­ t i n g u i s h i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s involved i n the sounds0 of speech. In view of t h e l e n g t h y t e s t s which have been devised, and t h e f a c t

that

to

test

sary to t e s t

them i n d i v i d u a l l y ,

c a r r y out an extensive p u b li c

young c h i l d r e n i t it

has been neces

has been d i f f i c u l t

to

sound d i s c r i m i n a t i o n program i n a

school s e t - u p because of l i m i t e d time.

PROBLEM

The problem w ith which t h i s cerned i s

investigation

Is

con­

the c o n s t r u c t i o n and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of a Speech

Sound D is c r i m i n a t i o n Test as a group d ia g n o s t i c

f o r use by the

aid at

r e s e a r c h w i t h such o b j e c t i v e s

speech t h e r a p i s t

an e a r l y childhood le v e l * the

In

following q u e s t i o n s o

arise: 1*

Can a r e l i a b l e

2*

Will such a t e s t and d e f e c t i v e a.

Will i t

test

be co nstructed?

d is c r i m i n a t e between normal

speakers?

d i s c r i m i n a t e on the b a s i s

of

f r i c a t i ves? b*

Will i t

d is c r i m i n a t e on the b a s i s

of

p l o s i ves? c*

Will i t

discrim inate

on t h e b a s i s

combination of f r i c a t i v e s d.

Will

it

of

a

and p l o s i v e s ?

d i s c r i m i n a t e on t h e b a s i s

of

semi­

vowels? e.

Will

It

d i s c r i m i n a t e on the b a s i s o f blends?

THE TEST

The Speech Sound D i sc r im in a tio n Test employed in t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n was developed "by compiling the e r r o r s on the Bryngelson-Glaspey A r t i c u l a t i o n T ests given to a l l

(2)

which had been

the Kindergarten c h il d r e n i n the E v a n s v i l l e ,

Indiana Public Schools i n 194^ 6X143 1949® test

blank i s

inclu ded i n Appendix C.

thousand t e s t s

A copy of t h i s

Approximately two

were used in t h i s manner.

i n c l u s i o n were chosen on the b a s i s

The sounds f o r

of the

frequency with

which they had been s u b s t i t u t e d f o r another sound on the articulation

test.

They were then p a ir e d with the o r i g i n a l

sound or with another

s u b s t i t u t i o n f o r t h e sound being

tested.

where the sound was omitted,

In I n s t a n c e s

omission was i n clu d ed . itself.

A check was made of a l l

the sounds i n a l l final.

Since i t

consistent in

In itial,

the i n i t i a l

the one to be used f o r t h i s likely

for

medial,

the s u b s t i t u t i o n s

three p o sitio n s,

i s simpler and l e s s

p a i r e d with

the s u b s titu tio n s

three positions, was found t h a t

all

was s e l e c t e d as it

The sound was also

this

and

were

position

test.

Also,

to be i n f l u e n c e d by another

sound.

In o rd e r to keep the t e s t b r i e f enough to avoid @ the f a t i g u e f a c t o r with small c h i l d r e n , the t e s t was l i m it e d to one hundred p a i r e d items. sounds had been

arranged in t h e

rence on the a r t i c u l a t i o n

test,

O r i g i n a l l y the

sequence o f t h e i r with th e

occur­

sounds most

frequently s u b s tit u te d fo r

the

sound being t e s t e d p a i r e d

with the c o r r e c t

sound or with another s u b s t i t u t i o n * O F i n a l l y the sequence of p a i r s was determined by use o f a t a b l e o f random numbers. was used f o r same items numbers*

test

which

r e t e s t i n g was devised by using e x a c t l y the

and s e l e c t i o n from another t a b l e o f random The n e u t r a l

bine with the l i k e l y to

Another form of the

(schwa)

consonant

influence

the

vowel was s e l e c t e d

to

as being t h e most s t a b l e

com­

and l e a s t

s u b j e c t s ’ choice as to whether the

two sounds were the same or d i f f e r e n t .

