The Relationship Between Stimulability and Phonological Acquisition in Children With Normally Developing and Disordered Phonologies

Abstract

The relationship between stimulability and phonological acquisition was investigated in eight children, four with phonological disorders who were aged 3;10 (years;months) to 5;7 and four with normally developing phonologies who were aged 3;6 to 4;1. Children with disordered phonologies received treatment on one nonstimulable fricative. A multiple baseline, across subjects, single-subject design was used for experimental control of the treatment aspect of this study. Children with normally developing phonologies were examined at the beginning of the study and upon termination of treatment for the children with disorders. These data were obtained to determine the relationship of stimulability to normal acquisition. In both cases stimulable sounds underwent the most change and stimulability was related to the learning patterns observed. This study supports the hypothesis that nonstimulable sounds are least likely to change without treatment. The results also suggest that stimulability for production of a sound may signal that it is being acquired naturally.