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Auditory Blending: Effects Of Presentation Method, Word Frequency, Word Category, And Number Of Word Parts On Word Identification

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Auditory Blending: Effects Of Presentation Method, Word Frequency, Word Category, And Number Of Word Parts On Word Identification

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Content 71 - 12,398
KYLE, Bruce Allan, 1933-
AUDITORY BLENDING: EFFECTS OF PRESENTATION
METHOD, WORD FREQUENCY, WORD CATEGORY, AND
NUMBER OF WORD PARTS ON WORD IDENTIFICATION.
University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1971
Education, psychology
University Microfilms. A X ER O X Company, Ann Arbor. Michigan
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED
AUDITORY BLENDING: EFFECTS OF PRESENTATION METHOD,
W O R D FREQUENCY, W O R D CATEGORY, AND N U M BER
OF W O R D PARTS O N W O R D IDENTIFICATION
by
B ruce A lla n Kyle
A D is s e r t a t i o n P re se n te d to th e
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In P a r t i a l F u lf illm e n t o f th e
R equirem ents fo r th e D egree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(E d u ca tio n )
J a n u a ry 1971
UNIVERSITY O F SO U TH ER N CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCH O O L
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA 8 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, •written by
BRUCE
under the direction of h.i-.§ Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The Gradu
ate School, in partial fulfillment of require
ments of the degree of
D O C T O R OF P H IL O S O P H Y
Da/e.. Ja n u a ry 1971
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
t \ V Qhairman
it- eLujkr
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The w r i t e r w ish e s to e x p re s s h is a p p r e c ia tio n to
h is d i s s e r t a t i o n c h airm an , D r. C. Edward M eyers, fo r h is
h e lp f u l a d v ic e and c r i t i c i s m d u rin g th e s tu d y , and to
th e o th e r com m ittee members, D r. Myron H. Dembo and
D r. James A. P e te rs o n , f o r t h e i r su p p o rt and i n t e r e s t in
th e e x p e rim e n t.
The w r i t e r a ls o w ish e s to acknow ledge th e h e lp o f
D r. P e te r D esb erg , whose d i s s e r t a t i o n and g en ero u s con
s u l t a t i o n a id e d so g r e a t l y in th e fo rm u la tio n and r e p o r tin g
o f th e p r e s e n t s tu d y .
The c o u n se l o f D r. R obert M cIntyre was e s p e c i a l l y
h e lp f u l in th e i n i t i a l s ta g e s o f i d e n tif y in g th e r e s e a r c h
t o p ic , and th e p a tie n c e and s u s ta in in g i n t e r e s t o f my w if e ,
Jo a n , a id e d me th ro u g h o u t th e e n t i r e d i s s e r t a t i o n .
F u r th e r a p p r e c ia tio n i s due M rs. B a rb a ra S. B rem er,
p r i n c i p a l , Orangewood S ch o o l, W est C ovina, and M rs.
P a t r i c i a J o n e s , M rs. C h a r lo tte S t r e i g h t , and M rs. D orothy
V e rk le r, whose p u p ils se rv e d a s s u b je c ts in th e s tu d y .
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................................................... i i
LIST OF T A B L E S ...................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES...........................................................................................v i
C h ap ter
I . INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1
Review o f L i t e r a t u r e ............................................... 6
E x p e rim e n ta l Q u e stio n s ........................................... 15
H y p o t h e s e s ............................................................................ 18
I I . METHOD........................................................................................... 20
S u b j e c t s .................................................................................20
S tim u lu s M a te r ia ls .................................................... 20
P r o c e d u r e .................................................................................24
In d ep en d en t V a ria b le s ............................................... 25
D ependent V a ria b le .................................................... 26
E x p e rim e n ta l D esign .................................................... 26
I I I . RESULTS............................................................................................30
Word C a te g o ry and Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n . 34
S tim u lu s Word F requency ........................................... 34
Number o f Word P a r ts and Word P a r ts
x Word C a t e g o r y .............................................. 39
iii
C h a p te r Page
Word C a te g o ry x S tim u lu s Word F req u en cy
x Number o f Word P a r ts .......................................... 39
C onsonant C a te g o ry ........................................................ 45
Summary o f th e R e s u l t s .............................................. 50
IV . DISCUSSION........................................................................... 53
I m p lic a tio n s f o r F u r th e r R esearch . . . . 56
REFERENCES.................................................................................................. 58
iv
LIST OF TABLES
T a b le Page
1 . S tim u lu s W o r d s .................................................................. 22
2 . Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
in Each Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n , L ev el o f
S tim u lu s Word F req u en cy , and Number o f
Word P a r t s , f o r Word C ateg o ry .............................. 32
3 . A n a ly sis o f V arian ce fo r Number o f C o rre c t
Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a s a F u n c tio n o f
Word C a te g o ry , Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n ,
S tim u lu s Word F req u en cy , and Number o f
Word P a r t s ........................................................................... 33
4 . Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
in Each Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n f o r Word
C a t e g o r y ............................................................................... 35
5. Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t Each L evel o f S tim u lu s Word F requency
f o r Word C ateg o ry and Number o f Word
P a r t s .................................................................................... 38
6. Neuman-Keuls T e s t fo r D iffe re n c e s betw een
Two and T h re e -P a rt M o n o sy llab les and
P o ly s y lla b le s .................................................... 42
7. Neuman-Keuls T e s t f o r D iffe re n c e s betw een
High and Low F req u en cy , Two and T h ree -
P a r t M o n o sy llab les and P o ly s y lla b le s . . . . 44
8 . A n a ly sis o f V a ria n ce f o r Number o f C o rre c t
Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a s a F u n c tio n o f
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n , C onsonant
C a te g o ry , and S tim u lu s Word F requency . . . 49
9 . Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
in Each Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n f o r
C onsonant C a te g o rie s and S tim u lu s
Word F requency L e v e l s ................................ 51
v
LIST OF FIGURES
F ig u re Page
1 . S tag es o f word a tt a c k i n s t r u c t i o n .......................... 3
2 . 2 x 3 x 2 x 2 a n a ly s is o f v a r i a n c e ..................... 27
3 . 3 x 2 x 2 a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e .............................. 29
4 . Mean num ber o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r m ethods o f p r e s e n t a t i o n ...................................... 36
5 . Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
w ith in m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n f o r
— m o n o sy lla b le s and p o ly s y lla b le s .............................. 37
6 . Mean num ber o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r h ig h and low freq u en cy w o r d s ................... 40
7. Mean num ber o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r h ig h and low freq u en cy m o n o sy lla b le s
and p o l y s y l l a b l e s ......................................................... 41
8 . Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s .................................................................. 43
9 . Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t e ac h le v e l o f stim u lu s word fre q u e n c y
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s .................................................................. 46
10. Mean num ber o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t th e h ig h s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y le v e l
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s .................................................................. 47
11. Mean num ber o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t th e low s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y l e v e l
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s .................................................................. 48
vi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The r e s e a r c h l i t e r a t u r e on te a c h in g re a d in g i s now
so la r g e t h a t i t alm o st d e f ie s a n a l y s i s . Even w ith in
r e s t r i c t e d a re a s o f in q u ir y , th e number o f such s tu d ie s
is l i k e l y to be in th e hundreds ( P le s s a s , 1965; Summers,
D a v is, & S i f f i n , 1967, 1968a, 1968b). P resum ably t h i s
in fo rm a tio n e x i s t s to answ er q u e s tio n s o f i n t e r e s t to
te a c h e rs and r e s e a r c h e r s ; how ever, a s k in g a r e le v a n t
q u e s tio n i s somewhat l i k e a s k in g w hich lo o se end w i l l
u n ra v e l a ta n g le d b a l l o f s t r i n g . And when th e q u e s tio n
i s , "What i s th e b e s t way to te a c h a young c h ild to re a d ? "
th e lo o se ends a re many, and th e b a l l i s e s p e c i a l l y
ta n g le d . F o r tu n a te ly , t h i s p a r t i c u l a r q u e s tio n h as been
answ ered in b ro ad o u tlin e i f n o t in f in e d e t a i l . W orking
under a g ra n t from th e C arn eg ie C o rp o ra tio n o f New Y ork,
Jean n e C h a ll and h e r s t a f f a n a ly z e d r e le v a n t r e s e a r c h
s tu d ie s ra n g in g from 1910 to 1965 and co n clu d ed t h a t
a co de-em phasis m e t h o d - - i.e ., one t h a t view s b e
g in n in g re a d in g a s e s s e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t from
m ature re a d in g and em phasizes le a r n in g o f th e
p r in te d code f o r th e spoken lan g u a g e — p ro d u ces
b e t t e r r e s u l t s , a t l e a s t up to th e p o in t w here
s u f f i c i e n t e v id e n ce seems to be a v a i l a b l e , th e
end o f th e t h i r d g rad e (1967, p . 3 0 7 ).