The d i v i s i o n of

sounds on the Speech Sound D iscrim in ation Test i s

shown on

Table 1* Table 1 .

Frequency o f Types o f D i sc r im in a tio n Test

Items i n Speech Sound

Semivowel

F ricatives

Plosiv es

Voiced-Voiced Voiceless-Voiceless Voiced-Voiceless (or v i c e - v e r s a )

5 10 5

2 3

a

Total

20

7

9

Blend

23

2

23

Frequency of Combination of Sound Types Fricative-Plosive Fricative-Semi-vowel Plosive-Semi-vowel Plosive-Nasal Blend-Fricative Blend-Semi-vowel „Blend-Plosive Total

(or v ic e - v e r s a ) (or v ic e - v e r s a ) (or v i c e - v e r s a ) (or v i c e - v e r s a )

11 1 2 1 15 1

10 O

A r e c o r d i n g was made which i n c l u d e d the d i r e c t i o n s the

test,

sounds.

a c a r r i e r phrase between each item,

employing a ID c u t t e r

f i e r Model 39B p r e - a m p l i f i e r recording

speed was 7 8

speed was used*

recording

o

Under t h e

of the

is,

is

o

experimenter,

was used,

stim uli

the

essentially f l a t

In making the r e c o r d i n g ,

ch ild r en r e c e i v e most of t h e i r

fessors

o

c o nd itio ns used f o r

the response o f the r e c o r d e r

that

The

rpm and recommended e q u a l i z a t i o n f o r

from 50 to 12000 cps.

females.

and a s s o c i a t e d ampli­

and 92A power a m p l i f i e r .

o

voice,

and th e p a i r e d

The r e c o r d i n g equipment used c o n s i s t e d o f a Presto O O

8 DG- r e c o r d e r ,

this

for

a feminine

sin ce

young

and d i r e c t i o n s

from

The e x p e r i m e n t e r ’ s voice was judged by two pro­ of Speech at

Purdue U n i v e r s i t y t o be normal,

without a b n o r m a l i t i e s

of p i t c h ,

voice q u a l i t y ,

that

and

articulation. o

The t e s t test

items

blanks used f o r r ecording responses

c o n s i s t e d o f one page with f i v e

twenty spaces

to each column.

ch il d r e n i n beginning f i r s t t u r e s were used to

to

double columns,

Inasmuch as most of

grade

the D

the

are unable t q r e a d ,

d esign ate the proper

p ic­

column f o r marking

©

the c h i l d ’ s choice as

to whether the sounds heard were the o

same or d i f f e r e n t . in which the

A dog was used to

indicate

sounds t h a t were '’d i f f e r e n t "

and a snake to

indicate

were to be marked. those a t the top

0

the

column

were to be marked,

the one i n which the

"same” sounds

A marker with the same p i c t u r e s

as

of each column was given to each c h i l d

with, the t e s t

blank.

Windows were cut

i n ti^e marker to

s implify t h e problem of where to mark. the

°

I n t h i s manner

c h i l d had c o n s t a n t l y b efore him the

bols

and p o s s i b l e

way to t h e

confusion r e s u l t i n g

top of the

A list

of the

i d e n t i f y i n g symO from looking a l l the

column was eliminated*

equipment used i n r e c o r d i n g

and adminis-

o °

tering

the t e s t

Table 2.

1.

i n Table

o

2*

L i s t of Equipment Used i n Recording t e r i n g Test

Presto 8 a.

follows

and Adminis­

DG Recorder

Using ID C u t t e r and Associated Amplifier Model o

39B P r e - a m p l i f i e r and 92A Power Amplifier 2.

Cascade Amplifier

3*

Volt meter - f o r

4*

Test Blank

5«

Marker

output o

9

o

PROCEDURE o S ubjects Children known to have f u n c t i o n a l f e c t s who were i n as s u b j e c t s .

