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THE EFFECTS OF SPEECH OUTPUT TECHNOLOGY IN THE LEARNING OF GRAPHIC SYMBOLS
Author(s) -
Schlosser Ralf W.,
Belfiore Phillip J.,
Nigam Ravi,
Blischak Doreen,
Hetzroni Orit
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1995.28-537
Subject(s) - psychology , audiology , augmentative , speech recognition , augmentative and alternative communication , cognitive psychology , computer science , linguistics , medicine , philosophy , psychiatry
The effects of auditory stimuli in the form of synthetic speech output on the learning of graphic symbols were evaluated. Three adults with severe to profound mental retardation and communication impairments were taught to point to lexigrams when presented with words under two conditions. In the first condition, participants used a voice output communication aid to receive synthetic speech as antecedent and consequent stimuli. In the second condition, with a nonelectronic communication board, participants did not receive synthetic speech. A parallel treatments design was used to evaluate the effects of the synthetic speech output as an added component of the augmentative and alternative communication system. The 3 participants reached criterion when they were provided with the auditory stimuli. Although 2 participants also reached criterion when not provided with the auditory stimuli, the addition of auditory stimuli resulted in more efficient learning and a decreased error rate. Maintenance results, however, indicated no differences between conditions. Findings suggest that auditory stimuli in the form of synthetic speech contribute to the efficient acquisition of graphic communication symbols.