1
2
The d e t a i l s rem ain to be d e c id e d : s e v e r a l y e a rs
a f t e r th e p u b lic a tio n o f L e a rn in g to Read; The G re at
D eb ate, we do n o t know w h e th er one o f th e l i n g u i s t i c
a p p ro a c h e s, th e I n i t i a l T each in g A lp h a b e t, o r s y n th e tic o r
a n a l y ti c p h o n ics i s s u p e r io r . The r e s e a r c h im p lic a tio n s ,
how ever, c l e a r l y in d ic a te a need f o r more know ledge o f th e
b a s ic p ro c e s s e s u n d e rly in g word r e c o g n itio n .
These p ro c e s s e s have b een c o n c e p tu a liz e d in F ig u re 1
a s a s e r i e s o f f o u r c h ro n o lo g ic a lly r e l a t e d s ta g e s (D esberg
& B e rd ia n sk y , 1968, p . 3 ) .
In t h e i r e x te n s iv e rev iew o f th e l i t e r a t u r e D esberg
and B erd ian sk y found
t h a t o n ly a few o f th e a s p e c ts o f th e i d e n t i f i
c a tio n p ro c e ss have been s tu d ie d in d e p th , and
t h a t th e s e a s p e c ts p r im a r ily f a l l u n der th e
h e ad in g o f d is c r im in a tio n : l e t t e r d is c r im in a tio n ,
a lp h a b e t m o d if ic a tio n , l e t t e r and word fre q u e n c y ,
word le n g th and sh a p e , and a u d ito r y d is c r im in a
t i o n . B len d in g i s g iv e n l i t t l e c o n s id e r a tio n in
th e l i t e r a t u r e , and p h o n ics r u l e s have o n ly r e
c e n tly begun to r e c e iv e s y s te m a tic a t t e n t i o n
(1968, p . 4 ) .
B len d in g , th e s u b je c t o f th e p r e s e n t p a p e r, may w e ll
have re c e iv e d l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n b ecau se o f i t s c o n tr o v e r s ia l
s t a t u s w ith in th e re a d in g f i e l d , f o r d e s p ite g e n e r a lly
sm a ll c o r r e l a t io n s w ith re a d in g a ch iev e m e n t, extrem e p o s i
tio n s have been ta k e n b o th f o r and a g a i n s t b le n d in g .
B lo o m field and B a rn h a rt (1 9 6 1 ), f o r exam ple, o b je c te d to
b le n d in g b ecau se e x tra n e o u s so u n d s, p a r t i c u l a r l y uh, may
d i s t o r t so u n d in g . F r ie s (1962) opposed b le n d in g on th e
STAGE TIME
D is c rim in a tio n ( v is u a l ►-------------------------------- —— ►
and a u d ito r y d i f f e r e n -
t i a t i o n o f l e t t e r s )
B len d in g (th e p ro d u c tio n -------------- ^ ------------------------- — ^
o f a word th ro u g h syn
t h e s i s o f i t s com ponent
sounds)
P honics R ules (a s e t o f ^ — _ — _ — ►
h ig h e r - o r d e r c o rre sp o n d
ence r u l e s t h a t d e s c r ib e
th e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f
E n g lis h o rth o g ra p h y to
E n g lish p ro n u n c ia tio n )
R e sid u a l (a s ta g e t h a t ^
co m p rises th e c a s e s t h a t
do n o t f i t i n to th e o th e r
c a t e g o r i e s , e . g . , low
freq u e n cy p h o n ics r u l e s )
- ► I n itia l (more e x c lu s iv e ) em phasis
■►Later ( l e s s e x c lu s iv e ) em phasis
F ig u re 1
S ta g e s o f word a t t a c k i n s t r u c t i o n
gro u n d s t h a t th e in c o n s is te n t sounds o f in d iv id u a l l e t t e r s
ten d e d to c o n fu se th e c h i l d . O th er a u th o rs o f re a d in g
m a te r ia ls have j u s t as s tr o n g ly en d o rsed b le n d in g . C arden
(1966) and S p a u ld in g (1962) even recommended t h a t th e c h ild
f i r s t be ta u g h t to b le n d a u d i t o r i a l l y and th e n v i s u a l l y .
B len d in g i s c u r r e n t ly an i n t e g r a l p a r t o f such re a d in g
sy stem s as th e P h o n o v isu al Method (1 9 6 0 ), The L ip p in c o tt
B a sic R eading Program s (1 9 6 3 ), and The S t r u c tu r a l R eading
S e r ie s (1 9 6 3 ).
F u r th e r r e c o g n itio n o f th e b le n d in g s ta g e has been
g iv e n by th e in c lu s io n o f b le n d in g s u b te s ts in d ia g n o s tic
b a t t e r i e s (M onroe, 1932, 1935; Bond, 1935; G a te s, 1945;
G ates & M cK illop, 1962; S pache, 1 9 6 3 ). One in s tru m e n t,
th e R o sw e ll-C h a ll A u d ito ry B len d in g T e s t (1 9 6 3 ), was pub
lis h e d f o r th e s o le p u rp o se o f e s tim a tin g b le n d in g a b i l i t y ,
and th e r e v is io n o f th e I l l i n o i s T e s t o f P s y c h o lin g u is tic
A b i l i t i e s (1968) added a s u b te s t o f sound b le n d in g a s a
f u r t h e r means o f a s s e s s in g c e n t r a l o rg a n iz in g p ro c e s s e s .
B len d in g h as r e c e n t l y re c e iv e d a t t e n t i o n from th e
f i e l d o f b e h a v io ra l e n g in e e rin g . N oting i t s p o s itio n a t
th e end o f th e word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n p ro c e s s , L loyd Homme
e t a l . (1968) su g g e ste d i t s a p p ro p r ia te n e s s f o r th e
b e g in n in g o f re a d in g i n s t r u c t i o n :
In th e la b o r a to r y , th e l a s t member o f th e c h a in
i s th e f i r s t one ta u g h t (Homme & K la u s, 19 6 7 ); so
we a d o p ted th e same s t r a t e g y in te a c h in g re a d in g .
The f i r s t th in g ta u g h t to th e c h ild i s th e
"so u n d -th e-w o rd gam e." T h is sim p ly c o n s is ts in
m aking r e i n f o r c i n g e v e n ts c o n tin g e n t upon th e
c h ild s t r a n s l a t i n g p h o n e tic iz e d w o rd s. For ex
am ple, th e c o n tin g e n c y m anager may sa y to th e
c h i l d , " T e ll me w hat I'm s a y in g , c h u h - a i r '. "
The c h ild who knows th e game w i l l an sw er, " C h a ir."
The c o n tin g e n c y m anager th e n s a y s , "Good, Choose
w hat y o u 'd l i k e to p la y w ith from th e menu. . . . "
Once th e end o f th e c h a in (th e t r a n s l a t i o n s k i l l )
has been e s t a b l is h e d , i t i s a sim ple m a tte r to
move up th e c h a in , s te p by s te p (p . 4 3 0 ).
F or th e m ost p a r t , th e p ro p o n en ts o f th e s e d i f f e r e n t
view s have n o t s u b s ta n tia te d t h e i r p o s itio n s w ith r e s e a r c h
e v id e n c e . The s ta te m e n t o f B lo o m field and B a rn h a rt r e
g a rd in g th e e f f e c t o f e x tra n e o u s sounds i s e s p e c i a l l y
la c k in g in e m p iric a l s u p p o r t. F u rth e rm o re , a l l o f th e s e
p o s itio n s a re p e d a g o g ic a l in t h e i r o r i e n t a t i o n ; t h a t i s ,
th e y a r e p r im a r ily co n cern ed w ith te a c h in g s t r a t e g i e s . An
a l t e r n a t e ap p ro ach w ould be to o b se rv e w hat th e c h ild m ust
a c t u a l l y do when fac ed w ith an u n f a m ilia r w ord. I t has
been h y p o th e siz e d t h a t even in s i l e n t re a d in g th e v i s u a l
s tim u lu s becomes a su b v o c a l a u d ito r y s tim u lu s (G ibson,
P ic k , O s se r, and Hammond, 1 9 6 2 ); c e r t a i n l y , when a c h ild
i s "so u n d in g o u t" a w ord, he i s d e a lin g w ith a u d ito r y
e le m e n ts . In o rd e r f o r th e word to be re c o g n iz e d , th e
a u d ito r y sequence o f phonem es, s y l l a b l e s , o r a co m b in atio n
o f b o th , m ust be b le n d e d in to a m ean in g fu l u n i t . T hus,
r a t h e r th a n d e b a te w h e th er b le n d in g sh o u ld be ta u g h t, we
sh o u ld s e a rc h f o r th e v a r ia b le s t h a t d e te rm in e b l e n d a b i l i t y
and th e re b y f a c i l i t a t e th e b e g in n in g r e a d e r 's a c q u i s i ti o n
o f t h i s s k i l l .
