title: Generalization of tactile perceptual skills to new context following tactile-alone word recognition training with the Tickle Talker.
abstract: The Tickle Talker is an electrotactile speech perception device. Subjects were evaluated using the device in various tactile-alone and tactile-visual contexts to assess the generalization to other contexts of tactile-alone perceptual skills. The subjects were from a group of six normally hearing subjects who had previously received 12 to 33 h of tactile-alone word recognition training and had learned an average vocabulary of 50 words [Galvin et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106, 1084-1089 (1999)]. The tactile-alone evaluation contexts were sentences, unfamiliar talkers, and untrained words. The tactile-visual evaluation contexts were closed-set words, open-set words, and open-set sentences. Tactile-alone perceptual skills were generalized to unfamiliar speakers, sentences, and untrained words, though scores indicated that generalization was not complete. In contrast, the generalization of skills to tactile-visual contexts was minimal or absent. The potential value of tactile-alone training for hearing-impaired users of the Tickle Talker is discussed.
authors.affiliation: CRC for Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aid Innovation, East Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Galvin
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Blamey
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oerlemans
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012682:Sensory Aids; D013067:Speech Perception; D014110:Touch; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014825:Vocabulary