A tangibly reinforced speech reception threshold procedure for use with small children.
Forty normal-hearing children between 17 and 56 months were tested using a new method for determining speech reception thresholds. The words employed were names for parts of a device that was in the form of a colorful clown. The device automatically rewarded the child with a small piece of candy each time he pressed the part of the clown that had been announced through the sound field system of a speech audiometer. Results showed that operant conditioning speech audiometry using tangible reinforcers is feasible for small children. Both boys and girls can be tested accurately by this method down to age two and one-half years.
D001299:Audiometry / Q000379:methods*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012107:Research Design; D012201:Reward