6
Review o f L i t e r a t u r e
In th e p r e s e n t s tu d y and in th e r e l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e ,
th e s u b je c ts b len d ed sounds w hich w ere p re s e n te d a u d i t o r i -
a l l y by th e exam iner h im s e lf o r by a r e c o r d in g . T h is
e x p e rim e n ta l p ro ce d u re p a r a l l e l s th e i n s t r u c t i o n a l p ro c e s s
in w hich th e c h ild le a r n s to b le n d sounds g iv e n by th e
te a c h e r b e fo re he a p p lie s th e s k i l l to a c t u a l r e a d in g .
The R e la tio n s h ip o f B len d in g
and R eading A chievem ent
B len d in g was f i r s t s tu d ie d a s one o f a number o f
a u d ito r y f a c to r s r e l a t e d to b e g in n in g re a d in g a c h ie v e m e n t.
Two o f th e s e e a r ly s tu d ie s used th e m ethod o f com paring th e
a u d ito r y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f s e le c te d gro u p s o f good and
poor r e a d e r s . In su ch a com parison o f 269 r e a d in g - d e f e c t
c a se s and 126 c o n tr o l c a s e s , Monroe (1932) found a s i g n i f i
c a n t d if f e r e n c e in th e a b i l i t y o f th e c o n tr o l g roup to
b len d w o rd s. Bond (1935) s tu d ie d s i x t y - f o u r p a i r s o f
c h ild r e n m atched f o r s e x , a g e , i n t e l l i g e n c e and sc h o o l
e x p e rie n c e , and found s i g n i f i c a n t l y h ig h e r b le n d in g a b i l i t y
among th e good r e a d e r s .
A second group o f s tu d ie s c o r r e l a t e d b le n d in g
a b i l i t y w ith c o n c u rre n t re a d in g ach iev em en t in groups o f
c h ild r e n who w ere n o t s e le c te d f o r any s p e c ia l c h a r a c t e r
i s t i c s . M ulder and C u rtin (1955) t e s t e d s i x t y - t h r e e f o u r th
g ra d e c h ild r e n and o b ta in e d a s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n o f
.44 w ith re a d in g a ch iev e m e n t. U sing n o n sen se s y l l a b l e s
a s s tim u lu s m a t e r i a ls , Balm uth (1966) re p o rte d a h ig h ly
s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n o f .66 f o r boys and .56 f o r g i r l s
in h e r p o p u la tio n o f 210 e le m e n ta ry sc h o o l c h ild r e n in
g ra d e s two th ro u g h s i x . R eynolds (1 9 5 3 ), how ever, d id n o t
fin d a s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p betw een b le n d in g a b i l i t y
and re a d in g ach iev em en t in h e r sam ple o f 188 f o u rth -g r a d e
c h ild r e n .
A t h i r d group o f s tu d ie s h as been co n cern ed w ith
th e p r e d ic tiv e v a lu e o f b le n d in g a b i l i t y f o r su b seq u e n t
re a d in g a c h ie v e m e n t. G a te s, Bond, and R u s s e ll (1939)
found th e .38 c o r r e l a t i o n o f b le n d in g and re a d in g in f i r s t
and second g ra d e among th e h ig h e s t f o r th e a u d ito r y ta s k s
in t h e i r t e s t b a t t e r y . C h a ll, R o sw ell, and B lum enthal
(1963) o b ta in e d an even h ig h e r c o r r e l a t i o n o f .51 in t h e i r
lo n g itu d in a l stu d y o f b le n d in g a b i l i t y in g rad e one and
s i l e n t re a d in g ach iev em en t in g ra d e s th r e e and f o u r .
S im ila r h ig h p o s i t iv e r e l a t i o n s h i p s w ere a ls o found w ith
o r a l re a d in g and t e s t s o f word a n a ly s is s k i l l s . I t should
be n o te d , how ever, t h a t t h i s stu d y used th e sm a ll i n i t i a l
number o f 62 s u b je c ts and t h a t th e f o u r th g rad e c o r r e l a
tio n s w ere made f o r th e f o r t y who w ere s t i l l a v a ila b le f o r
t e s t i n g . In a la r g e r e p r e s e n ta tiv e sam ple o f 724 b e g in
n in g f i r s t - g r a d e c h ild r e n , D y k stra (1966) g a th e re d com plete
d a ta on 632 c a s e s a t th e end o f th e sc h o o l y e a r . A lthough
th e c o r r e l a t i o n o f .24 betw een b le n d in g and re a d in g
achievem ent was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t , i t d id n o t
c o n tr ib u te s u f f i c i e n t l y to th e t o t a l v a ria n c e in re a d in g
s c o re s to be in c lu d e d in a m u ltip le r e g r e s s io n e q u a tio n
p r e d ic tin g re a d in g a ch iev e m e n t.
P h o n o lo g ic a l D e term in a n ts
o f B le n d a b ility
M iriam Balm uth (1966) c o n s tr u c te d th e E x p e rim e n ta l
T e st o f Phoneme B len d in g to stu d y th e r e l a t i o n s h i p betw een
b le n d in g o f n o n sen se s y l l a b l e s and s i l e n t re a d in g a c h ie v e
m ent. In i t s com pleted form th e t e s t c o n ta in e d t h i r t y
m o n o sy lla b le s and m ost o f th e E n g lish c o n so n an ts and
v o w e ls. Her s u b je c ts f o r th e s ta n d a r d iz a tio n o f th e t e s t
w ere 252 New York C ity e le m e n ta ry sc h o o l c h ild r e n in
g ra d e s one th ro u g h s i x . A n a ly sis o f th e d a ta le d to th e
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f s e v e r a l f a c to r s in f lu e n c in g b le n d in g
d i f f i c u l t y :
1 . The number o f p a u s e s . As th e number o f p au ses
in c r e a s e d , th e number o f c o r r e c t l y b len d e d s y l l a b l e s
d e c re a s e d . F if ty - o n e p e r c e n t o f th e sam ple responded to
th e o n e-p au se ite m s , b u t o n ly te n p e r c e n t co u ld b len d th e
fo u r-p a u s e s y l l a b l e s .
2. The p o s i t io n o f each phoneme in r e l a t i o n to
th e t o t a l s y l l a b l e .
3. The p o s itio n o f each phoneme in r e l a t i o n to
9
th e o th e r phonemes in th e s y l l a b l e .
4 . The num ber o f phonemes t h a t m ust be p re s e n te d
a s p a r ts o f b r i e f s y l l a b l e s .
5 . The in h e r e n t d i s c r i m i n a b i l i t y o f th e in d iv id u a l
phonem es.
In l i s t i n g th e s e f a c t o r s , Balm uth s t r e s s e d th e
im p o s s ib ility o f o rd e rin g them on a s c a le o f in flu e n c e
s in c e th e r e l a t i v e d i f f i c u l t y o f a g iv en b len d e d
ite m w i l l be a f f e c te d d i f f e r e n t l y by any g iv en
f a c t o r , d ep en d in g upon th e form s and co m b in atio n s
o f a l l th e f a c t o r s in t h a t ite m (p . 8 8 ).
In a s tu d y w ith k in d e rg a rte n c h ild r e n , Laumbach
(1968) ra n k -o rd e re d 298 tw o-sound w ords a c c o rd in g to
b le n d in g d i f f i c u l t y . H er w ork was l a t e r expanded by
Coleman (1 9 6 8 a ), who re p o rte d th e combined r e s u l t s . In
C olem an's e x p erim e n t each c h ild resp o n d ed to a l l o f th e
578 tw o-sound s y l l a b l e s t h a t c o u ld be form ed by p a ir in g
i n i t i a l c o n so n an t phonemes w ith vow els and i n i t i a l vow el
phonemes w ith f i n a l c o n s o n a n ts . H is fin d in g s w ere in
agreem ent w ith th o s e o f Laumbach:
1 . C onsonant-vow el s y l l a b l e s w ere more d i f f i c u l t
th a n v o w el-co n so n an t s y l l a b l e s .
2 . V ow el-consonant s y l l a b l e s en d in g in a v o ic e d
co n so n an t ( e . g . , b , d , g) w ere more d i f f i c u l t th a n s y l
l a b le s en d in g in an unv o iced co n so n an t ( e . g . , c h , f , k ) .
3 . S h o rt vow els w ere h a rd e r to b len d th a n lo n g
10
v o w e ls.