These were

dergarten t e s t ferral,

the f i r s t

and second grades

secured on th e b a s i s

o f the previous

or p a r e n t a l r e q u e s t

given an a r t i c u l a t i o n one sound d e f e c t i v e three f i r s t

grade

test

year,

for

speech h e l p .

in a l l

three p o sitio n s.

and t w e n ty - f i v e

semi-vowels; are

fifty -fo u r

Table 3»

in a t

a defect i n

Table 3»

Each was

Of the f i f t y -

second grade c h i l d r e n subjects least

in this

one of the

one or more of the

and twenty-nine i n the p l o s i v e s .

summarized i n

of ^he k i n ­

and was found t o have a t l e a s t

s e v e n t y - e i g h t had a d e f e c t

fricatives;

were used

through t e a c h e r r e ­

( t o t a l s e v e n t y - e i g h t ) who were used as study,

a r t i c u l a t o r y de­

These d a t a

e

D e s c r i p t i o n o f Experimental Group by Number o f Subjects Manifesting S p e c i f i c A r t i c u l a t o r y Errors

Fri cat ive Number of Children Manifesting E rr o r s

78

Type of Sound Semi-vowel 0

5k

P lo si ve

0

29 O

Table I4. summarizes t h e number of c h i l d r e n producing O a given number of i n c o r r e c t

sounds.

©

10

o

D e s c r i p t i o n of Experimental Group by Number of Sounds I n c o r r e c t l y Produced by Subjects

1

9" 7

As a means of test,

twenty-five

k

11

9

O'

Number of Children Manifesting Errors

1

Number of I n c o r r e c t l y Produced Sounds 2 3 k 3 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

H O

Table [{.•

checking r e l i a b i l i t y

2

7

6

3

3 ©

of the a r t i c u l a t i o n

s u b j e c t s were examined independently by

a

the

experimenter and another t r a i n e d

total

number o f

errors

listed

and the t o t a l number o f agreement was found to Normal h e a r in g

in

age,

school,

sex

also

21 Ij.*

The percent of

be 9 5 ® 5*

c h i l d r e n were matched with normal h e a r ­ c h i l d r e n on the b a s i s of chrono­

in te llig e n c e quotient,

9

and t e a c h e r .

grade,

The c h i l d r e n

le n g th of time i n each p a i r were

■

of approximately the

new C a l i f o r n i a

same

socio-economic

status.

Short-Form Test of Mental M aturity,

i-l-7 S-Form was used as the

basis f o r e s ta b lis h in g

These t e s t s were acjjninis t e r e d by the r e g u l a r t eac h er

and scored by the experim e n ter.

schools

and seventeen t e a c h e r s

The

Primary

I.

classroom

Five elementary

cor. r i b u t e d s u b j e c t s

t h i s s tud y .

O

The

by the two' examiners was 2 2 i|_,

agreements

ing non-speech d e f e c t iv e logical

speech t h e r a p i s t .

o

for

11

©

A d m in istr atio n of the Test

O

Since i n the

experiences

lower grades most of

take p la c e i n h i s

considered to be d e s i r a b l e c h i l d ’ s own classroom.

the c h i l d ’ s school

r e g u l a r classroom i t

to

ad m i n i s t e r th e

test

was in the

Through c o o p er atio n of th e

and school a d m i n i s t r a t o r s taken to avoid c o n f l i c t

this

was accomplished.

with r e c e s s

side n o i s e s were a t a minimum.

p e r io d s ,

ment of t a b l e s

was n ecessary so t h a t

be e q u i d i s t a n t

from the phonograph playback used.

su b je cts were seated i n an arc o f

Care was

so t h a t

Usually a s l i g h t all

teachers

out­

read ju st­

the s u b j e c t s

could

All

approximately 1 8 0

de-

o

grees about the f r o n t of s i x to e i g h t

feet.

of the phonograph and with a r a d iu s The phonograph gain was checked by

placing a v o l t meter across am plifier.

the output t e r m i n a l s of

This was a v o l t meter with h ig h r e s i s t a n c e

no apparent loading e f f e c t on the a m p l i f i e r . test

the and

A recorded

tone was played f o r phonograph c a l i b r a t i o n .

