Auditory-perceptual acuity in rhotic misarticulation: baseline characteristics and treatment response

ABSTRACT

The rhotic sound /r/ is one of the latest-emerging sounds in English, and many children receive treatment for residual errors affecting /r/ that persist past the age of 9. Auditory-perceptual abilities of children with residual speech errors are thought to be different from their typically developing peers. This study examined auditory-perceptual acuity in children with residual speech errors affecting /r/ and the relation of these skills to production accuracy, both before and after a period of treatment incorporating visual biofeedback. Identification of items along an /r/-/w/ continuum was assessed prior to treatment. Production accuracy for /r/ was acoustically measured from standard/r/stimulability probes elicited before and after treatment. Fifty-nine children aged 9–15 with residual speech errors (RSE) affecting /r/ completed treatment, and forty-eight age-matched controls who completed the same auditory-perceptual task served as a comparison group. It was hypothesized that children with RSE would show lower auditory-perceptual acuity than typically developing speakers and that higher auditory-perceptual acuity would be associated with more accurate production before treatment. It was also hypothesized that auditory-perceptual acuity would serve as a mediator of treatment response. Results indicated that typically developing children have more acute perception of the /r/-/w/ contrast than children with RSE. Contrary to hypothesis, baseline auditory-perceptual acuity for /r/ did not predict baseline production severity. For baseline auditory-perceptual acuity in relation to biofeedback efficacy, there was an interaction between auditory-perceptual acuity and gender, such that higher auditory-perceptual acuity was associated with greater treatment response in female, but not male, participants.

KEYWORDS:

• Perception
• rhotic misarticulation
• personalized learning
• residual speech errors

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to all participants and their families for their cooperation throughout the study. Additional thanks are extended to Kimberly Kraus-Preminger, Kristina Doyle, Samantha Ayala, Christian Savarese, and Erin Doty for completing formant measurements, as well as to Siemens for the ultrasound machines they made available to the New York University, University of Cincinnati, and Haskins Laboratories sites.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under Grant R01DC013668 (Whalen, PI), Grant 660R01DC017476 (McAllister, PI), and Grant R03DC012152 (Preston, PI), and Grant F31DC018197 (Kabakoff, PI).