4 . F o r co n so n an t-v o w el s y l l a b l e s , vow els e n d in g in
a ro u n d in g o f f g l id e (how, d u e, b o o t, r £ t e ) w ere more d i f
f i c u l t to b le n d th a n vow els e n d in g in a f r o n tin g o f f g l id e
(boy, b i d e , s e e , c a k e ).
The e f f e c t s o f co n so n an t c a te g o ry and le n g th o f
pause betw een s t i m u l i w ere among th e f a c to r s in v e s tig a te d
by D esberg (1 9 6 9 ). In h is e x p erim e n t 60 f i r s t g rad e
c h ild r e n w ere random ly a s s ig n e d to fo u r d i f f e r e n t t r e a t
ment g ro u p s. Each group was g iv e n a l i s t o f 10 tw o-
phoneme w ords to b le n d under f iv e c o n d itio n s o f i n t e r
l e t t e r i n t e r v a l le n g th ra n g in g from a p ause o f two seconds
to no pause a t a l l . The fo u r tre a tm e n ts d i f f e r e d in t h a t
one group re c e iv e d h ig h fre q u e n c y w ords b e g in n in g w ith
c o n so n an t s to p s ( e . g . , b , p , t ) , w h ile a second g roup had
h ig h fre q u e n c y w ords b e g in n in g w ith c o n so n an t c o n tin u a n ts
( e . g . , m, s , r ) . The t h i r d and f o u r th groups w ere s i m il a r
ly v a r ie d a s to co n so n an t c a te g o ry w ith in th e low fre q u e n c y
word l e v e l . The fo llo w in g mean num bers o f c o r r e c t word
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s w ere o b ta in e d f o r th e f iv e i n t e r - l e t t e r
i n t e r v a l s :
0 .0 S ec. 0 .5 S ec. 1 .0 S e c . 1 .5 S ec. 2 .0 S ec.
1 .717 1 .317 1 .233 1.133 1.067
The i n i t i a l a n a ly s is o f th e d a ta showed a s i g n i f i c a n t
i n t e r - l e t t e r i n t e r v a l e f f e c t , b u t su b seq u e n t a n a ly s is by a
11
Neuman-Keuls t e s t a ssig n e d th e s ig n if ic a n c e e n t i r e l y to
d if f e r e n c e s w ith th e h ig h perform ance o f th e 0 .0 second
g ro u p . When a new a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e was perform ed
w hich o m itte d t h i s g ro u p , th e i n t e r v a l f a c t o r was n o t
s i g n i f i c a n t . The l i n e a r tr e n d , how ever, was s t i l l s i g
n i f i c a n t , though n o t a s p o w erfu l a s f o r a l l f iv e i n t e r v a l s .
The f in d in g f o r th e e f f e c t o f co n so n an t c a te g o ry
fav o re d s to p s : w ords b e g in n in g w ith s to p s w ere i d e n t i f i e d
s i g n i f i c a n t l y more o f te n th a n w ords b e g in n in g w ith con
t in u a n t s .
F requency o f Usage
The power o f fre q u e n c y o f usage as a d e te rm in a n t o f
word r e c o g n itio n was d e m o n stra te d by Howes and Solomon in
1951. U sing th e m ethod o f tim ed ta c h is to s c o p ic p r e s e n ta
t i o n , th e y o b ta in e d c o r r e l a t io n s o f —.6 8 to —.7 5 betw een
le n g th o f e x p o su re and word fre q u e n c y . (The n e g a tiv e
c o r r e l a t io n in d ic a te s th e low th r e s h o ld f o r h ig h freq u e n cy
w ords and th e h ig h th r e s h o ld f o r low fre q u e n c y w o rd s.) On
th e b a s is o f t h e i r f in d in g s , th e in v e s ti g a t o r s concluded
t h a t
th e v is u a l d u r a tio n th re s h o ld o f a w ord, m easured
ta c h is to s c o p i c a l ly by an a sc e n d in g method o f
l i m i t s , i s an a p p ro x im a te ly l i n e a r f u n c tio n o f
th e lo g a rith m o f th e r e l a t i v e fre q u e n c y w ith
w hich t h a t word o c cu rs in th e T h o rn d ik e-L o rg e
word c o u n ts (p . 4 1 0 ).
T h is in v e rs e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f freq u e n cy and word r e c o g n i
t io n was found to p e r ta in to th e a u d ito r y th r e s h o ld as
12
w e ll a s th e v is u a l (S a v in , 1 9 6 3 ).
In a group o f r e l a t e d s tu d ie s th e freq u e n cy v a r i
a b le was b ro u g h t u n der c lo s e r c o n tr o l th ro u g h th e use o f
e x p e rim e n ta lly m an ip u lated n o n sen se s y l l a b l e s (Solomon and
Postm an, 1952; K ln g -E llis o n and J e n k in s , 1 9 5 4 ). These
s tu d ie s In d ic a te d t h a t th e e f f e c t o f word fre q u e n c y was
even s tr o n g e r th a n had p re v io u s ly been d e m o n s tra te d . As
th e amount o f e x p e rie n c e w ith n o n sen se w ords was In
c re a s e d , th e d u ra tio n th re s h o ld became m arkedly s h o r t e r .
In th e K ln g -E llls o n and J e n k in s ex p erim e n t th e extrem e
c o r r e l a t io n o f —.99 was o b ta in e d betw een th e mean ex p o su re
tim e and th e lo g a rith m o f th e fre q u e n c y o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
B ru n e r, M ille r , and Zimmerman (1955) d e m o n stra te d th e
r e d u c tio n in a u d ito r y th r e s h o ld In t h e i r ex p erim en t w ith
n o n sen se m o n o sy lla b le s masked by n o is e .
Only one stu d y o f a u d ito r y b le n d in g c o n tr o lle d f o r
word fre q u e n c y (D esb erg , 1 9 6 9 ), a n d , a s p r e d ic te d in th e
e x p e rim e n ta l h y p o th e s e s , i t proved a h ig h ly s i g n i f i c a n t
f a c t o r . In Laum bach's (1968) e x p erim e n t a s tro n g p r a c tic e
e f f e c t co u ld w e ll a c c o u n t f o r h e r f a i l u r e to fin d any
in flu e n c e o f word fre q u e n c y . Balm uth (1966) d id n o t
c o n tr o l in any way f o r th e e f f e c t o f fre q u e n c y in h e r
stu d y w ith n o n sen se s y l l a b l e s .
M ethods o f P r e s e n ta tio n
In 1962 B u g e lsk i h y p o th e s iz e d t h a t th e amount o f
13
le a r n in g u n d er d i f f e r e n t c o n d itio n s o f p r e s e n ta tio n d e
pended on th e t o t a l p r a c t i c e tim e and n o t on th e m ethods
th e m se lv e s:
I t i s th e p r e s e n t h y p o th e s is t h a t in a t l e a s t
some a r e a s o f m e m o riz a tio n , and under some con
d i t i o n s o f p r e s e n t a ti o n , th e d e g re e o f le a rn in g
w i l l be a fu n c tio n o f t o t a l tim e , r e g a r d le s s o f
th e d u r a tio n o f th e in d iv id u a l t r i a l s o r i n t e r
ite m tim e s (p . 4 0 9 ).
T h is h y p o th e s is was t e s t e d in an e x p erim e n t in w hich sub
j e c t s r e c e iv e d p a ir s o f n o n se n se s y l l a b l e s in t r i a l s
ra n g in g from s i x to n in e te e n seconds in le n g th . The mean
num ber o f t r i a l s to l e a r n th e l i s t ranged from 10.2 t r i a l s
f o r th e s ix -s e c o n d group to o n ly 3 .3 t r i a l s f o r th e
1 9 -second g ro u p . However, th e t o t a l tim e re q u ire d to
l e a r n th e l i s t v a rie d by o n ly one second (6 1 .2 and 6 2 .2
se c o n d s , r e s p e c t i v e l y ) .
