Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Eighty four-year-olds were given an articulation assessment, a phonetic learning task, and a test of acoustic vigilance in order to study attention as a factor in children's natural and experimental acquisition of articulatory behaviour. The measure of attention was the number of supra-threshold signals detected; phonetic learning was based on subjects' approximations to a Swedish disyllable. Attenders and non-attenders differed in sound learning but not significantly so. Children with high articulation scores were significantly more attentive to acoustic stimuli and were significantly better in phonetic learning than children with low scores on the articulation test. These findings are discussed primarily in terms of their implications for the conduct and interpretation of research rather than immediate clinical value.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams, J. ( 1966). Some mechanisms of motor responding: an examination of attention. In E. A. Bilodeau (ed.), Acquisition of Skill (New York).

Bakan, P. (ed.) (1966). Attention: An Enduring Problem in Psychology (New York).

Broadbent, D.E. and Gregory, M. ( 1963). Vigilance considered as a statistical decision. Brit . J. Psychol. 54, 309.

Broadbent, D.E. ( 1964). Vigilance. Brit. Med. Bull. 20, 17.

Browning, R.M. ( 1967). Effect of irrelevant visual stimuli on discrimination learning in minimally brain-damaged children. J. Consult. Psychol. 31, 371.

Buckner, D. N. and McGrath, J. J. (eds.) (1963). Vigilance : A Symposium (New York).

Frankmann, J.P. and Adams, J.A. ( 1962). Theories of vigilance. Psychol. Bull. , 59, 257.

Kassinove, H. and Summers, M. ( 1968). The developmental attention test-a preliminary report on an objective test of attention. J. Clin. Psychol . 24, 76.

Locke, J.L. ( 1969a). Short-term auditory memory, oral perception, and experimental sound learning. J. Speech Hear. Res. 12, 185.

10.

Locke, J.L. ( 1969b). Experimentally elicited articulatory behaviour . Language and Speech, 12, 187.

11.

Locke J.L. (in press). The value of repetition in articulation learning. Int. Rev. Appl. Ling. in Lang. Teach.

12.

Mcgrath, J.J. ( 1963). Cross-validation of some correlates of vigilance performance . In D. N. Buckner and J. J. McGrath (eds.), Vigilance: A Symposium (New York).

13.

Miller, G.A. ( 1965). Some preliminaries to psycholinguistics. Amer. Psychologist, 20, 15.

14.

Nalven, F.B. ( 1967). Relationship between digit span and distractability ratings in emotionally disturbed children. J. Clin. Psychol . 32, 466.

15.

Nalven, F.B. and Puleo, V.T. ( 1968). Relationship between digit span and classroom distractability in elementary school children. J. Clin. Psychol . 24, 85.

16.

Posner, M.I. ( 1966). Components of skilled performance. Science , 152, 1712.

17.

Sloane, H.N. and Macaulay, B.D. ( 1968). Operant Procedures in Remedial Speech and Language Training (New York).

18.

Templin-Darley Tests of Articulation (1960 ). Bureau of Educational Research and Service ( Iowa City).

19.

Thatcher, L.R. ( 1967). Differential speech and learning by children with good and poor articulation. Paper delivered at the American Speech and Hearing Association Convention, Chicago .

20.

Winitz, H. and Lawrence, M. ( 1961). Children's articulation and sound learning ability . J. Speech Hear. Res., 4, 259.

21.

Winitz, H. and Bellerose, B. ( 1969). Learning of certain phoneme clusters by children with specific articulation errors. (Unpublished study, 1963 .) In H. Winitz , Articulatory Acquisition and Behavior (New York).

Children's Attention and Articulation

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References