The Effectiveness of Psycholinguistic Training: A Reaffirmation of Position

Abstract

The effectiveness of psycholinguistic training is a topic that has generated much interest and research. In 1974 Hammill and Larsen published an article that reviewed 38 studies that had attempted to foster psycholinguistic skills in children while using the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities as the criterion for improvement. The conclusion of this review was that psycholinguistic training is essentially nonvalidated. In an article published in the February 1978 issue of Exceptional Children, Lund, Foster, and McCall-Perez reanalyzed many of the studies reported by Hammill and Larsen and indicated that some had been inaccurately reported, inappropriately categorized, and/or misinterpreted. The purpose of the present article is to demonstrate that, in fact, the studies discussed in Hammill and Larson's 1974 paper were accurately reported and that the current status of psycholinguistic training is that it remains nonvalidated. Readers are encouraged to formulate their own perceptions regarding this controversial area.