The r e s u l t s o f su b se q u e n t e x p e rim e n ts w ith d i f f e r e n t
m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n w ere re p o rte d in term s o f t o t a l
le a r n in g tim e r a t h e r th a n s h e e r number o f t r i a l s . Postm an
and Goggin (1964) com pared w hole and p a r t le a rn in g o f
s e r i a l l i s t s r e p r e s e n tin g th e fo u r p o s s ib le co m b in atio n s
o f h ig h and low m e a n in g fu ln e ss and h ig h and low i n t r a l i s t
s i m i l a r i t y . T o ta l le a r n in g tim es f o r a l l groups ra n g e d
from 166.9 to 3 2 3 .1 s e c o n d s . When th e p a r t le a rn in g tim es
w ere s u b tr a c te d from th e w hole le a r n in g tim e s , sm a ll b u t
s i g n i f i c a n t g a in s ra n g in g from 2 5 .7 to 4 1 .2 seconds w ere
fo u n d . The a b se n c e o f i n t e r a c t i o n s betw een m ethods o f
14
p r e s e n ta tio n and e x p e rim e n ta l groups le d th e i n v e s ti g a t o r s
to co n clu d e th a t
th e am ounts o f re s p o n se le a r n in g and in te r ite m
d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n r e q u ir e d f o r m a ste ry o f a l i s t
o f g iv en le n g th a r e fix e d in la r g e m easure by
such v a r ia b le s a s m ea n in g fu ln e ss and i n t r a l i s t
s i m i l a r i t y and c an n o t be s u b s t a n t i a l l y m o d ified
by s u b d iv is io n o f th e t o t a l ta s k i n to u n i t s o f
p r a c tic e (p . 1 4 9 ). . . . In s h o r t , m aste ry o f
th e t o t a l l i s t c an n o t be a c h ie v e d u n le s s and
u n t i l in te r ite m d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n h as been c a r r ie d
to a m in im ally a d e q u a te l e v e l , r e g a r d le s s o f th e
m ethod o f p r a c t ic e (p . 1 5 0 ).
John Jung (1964) used a c u m u la tiv e m ethod o f
p r e s e n ta tio n (CM) f o r s e r i a l le a r n in g ta s k s in w hich th e
in tr o d u c tio n o f a new item was alw ays p reced ed by a r e p e t i
t io n o f th e e a r l i e r ite m s . T hus, in h is ex p erim en t th e
f i r s t o f n in e n o n sen se s y l l a b l e s was p re s e n te d n in e tim e s ,
w h ile th e l a s t s y l l a b l e ap p ea re d o n ly once a t th e end o f
th e l i s t . The t o t a l tim e was e q u a te d by p r e s e n tin g th e
e n t i r e l i s t f iv e tim e s to th e s ta n d a rd m ethod (SM) g ro u p .
As in a s e r i e s o f e x p erim e n ts w ith p a ir e d - a s s o c ia te le a r n
in g r e p o rte d in th e same p a p e r, Jung found no s i g n i f i c a n t
d if f e r e n c e s betw een m ethods:
The la c k o f c o n s i s t e n t d if f e r e n c e s in amount o f
le a r n in g betw een C M and SM th ro u g h o u t th e p r e s e n t
s tu d ie s s u g g e s ts t h a t S can p erfo rm w ith a b o u t
e q u a l e f f i c ie n c y u n der w id e ly d i f f e r e n t c o n d itio n s
in p a ir e d - a s s o c ia te and s e r i a l le a r n in g (p . 2 9 9 ).
Summary
The e a r l y s tu d ie s o f a u d ito r y b le n d in g w ere u n d e r
ta k e n to e s t a b l i s h a c o r r e l a t i o n w ith c o n c u rre n t o r
15
su b seq u e n t re a d in g a c h ie v e m e n t. A lthough th e r e s u l t s o f
th e s e e x p erim e n ts have g e n e r a lly shown b u t sm a ll p o s itiv e
c o r r e l a t i o n s , th e p o s itio n s o f te a c h e rs o f re a d in g have
ran g ed from co m p lete r e j e c t i o n to s tro n g ad v o cacy . I t was
su g g e ste d t h a t t h i s is s u e i s somewhat s p u rio u s s in c e a t
some s ta g e in th e word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n p ro c e s s th e a u d ito r y
s tim u li m ust be s y n th e s iz e d (b len d e d ) i n to a re c o g n iz a b le
w ord.
In l i n e w ith th e c u r r e n t i n t e r e s t in m ethods o f
te a c h in g re a d in g t h a t s t r e s s b re a k in g th e co d e, r e c e n t
s tu d ie s have fo cu sed on th e a c t u a l p a ra m e te rs o f th e
b le n d in g p ro c e s s . S ig n if ic a n t d if f e r e n c e s have been found
betw een such c la s s e s a s co n so n an t s to p s and c o n tin u a n ts ,
long and s h o r t v o w e ls, h ig h and low fre q u e n c y w o rd s, and
w ords o f v a ry in g number o f p a u s e s . D if f e r e n t m ethods o f
p r e s e n tin g v e rb a l m a te r ia ls w ere c o n sid e re d in th e rev iew
o f l i t e r a t u r e , a s th e y have p o t e n t i a l b e a rin g on e a se o f
b le n d in g .
E x p erim e n tal Q u e stio n s
The e x p e rim e n ta l q u e s tio n s o f t h i s s tu d y w ere
o rg a n iz e d around th e c o n ce p t o f a h ie r a r c h y o f b l e n d a b il i -
t y , a ra n k -o rd e rin g o f th e m ost a p p r o p r ia te c la s s e s o f
w ords f o r b le n d in g i n s t r u c t i o n . The im m ed iately p re c e d in g
s tu d ie s o f Laumbach (1968) and D esberg (1969) w ere view ed
as e f f o r t s to i d e n t i f y th e f a c t o r s t h a t c o n tr ib u te d to
16
e a se o f b le n d in g . The g o a l o f th e t o t a l r e s e a r c h e f f o r t
was th u s c o n ce iv e d a s an e m p ir ic a lly e s ta b lis h e d sequence
o f m a te r ia ls and m ethods f o r te a c h in g b e g in n in g r e a d e r s to
b le n d w ith o p tim a l chances f o r s u c c e s s .
1 . Should b le n d in g i n s t r u c t i o n b e g in w ith p o ly
s y l l a b l e s o r m o n o sy lla b le s? Homme (1968) used w h a tev e r
w ords he o r th e c h ild r e n th o u g h t o f , and m ost c u r r e n t t e s t s
o f b le n d in g u se e i t h e r m o n o sy lla b le s o r a co m b in atio n o f
m o n o sy lla b le s and p o ly s y lla b le s . The form er a r e p re s e n te d
to th e c h ild a s a s e r i e s o f s in g le l e t t e r sounds o r
phonem es. The word " c a t ," f o r exam ple, i s pronounced as
th e th r e e phonemes / k / , / a / and / t / . S in ce chan g in g even
one phoneme w ould r e s u l t in a new w ord, th e phoneme may be
d e fin e d a s th e s m a lle s t u n i t o f sp eech w hich s e rv e s to
d i s t in g u i s h betw een w o rd s. By c o n t r a s t , p o ly s y lla b le s a re
p re s e n te d a s a s e r i e s o f s in g le vow el phonemes and i n
te g r a te d gro u p s o f c o n so n an t and vow el phonem es. The word
" c a t a p u l t ," f o r exam ple, would be p re s e n te d a s / k a t - a - p u l t / .
I t i s p o s s ib le t h a t th e a d d it i o n a l c lu e s in p o ly s y lla b le s
w ould make them e a s i e r to b le n d ; a l s o , th e e x tra n e o u s "uh"
fo llo w in g th e p ro n u n c ia tio n o f a phoneme in i s o l a t i o n i s
a b s e n t in th e p ro n u n c ia tio n o f an i n t a c t s y l l a b l e .
2 . Would a p ro g re s s iv e p a r t method f a c i l i t a t e
b le n d in g ? C h ild re n who have e x p e rie n c e d d i f f i c u l t y in
le a r n in g to b le n d a re o f te n u n a b le to remember th e b e g in
n in g o f a word when th e y have re a c h e d th e en d .
17
P r e s e n ta tio n in a c u m u lativ e m ethod from e i t h e r th e b e g in
n in g o r th e end o f a word w ould p ro v id e r e p e t i t i o n o f th e
e n t i r e c h a in and th u s in c r e a s e th e lik e lih o o d o f a c o r r e c t
word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .
3 . Should h ig h fre q u e n c y s tim u lu s w ords be p re
se n te d b e fo re low fre q u e n c y w ords in b le n d in g in s tr u c tio n ?
P re v io u s s tu d ie s have shown t h a t fre q u e n c y o f usage i s a
p o w erfu l d e te rm in a n t o f word r e c o g n itio n ; a s su c h , i t was
in c lu d e d in th e p r e s e n t stu d y to o b se rv e i n te r a c t i o n s w ith
th e o th e r v a r i a b le s and to p re v e n t a co n fo u n d in g o f f r e
quency w ith o th e r e f f e c t s .
4 . Are two o r three-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s e a s i e r
to b le n d ? The s tu d ie s o f C h a ll, R o sw ell, and B lum enthal
(1963) and Balm uth (1966) showed t h a t d i f f i c u l t y o f
b le n d in g in c re a s e s w ith th e num ber o f phonem es.
