Young infants discriminate both native and nonnative phonetic contrasts, but 10- to 12-month-olds and adults fail to discriminate some nonnative contrasts. To explain this, Best, McRoberts, and Sithole (1988) hypothesized that at the age of 10-12 months, a phonological influence begins by means of which nonnative sounds are assimilated to native…

Research is reported which examined the effect of various factors on the frequency of phonological responses. Phonemic order and location of clusters within a syllable affected fusion. Initial stop-liquid clusters fused readily; final liquid-stop clusters rarely fused. Some subjects fused on most or all trials; others fused less frequently.…

USING PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED FORMS OF THE DISCRIMINATION BY IDENTIFICATION OF PICTURES (DIP) TEST AND THE THRESHOLD BY IDENTIFICATION OF PICTURES (TIP) TEST, THE INVESTIGATORS SOUGHT TO IMPROVE THE MATERIAL AND PROCEDURE AND TO STANDARDIZE THE TESTS ON NORMAL HEARING CHILDREN. BOTH TESTS REQUIRED CHILDREN TO IDENTIFY PICTURES UPON HEARING NAMES OF…

THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO FIND AN EFFECTIVE GROUP-TEACHING METHOD FOR THE TRAINING OF STUDENTS IN GENERAL AMERICAN SPEECH TRANSCRIPTION, USING THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA). THE METHOD CHOSEN INCLUDED THE USE OF PROGRAMED TAPE RECORDINGS AND WORKBOOKS. THE CHAPMAN COLLEGE TEST POPULATION WAS THE CLASS IN "INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL…

The usefulness of teaching vowel generalizations was studied using three treatment groups, with two second-grade classes in each treatment. The study was considered a pilot investigation to provide direction rather than a definitive research study. In Treatment 1, the McKee Reading for Meaning program was followed, including the teaching of all…

This projective exploratory study in responses by racially prejudiced and non-prejudiced individuals to samples of black speech, which was designed as a means of uncovering trends, resulted in some conclusions "made with some degree of assurance": (1) The Southern students participating in the study were significantly more prejudiced than the…

The auditory discrimination ability of pupils who are generally classified as "socioeconomically" or "culturally" disadvantaged is the subject of recent research. The concept of the disadvantaged child that has auditory discrimination difficulties--and associated with them problems in reading and perhaps even speaking--was quickly and widely…

EFFECTS OF TONAL MEMORY OF TWO KINDS OF FACTORS WERE STUDIED. THE FACTORS WERE (1) THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STIMULI PRESENTED TO THE SUBJECT IN A PITCH IDENTIFICATION TASK, AND (2) THOSE EFFECTING THE RESPONSE THAT THE SUBJECT MAKES IN SUCH A TASK. FIVE HYPOTHESES WERE ADVANCED FOR STUDY. THE UNDERLYING ASSUMPTION WAS THAT THERE ARE IMPORTANT…

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether age differences noted when two tasks are performed concurrently can be accounted for in terms of age differences in single task baseline performance. Subjects were two groups of 12 eight-year-olds, and one group of 12 thirteen-year-olds. (CM)

Examines the auditory evoked potentials (AEP) in the left and right hemispheres of the brain in response to variations in voice onset time (VOT) differences within and between phoneme categories. Subjects were 12 preschool children. (BD)

Reports the results of a study of pitch perception among urban and rural children (n=200) who had differing amounts of formal music training. Results showed all children could hear differences in the stimuli presented, but only the musically trained could correctly attribute the difference to a change in pitch. (RKM)

Delineates the effect of attentional bias on preadolescents' dichotic listening performance by using four different types of stimulus material (words, digits, CV syllables, and melodies) under free recall and directed attention conditions. (HOD)