title: Training production of lexical stress in typically developing children using orthographically biased stimuli and principles of motor learning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Impaired lexical stress production characterizes multiple pediatric speech disorders. Effective remediation strategies are not available, and little is known about the normal process of learning to assign and produce lexical stress. This study examined whether typically developing (TD) children can be trained to produce lexical stress on bisyllabic pseudowords that are orthographically biased to a strong-weak or weak-strong pattern (e.g.,   MAMbey or   beDOON), in combination with the principles of motor learning (PML).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen TD children ages 5;0 (years;months) to 13;0 were randomly assigned to a training or control group using concealed allocation within blocks. A pre- to posttraining group design was used to examine the acquisition, retention, and generalization of lexical stress production.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The training group learned to produce appropriate lexical stress for the pseudowords with strong maintenance and generalization to related untrained stimuli. Accuracy of stress production did not change in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TD children can learn to produce lexical stress patterns for orthographically biased pseudowords via explicit training methods. Findings have relevance for the study of languages other than English and for a range of prosodic disorders.
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Lauren J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: van Rees
authors.forename: Kirrie J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ballard
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.forename: Anita G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Macdonald-D'Silva
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arciuli
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D010700:Phonetics; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013068:Speech Production Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000502:physiology; D014831:Voice / Q000502:physiology*