5 . Are two o r t h r e e - s y l l a b l e p o ly s y lla b le s e a s i e r
to b le n d ? The in c re a s e d c lu e s and d i s t i n c t i v e n e s s from
o th e r w ords m ight make lo n g e r w ords e a s i e r to b le n d , j u s t
a s th e y w ere e a s i e r to re c o g n iz e in S a v in 's (1963) e x p e r i
ment in w hich th e y w ere masked by n o is e .
Up to t h i s p o in t in th e d is c u s s io n , th e c o n s t it u e n t
p a r t s o f m o n o sy lla b le s and p o ly s y lla b le s have been r e
f e r r e d to a s phonemes and s y l l a b l e s , r e s p e c t iv e ly . How
e v e r , in o rd e r to p r e s e n t th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s stu d y in
ta b u l a r form , i t w i l l be n e c e s s a ry to subsume th e s e term s
18
u n d er th e g e n e ric name o f word p a r t s . In f u r t h e r d is c u s
s io n o f two and t h r e e - p a r t w o rd s, i t sh o u ld be remembered
t h a t p a r t alw ays d e n o te s phoneme in r e f e r e n c e to m onosyl
l a b le s and s y l l a b l e when th e r e fe re n c e i s to p o ly s y l
l a b l e s .
6. I s i t p r e f e r a b le to p re s e n t m o n o sy lla b le s
b e g in n in g w ith s to p s r a t h e r th a n w ith c o n tin u a n ts ? The
p re s e n t stu d y c o n ta in s t h i s p a r t i a l r e p l i c a t i o n o f
D e sb e rg 's (1969) e x p e rim e n t.
These e x p e rim e n ta l q u e s tio n s y ie ld e d th e fo llo w in g
s p e c i f i c h y p o th e s e s , each o f w hich i s s t a te d in term s o f
i t s r e s e a r c h e x p e c ta tio n and th e r e l a t e d n u l l h y p o th e s is .
H ypotheses
lH ; i-_ w o rd s p re s e n te d in a forw ard o r backward
p ro g re s s iv e method w i l l be i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n th an
w ords p re s e n te d s in g ly .
lH ; o --T h e re w i l l be no d if f e r e n c e s in th e number o f
w ords i d e n t i f i e d among th e th r e e m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
2 ^ :1 — P o ly s y lla b le s w i l l be i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n
th a n m o n o sy lla b le s.
2H; o—Th e re w i l l be no d if f e r e n c e s betw een mono
s y l l a b l e s and p o ly s y lla b le s .
3H;1—High fre q u e n c y w ords w i l l be i d e n t i f i e d more
o f te n th a n low fre q u e n c y w o rd s.
19
3 ^ :0 —T here w i l l be no d if f e r e n c e s betw een h ig h and
low fre q u e n c y w o rd s.
4 H ;l--T W o -p a rt m o n o sy lla b le s w i l l be i d e n t i f i e d
more o f te n th a n t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s .
4 ^ :0 --T h e re w i l l be no d if f e r e n c e s betw een two and
t h r e e - p a r t m o n o s y lla b le s .
5H; i- _ T h r e e - p a r t p o ly s y lla b le s w i l l be i d e n t i f i e d
more o f te n th a n tw o -p a rt p o ly s y lla b le s .
5H 0:--T here w i l l be no d if f e r e n c e s betw een two and
t h r e e - p a r t p o l y s y l la b l e s .
6 ^ :l- - lf o n o s y lla b le s b e g in n in g w ith s to p s w i l l be
i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n th a n m o n o sy lla b le s b e g in n in g w ith
c o n tin u a n ts .
6HjO—T here w i l l be no d if f e r e n c e s betw een mono
s y l l a b l e s b e g in n in g w ith s to p s and th o se b e g in n in g w ith
c o n tin u a n ts .
CHAPTER II
M ETH O D
S u b je c ts
The s u b je c ts a tte n d e d e le m e n ta ry sc h o o l In a p re
d o m in a n tly m id d le -c la s s C aucasian sc h o o l d i s t r i c t .* - They
w ere a l l h ig h f i r s t - g r a d e r s w ith norm al h e a r in g . S in ce
th e e x p erim en t was n o t p rim a rily d e sig n e d to t e s t d i f f e r
e n ce s betw een c la s s e s o f sounds, no a tte m p t was made to
s e c u re a c o m p le te ly homogeneous group o f sp e a k e rs o f
s ta n d a rd E n g lis h . The sam ple in c lu d e d one Negro and
s e v e r a l c h ild r e n o f L a tin Am erican b ack g ro u n d .
S tim u lu s M a te ria ls
The s tim u lu s m a te r ia ls w ere g e n e ra te d by a random
s e a rc h o f A b a s ic v o c a b u la ry o f e le m e n ta ry sc h o o l c h ild r e n
(R in sla n d , 1945) f o r th e f i r s t tw e n ty -fo u r w ords t h a t would
m eet th e p re d e te rm in e d c r i t e r i a f o r s e l e c t i o n . B r i e f l y ,
th e re q u ire m e n ts w ere t h a t th e words be e v e n ly d iv id e d
betw een h ig h and low fre q u e n c ie s , betw een two and
*The s u b je c ts w ere from th e Orangewood School in
W est C ovina, C a li f o r n ia .
20
21
t h r e e - s y l l a b l e w ords In one l i s t and two and three-phonem e
w ords In th e o t h e r , and t h a t th e words in t h i s l a t t e r l i s t
a ls o be b a la n c e d fo r I n i t i a l c o n so n an t s to p s and c o n tin u
a n t s . Compound w ords and w ords b e g in n in g w ith vow els w ere
n o t in c lu d e d in th e s tu d y . High fre q u e n c y w ords w ere
a r b i t r a r i l y d e fin e d a s th o se f a l l i n g in th e f i r s t two
th o u san d in b o th th e R in sla n d (1945) and T h orndike (1944)
c o u n ts ; low fre q u e n c y w ords w ere d e fin e d a s th o se f a l l i n g
in th e s i x t h to th e te n th th o u san d in T horndike w hich d id
n o t o c cu r b e fo re th e t h ir d g rad e a t th e e a r l i e s t in th e
R in sla n d c o u n t.
A ta b le o f random num bers was c o n s u lte d to d e te rm in e
th e page and word w ith w hich to b e g in th e s e a r c h . The
words w ere so u g h t in th e fo llo w in g o r d e r : t h r e e - s y l l a b l e ,
tw o - s y lla b le , th ree-p h o n em e, tw o-phonem e. I f a h ig h f r e
quency word w ere lo c a te d f i r s t , th e s e a rc h was c o n tin u e d
from t h a t p o in t u n t i l a low freq u e n cy word was found w hich
met th e c r i t e r i a o f b o th word l i s t s . Then a new e n tr y was
made in th e l i s t f o r th e n e x t w ord. T here w ere o n ly th r e e
e x c e p tio n s to th e c r i t e r i a : law ap p ea re d in th e t h i r d
th o u san d o f th e R in sla n d c o u n t in s te a d o f in th e f i r s t two
th o u sa n d , and doe and ry e ap p ea re d b e fo re th e t h i r d g ra d e .
I t was n e c e s s a ry to make th e s e e x c e p tio n s to f i l l th e l a s t
th r e e sp a ce s f o r two-phoneme w o rd s.
The m o n o sy lla b le s and p o ly s y lla b le s w ere d iv id e d
in to two l i s t s o f tw elv e w ords (s e e T ab le 1 ) . W ith in each
22
TABLE 1
S tim u lu s Words
P o ly s y lla b le s M o n o sy lla b le s
T w o-Part T h re e -P a rt T w o-P art T h re e -P a rt
H igh F re q u en c y : c o u sin company shoe c h a in
farm e r p r e s id e n t law cake
g ard en S a tu rd a y cow f e e t
Low F re q u en c y : c re v ic e b a lc o n y doe d ik e
f i l t e r prom otion jaw lo in
g a lle y s ig n a tu r e ry e f i g
23
c a te g o ry th e w ords w ere random ly grouped w ith th e p r o v is io n
t h a t a l l th r e e o f one freq u e n cy c o u ld n o t be c o n s e c u tiv e .
The w ords w ere pronounced and d iv id e d in to s y l l a b l e s in
a c c o rd a n c e w ith W e b s te r's T h ird New I n t e r n a ti o n a l D ic tio n
a ry o f th e E n g lis h Language (1 9 6 1 ). A f te r th e w ords w ere
re c o rd e d , two ta p e s w ere made f o r each o f th e s i x e x p e r i
m en tal gro u p s in o rd e r to c o u n te rb a la n c e f o r number o f
word p a r t s . One ta p e began w ith th e s i x tw o -p a rt w ords,
and th e o th e r began w ith t h r e e - p a r t w o rd s. A pause o f one
second was allo w e d betw een s y l l a b l e s and phonem es. In th e
s in g le method o f p r e s e n ta tio n , each p a r t o f th e word was
s a id one tim e (com -pa-ny; c h - a i - n ) ; in th e forw ard p ro
g r e s s iv e m ethod th e i n i t i a l p a r ts w ere re p e a te d (com,
com -pa, com -pa-ny; c h , c h - a i , c h - a i - n ) , w h ile in th e back
w ard p r o g r e s s iv e method th e p ro c e d u re was re v e rs e d (ny,
p a -n y , com -pa-ny; n , a i - n , c h - a i - n ) .
