Errors in the Echoic Behavior of Preschool Children

Abstract

Ninety children were divided equally into three age groups ranging at full-year intervals from 3.0 to 5.9 years of age. The subjects were given a test of echoic behavior consisting of 22 consonants coupled with each of two vowels to form consonant-vowel nonsense syllables. Analysis indicated that the errors made were inversely related to the frequency of the sounds in the repertoires of infants, and to the frequency of the sounds in the English language. Results also indicated that the stability of specific errors increased with age while the total frequency of errors decreased. The analysis of specific errors indicated that more errors were associated with the place of articulation than with either the manner of articulation or the voiced-voiceless dimension.