By n o t in g

the Volt meter r e a d in g the phonograph g ain was a d j u s t e d to the

same p o i n t f o r

each r e p e t i t i o n o f the t e s t .

ity

was given f o r r e l a x a t i o n

at

the

Opportun­

completion o f each

o

column as the

record was being changed.

of each new column a check was made to

At the beginning be sure t h a t

the

c h il d r e n had t h e i r markers i n th e proper p l a c e s . A copy o f the d i r e c t i o n s

as t h e y were given i s

in­

cluded in Appendix B.

o

RESULTS

Test R e l i a b i l i t y ©

The r e l i a b i l i t y

of

the Speech Sound D iscrim in ation

Test was e s t a b l i s h e d by the t e s t - r e t e s t method at° . 9 8 * o

A t o t a l of ninety-two

c h il d r e n was gfven the r e t e s t ,

tw en ty -five second grade

subjects

and t h e i r

c o n t r o l group,

and twenty-one f i r s t grade s u b j e c t s I n two of the and t h e i r

controls.

As described e a r l i e r ,

s i s t e d of another form of

the same t e s t The t e s t s

apart.

the experimenter

test.

instances

In a second t e s t

the r e t e s t

of the r e l i a b i l i t y

administered the of the Speech was

The t o t a l number of odd numbered Items

missed was r e l a t e d items missed,

to the t o t a l

number of even numbered

and the o b ta in e d r e s u l t was c o r r e c t e d by

the Spearman-Brown Prophecy Formula ( 3 ) . liab ility

con­

were given one week

Sound D is c r i m i n a t i o n Test an odd-even c o e f f i c i e n t calculated.

schools,

using i d e n t i c a l

items i n another o r d e r . In a l l

the

coefficient

of

.8 7 8

A corrected r e ­

was found.

To determine the r e l a t i o n s h i p

between performance on

the Speech Sound D i s c r i m i n a t io n Test

and one of the b a s i c

c r i t e r i a by means of which normal s u b j e c t s were matched with d e f e c t i v e c ie n t

s u b j e c t s a Pearson Product-Moment C o ef f i­

of C o r r e l a t i o n was c a l c u l a t e d .

cluded i n t h i s

The two v a r i a b l e s

in­

c o e f f i c i e n t were Speech Sound D i s c r i m i n a t i o n

13 ©

Test

scores

f o r b o t h normal

te llig e n c e quotients* Mental M aturity,

.26,

and i n ­

The obtained c o e f f i c i e n t

indicating

s i g n i f i c a n t from zero a t

a value which i s

The degree of r e l a t i o n s h i p

coefficient,

however,

is

re v e a l e d by t h i s

seen to be s l i g h t .

section,

statis­

the one p e r c e n t l e v e l of

confidence.

noted in a l a t e r

subjects

(Based on t h e C a l i f o r n i a Test of

Primary S Form*)

of c o r r e l a t i o n was tically

and d e f e c t i v e

As w i l l

be

the o btained c o e f f i c i e n t was used

in the formula f o r t e s t i n g

of the s i g n i f i c a n c e

of d i f f e r ­

ences between matched groups® Group Performances on Speech Sound D is c r i m i n a t i o n Test It

was considered d e s i r a b l e

Discrimination Test mal and the latio n .

serves

to

to know i f

the

Sound

d i s t i n g u i s h between the n or­

speech d e f e c t i v e c h i l d with r e s p e c t to

articu­

Accordingly the mean per-cent o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n s 9

c o r r e c t l y made was c a l c u l a t e d f o r two grades

all

subjects

as w i l l be seen in Table 5®

and f o r the

A d i f f e r e n c e of o

1 9 .1 5 all

was observed between normal

subjects.

