Context effects in auditory training with children

The effects of acoustic/linguistic complexity of training stimuli (i.e., isolated words vs. words in sentences) on speech perception performance was measured in 17 young children (four-to-eight years old) with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing losses. Phase I of the study involved training on isolated words (n = 9), while Phase II involved training on words in sentences (n = 8). A four-week period of experimental training was counterbalanced with a four-week period of traditional speech-language therapy across participants and Phases. Pre- and posttreatment testing was conducted for both words in isolation and in sentences at the end of each period. Significant improvements were found as a result of experimental training in both phases. Evidence of transfer of learning was greater when sentence level stimuli (Phase II) rather than isolated word stimuli were used (Phase I). Clinical implications are discussed.