Oral Stereognosis in Predicting Speech Performance: Preliminary Report

Abstract

From 50 third grade public school students given an oral form-identification test 11 were chosen as their scores constituted a range of inferior performance. Scores on oral form-discrimination test and samples of connected, spontaneous speech were recorded and scaled by the method of equal-appearing intervals. Performance on the oral form-discrimination task was not significantly related to speech performance. It was concluded that, while some parameters of speech performance, such as articulatory deviations in persons identified as having such, may be associated with poorer oral stereognostic skills, the opposite may not necessarily hold true. Poorer oral stereognostic skills may not be indicative of poor speech performance. As performance on the oral form-identification task was statistically related to that on the oral form-discrimination task these tests measure similar oral stereognostic skills.