The s tim u lu s words w ere m a ste r re c o rd e d on an Ampex
601 ta p e r e c o r d e r and th e n t r a n s f e r r e d to c a s s e t t e s from
an Ampex 602 r e c o r d e r o n to an Ampex c a s s e t t e d e c k .^ The
r e s u l t i n g s tim u lu s m a te r ia ls w ere p re s e n te d to th e s u b je c ts
on a C ra ig c a s s e t t e deck w ith an e x te n s io n sp e a k e r a t
a p p ro x im a te ly th e volume o f th e e x a m in e r's norm al sp e a k in g
v o ic e .
^The f a c i l i t i e s o f th e USC D epartm ent o f I n s t r u c
t i o n a l T echnology w ere u t i l i z e d in m aking th e ta p e s .
George B ooth was th e n a r r a t o r , and Don R u e te r was th e
te c h n ic ia n .
24
P ro ced u re
The c h ild r e n a lre a d y knew th e exam iner from h is
v i s i t to t h e i r c la ssro o m s th e week p re c e d in g th e e x p e r i
m ent. A lthough th e y d id n o t know th e e x a c t n a tu r e o f th e
s tu d y , th e y d id know t h a t i t had som ething to do w ith
re a d in g and w ith word gam es. As each c h ild e n te re d th e
t e s t i n g room , he was random ly a s s ig n e d to one o f th e s ix
tre a tm e n t g ro u p s: (1) s in g le m o n o s y lla b le s , (2) forw ard
p ro g re s s iv e m o n o sy lla b le s , (3) backw ard p r o g r e s s iv e mono
s y l l a b l e s , (4) s in g le p o ly s y lla b le s , (5) forw ard p ro
g r e s s iv e p o ly s y lla b le s , and (6) backw ard p ro g re s s iv e
p o ly s y lla b le s . Then th e exam iner a sk e d , "Do you have a
ta p e r e c o r d e r ? " T y p ic a lly , a c h il d w ould an sw er, "No, b u t
my s i s t e r ( f a t h e r , n e ig h b o r) d o e s ."
E. "Then you know how i t w o rk s. What I d id
was to p u t some words on ta p e and th e n c u t th e ta p e
so t h a t th e w ords w ere b ro k en i n to two and th re e
p ie c e s . What th e o th e r c h ild r e n have done i s to
g u ess w hat th e words w ere b e fo re I c u t them u p ."
S. "Oh . . . l i k e a p u z z le ."
E . "Y es. Do you th in k you can do t h a t ? "
S . "Y e s."
E. " A ll r i g h t . [The d i r e c ti o n s in t h i s
exam ple a r e f o r th e forw ard p r o g r e s s iv e m ethod w ith
25
p o ly s y lla b ic w o rd s.] Now, to make i t e a s i e r f o r
you I 'v e f i r s t re c o rd e d th e way th e word s t a r t s .
Y o u 'll h e a r t h a t f i r s t , th e n my v o ic e w i l l s a y ,
'Now h e r e 's th e w o r d ,' and you w i l l h e a r th e w hole
w ord. Then you g u ess w hat i t i s . L e t 's l i s t e n
to one, and y o u 'l l u n d e rsta n d w hat I m ean."
T ape: "Doc . . . Now h e r e 's th e w ord: d o c - t o r ."
I f th e c h ild had no d i f f i c u l t y w ith " d o c -to r," he
p ro ceed ed to th e n e x t ite m , " y e l- lo w ." I f he d id n o t
answ er c o r r e c t l y , th e ite m was re p la y e d and G h e lp e d him
to g ra s p th e c o n ce p t th ro u g h d e m o n s tra tio n , a s k in g him to
r e p e a t th e so u n d s, and e n co u rag in g him to sa y them f a s t e r
w h ile l i s t e n i n g f o r th e w ord. Once th e c h ild u n d e rsto o d
th e t a s k , he t r i e d th e re m a in in g th r e e t r i a l ite m s . The
re q u ire m e n t f o r p a r t i c i p a t i o n in th e s tu d y was c o r r e c t
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f a t l e a s t two t r i a l w o rd s .3
In d ep en d en t V a ria b le s
1 . Word c a te g o ry c o n s is te d o f two l e v e l s : mono
s y l l a b l e s and p o l y s y l la b l e s .
2 . Method o f p r e s e n ta tio n c o n s is te d o f th r e e
l e v e l s : s i n g l e , fo rw ard p r o g r e s s iv e , and backw ard p ro
g r e s s i v e .
3
Seven s u b je c ts w ere u n ab le to m eet t h i s r e q u ir e
m ent and w ere e lim in a te d from th e s tu d y .
26
3 . S tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y c o n s is te d o f two l e v e l s :
h ig h and lo w -fre q u e n c y w o rd s.
4 . Number o f word p a r t s c o n s is te d o f two l e v e l s :
tw o -p a rt w ords and t h r e e - p a r t w ords*
5 . C onsonant c a te g o ry w ith in m o n o sy lla b le s con
s i s t e d o f two l e v e l s : w ords b e g in n in g w ith s to p s and w ords
b e g in n in g w ith c o n tin u a n ts .
D ependent V a ria b le
The d ep en d en t v a r ia b le was th e num ber o f w ords c o r
r e c t l y i d e n t i f i e d .
E x p erim e n tal D esign
The e x p e rim e n t r e s u l te d in a 2 x 3 x 2 x 2 a n a ly s is
o f v a ria n c e d e s ig n w ith two in d ep e n d en t group f a c t o r s and
two re p e a te d m easures f a c t o r s . The in d ep e n d en t group f a c
to r s w ere word c a te g o ry w ith two l e v e l s , m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s , and m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n w ith th r e e
l e v e l s , s i n g l e , forw ard p ro g re s s iv e and backw ard p ro
g r e s s iv e . The re p e a te d m easures f a c t o r s w ere word f r e
quency w ith two l e v e l s , h ig h and low fre q u e n c y w o rd s, and
number o f word p a r t s w ith two l e v e l s , tw o -p a rt w ords and
t h r e e - p a r t w o rd s. F ig u re 2 p r e s e n ts a d iag ram o f th e
d e s ig n .
The f a c t o r o f c o n so n an t c a te g o ry c o n s is te d o f two
l e v e l s , s to p s and c o n tin u a n ts , f o r th e m o n o sy lla b le g roup
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n
S in g le Forw ard Backward
Two-
P a r t
T h ree-
P a r t
Two-
P a rt
T h ree-
P a rt
Two-
P a r t
T h ree-
P a r t
M o n o sy llab les
H igh F requency
Low F requency
P o ly s y lla b le s
H igh F requency
Low Frequency
F ig u re 2 . - 2 x 3 x 2 x 2 a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e
o n ly . T h is was a n a ly z e d as a 3 x 2 x 2 d e s ig n f o r th e
m o n o sy lla b le gro u p : 3 tr e a tm e n ts x 2 le v e ls o f s tim u lu s
word fre q u e n c y x 2 co n so n an t c a t e g o r i e s . F ig u re 3
p r e s e n ts a diagram o f th e d e s ig n .
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n
S in g le Forw ard Backward
C onsonant
S tops
Low F requency
High F requency
C onsonant
C o n tin u a n ts
Low F requency
H igh F requency
F ig u re 3 . - 3 x 2 x 2 a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e
NJ
VO
CHAPTER III
RESULTS
In t h i s e x p erim e n t s i x t y s u b je c ts w ere random ly
a s s ig n e d in e q u a l numbers to tre a tm e n t groups w hich
d i f f e r e d in s tim u lu s word c a te g o ry (m o n o sy llab le o r
p o ly s y lla b le ) and method o f p r e s e n ta tio n ( s i n g l e , forw ard
p r o g r e s s iv e , backw ard p r o g r e s s iv e ) . T h is r e s u lte d in s i x
in d ep e n d en t g ro u p s :
1 . s in g le p r e s e n ta tio n o f m o n o sy lla b le s
2 . forw ard p ro g re s s iv e p r e s e n ta tio n o f
m o n o sy lla b le s
3 . backw ard p ro g re s s iv e p r e s e n ta tio n o f
m o n o sy lla b le s
4 . s in g le p r e s e n ta tio n o f p o ly s y lla b le s
5 . forw ard p ro g re s s iv e p r e s e n ta tio n o f
p o ly s y lla b le s
6 . backw ard p ro g re s s iv e p r e s e n ta tio n o f
p o ly s y lla b le s .