This

difference i s

and d e f e c t i v e groups, significant at

the one

©

percent l e v e l of

confidence.

It

is

Table 5* t h a t not only was t h e t o t a l different

from th e £otal

also

to be noted i n

experimental group»°

d ifferO o and normal s u b j e c t s i n the f i r s t and

ences between d e v i a t e

c o n t r o l group,

b ut t h a t

©

second grades o

also were h ig h l y s i g n i f i c a n t .

In a l l

lij.

instances tiie d ifferen ce was i n favor of the normal group. O Children’ s Performance on Sound Discrimination Test

Table 5»

Mean Number of Items Correct Normal

Defective

Difference

d.f.

< 7“Md.

Grade 1

72.59

51+o78

1 7 .8 1

103

3.75

lj..75*

Grade 2

81.08

55.08

2 6 .0 0

k7

1.99

1 3 .07*

Gra°des 1 and 2

75.30

56.15

19.15

153

2 J 4O

t^ d .f.1 0 0

7 . 9 8 -*

= 1 0 9 8 )4

t£)^d. f . I46 = 2.012

t ^ d . f .1 5 0

= 1.976

t 01d.f.100 = 2 . 6 2 6

t q^ d . f .146 = 2.685

t^-^d. f . 1 5 0

= 2 .6 0 9

-x S i g n i f i c a n t a t

one p e r c e n t

level

of confidence.

Figure 1 shows a breakdown of mean number of e r r o r s in the experimental and con trol groups by d e c i l e s . be noted th a t

for e^ch decile

the mean error score

I t w ill for

9

the defective group i s mal group.

The l a r g e s t

seventh d e c il e ,

appreciably l a r g e r than for the nor­ diffe re nc e

to be noted at the 0

where the mean differen ce between the

normal and deviate groups is !

is

22.8 e r r o r s .

The smallest

M1-M2___________ t for matched groups = \) (i>*

(6)

L id d e l l , Mark H., "The Physical C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Speech Sound," B u l l e t i n No. l 6 , Engineering Experi­ ment S t a t i o n , L a f a y e t t e , I n d ., March 192ij-.

(7)

Mase, D. J . , E ti o l o g y of A rtl cul ato ry Speech D e f e c t s . Teachers College, Columbia University© —

(8)

Plummer, R. N., "High Frequency Deafness and Dis­ c r im in atio n of High Frequency Consonants. " Journal. of Speech D i s o r d e r s , Vol. 8, December 1943, pp. 3733^1.

(9)

Reid, Gladys, "The E f f i c a c y of Speech Re-education of Functional A r t i c u l a t o r y Defectives i n the Elementary School," Journal o f Speech Disorders, Vol. 12, 194.7, pp. 301-313*

J.

P.,

Psychometri c Methods,

McGraw-Hill*

(10)

Robbins, S. D., and R. S . , Correction o f Speech De­ f e c t s o f Early Childhood, Expression Co., Boston, Mass. 1937*

(11)

Stevens, S. S ., Egan, J . D., M i l l e r , G. A., "Methods of Measuring Speech S p e c t r a , " Journal of the Acousti­ cal Society o f America, Vol. I 9 , 1914.7 , pp. 771-7tSO *

(12)

Travis, L. E . , and Rasmus, B., "The Speech Sound Discrimination A b i l i t y of Cases with Functional Dis­ orders o f A r t i c u l a t i o n , " Quarterly Jo urn al of Speech. Vol. 17, April 1931, PP* 217-22b.

3k (13)

Utley, Jean, "The R e l a t i o n Between Speech Sound Discrim in ation and Percentage of Hearing L o s s . ” Journal of Speech D is o r d e r s , Vol, 9> June 1944-> pp* 10 3-113o