The tw elv e stim u lu s w ords w ith in th e m o n o sy lla b le
and p o ly s y lla b le word c a te g o r ie s w ere e v e n ly d iv id e d
betw een h ig h and low fre q u e n c y w ords and two and th r e e -
p a r t w o rd s. The d i f f e r e n t c o m b in atio n s o f th e s e two
30
31
re p e a te d m easures f a c to r s r e s u l te d in e ig h t d i s t i n c t i v e
s e t s o f th r e e w ords each :
1. h ig h freq u e n cy tw o -p a rt m o n o sy lla b le s
2 . h ig h freq u e n cy t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s
3. low freq u e n cy tw o -p a rt m o n o sy lla b le s
4 . low freq u e n cy t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s
5. h ig h fre q u e n c y tw o -p a rt p o ly s y lla b le s
6 . h ig h freq u e n cy t h r e e - p a r t p o ly s y lla b le s
7. low freq u e n cy tw o -p a rt p o ly s y lla b le s
8 . low fre q u e n c y t h r e e - p a r t p o ly s y lla b le s .
The s t a t i s t i c a l a n a ly s is o f th e d a ta was perform ed
on th e s e s e t s o f th r e e w o rd s.^ A lthough each s u b je c t
a c t u a l l y re c e iv e d tw elv e s tim u lu s w ords, f o r th e p u rp o ses
o f a n a ly s is he was view ed a s a c h ie v in g fo u r s e p a ra te
s c o r e s , each w ith a p o s s ib le ran g e o f 0 ( f o r no c o r r e c t
word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s ) to 3 ( f o r a p e r f e c t s c o r e ) . The
r e s u l t s o f th e ex p erim en t a r e u n ifo rm ly re p o rte d in term s
o f t h i s ran g e o f 0 to 3 . S in ce each s e t o f w ords was
p re s e n te d in th r e e w ays, th e re a re tw e n ty -fo u r means w hich
can be compared a t t h i s m ost b a s ic le v e l o f a n a ly s is (se e
T able 2 ) .
T ab le 3 p re s e n ts th e a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e f o r th e
^D r. Ken S ir o tn ik a s s i s t e d in th e d a ta a n a l y s i s ,
u sin g program BM D08V a t th e H e a lth S c ie n c e s Computing
F a c i l i t y a t th e U n iv e rs ity o f C a lif o r n ia a t Los A n g e le s.
TABLE 2
Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s in Each Method
o f P r e s e n ta tio n , L ev el o f S tim u lu s Word F req u en cy , and
Number o r Word P a r t s , f o r Word Category®
M ethods o f P r e s e n ta tio n
S in g le Forw ard
/
Backward
High Low High Low High Low
F requency F requency F requency F requency F requency F requency
2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3
P a rt P a rt P a r t P a r t P a rt P a rt P a r t P a r t P a r t P a r t P a rt P a rt
Monos y lla b le s 2 .5 0 1 .1 0 1 .7 0 1 .8 0 2 .6 0 1 .3 0 2 .0 0 1 .2 0 1 .8 0 .80 1 .2 0 .70
P o ly s y l la b l e s 1 .7 0 2 .0 0 1 .6 0 1 .4 0 1 .5 0 2 .2 0 1 .8 0 2 .0 0 1 .6 0 2 .3 0 1 .7 0 1 .6 0
a Range o f s c o re s i s 0 to 3 .
to
N)
33
TABLE 3
A n a ly sis o f V arian ce f o r Number o f C o rre c t Word
I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s as a F u n c tio n o f Word C a te g o ry ,
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n , S tim u lu s Word
F req u en cy , and Number o f Word P a rts
Source o f V a r ia tio n d f SS M S F
Word C ateg o ry (C) 1 3.037 3.037 1.531
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n (M) 2 5.6 0 8 2 .8 0 4 1 .414
C X M 2 6.475 3.237 1 .632
E rror^® 54 107.123 1.984
F req u en cy (F) 1 3 .037 3.037 8 .359**
C X F 1 .375 .375 .103
M X F 2 .325 .163 .447
C X M X F 2 1.225 .613 1.685
E rro ry b 54 19.624 .363
Number o f Word P a r ts (P) 1 4 .537 4 .537 8.935**
C X P 1 17.604 17.604 34.666**
M X P 2 .750 .375 .074
C X M X P 2 1.608 .804 1 .5 8 4
E rro r^ 0 54 27.423 .508
F X P 1 .204 .204 .512
C X F X P 1 7 .704 7 .704 19.325**
M X F X P 2 1 .158 .579 1 .453
E rro r s 54 21.528 .399
**p < .01
a Between e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to s u b je c ts
n e s te d w ith in word c a te g o ry and m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
^W ithin e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to th e i n t e r a c t i o n
betw een s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y and s u b je c ts n e s te d w ith in
word c a te g o ry and m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
°W ith in e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to th e i n t e r a c t i o n
betw een number o f word p a r ts and s u b je c ts n e s te d w ith in word
c a te g o ry and method o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
W it h i n e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to th e i n t e r a c t i o n
betw een s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y , number o f word p a r t s , and
s u b je c ts n e s te d w ith in word c a te g o ry and m ethod o f p r e s e n ta
t i o n .
34
number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s as a fu n c tio n o f
word c a te g o ry , m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n , s tim u lu s word
fre q u e n c y , and number o f word p a r t s . The r e s u l t s o f th e
ex p erim en t w i l l be d is c u s s e d u n d er th e s e h e a d in g s .
Word C ateg o ry and Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n
The mean s c o re s f o r word c a te g o ry and method o f
p r e s e n ta tio n a re g iv en in T able 4 . T here w ere no s i g n i f i
c a n t d if f e r e n c e s betw een th e m o n o sy lla b le and p o ly s y lla b le
c a te g o r ie s o r betw een th e s i n g l e , forw ard p ro g re s s iv e o r
backw ard p ro g re s s iv e m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n . F ig u re 4
shows th e mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s f o r
each m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n , and F ig u re 5 i l l u s t r a t e s th e
i n t e r a c t i o n betw een m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n and word c a te
go ry in w hich th e c e l l mean f o r backw ard m o n o sy lla b le s
a c c o u n ts f o r th e low er o v e r a l l mean f o r t h i s m ethod. The
i n t e r a c t i o n , how ever, f a i l e d to a t t a i n s t a t i s t i c a l s i g
n if ic a n c e (F^ x m * 1*632, N. S . ) .
S tim u lu s Word F requency
T ab le 5 p re s e n ts th e mean number o f c o r r e c t word
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a t each le v e l o f s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y
f o r m o n o sy lla b le s and p o ly s y lla b le s and f o r two and
t h r e e - p a r t w o rd s. High freq u e n cy w ords w ere i d e n t i f i e d
s i g n i f i c a n t l y more o f te n th a n low fre q u e n c y words
(Fj, ■ 8 .3 5 9 , p < . 0 1 ) . T h is was tr u e f o r b o th
35
TABLE 4
Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
in Each Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n
f o r Word Category®
M ethods o f P r e s e n ta tio n
S in g le Forw ard Backward T o ta l
M o n o sy lla b le s 1 .7 8 1 .7 8 1.13 1 .5 6
P o ly s y lla b le s 1 .6 8 1 .8 8 1 .8 0 1 .7 8
Grand Mean
T o ta l 1 .7 3 1.83 1 .4 6 1 .6 7
aRange o f s c o re s i s 0 to 3
36
3.0
2 .5
2.0
1 .5
1.0
0 .5
S in g le Forw ard Backward
F ig u re 4
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n
3.0
2 .5
0 .5
M o n o sy lla b le s
P o ly s y lla b le s
37
2.0
1.5
1.0
_L
S in g le Forw ard Backward
F ig u re 5
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
w ith in m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n f o r m o n o sy lla b le s
and p o ly s y lla b le s
38
TABLE 5
Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a t
Each L evel o f S tim u lu s Word F requency f o r
Word C ateg o ry and Number o f Word P arts®
High F requency Low Frequency T o ta l
M o n o sy llab les
T w o-Part 2 .3 0 1.63 1 .9 7
T h re e -P a rt 1.07 1.23 1 .1 5
T o ta l 1 .6 8 1.43 1 .5 6
P o ly s y lla b le s
T w o-Part 1.6 0 1.70 1.65
T h re e -P a rt 2 .1 7 1.67 1 .9 2
T o ta l 1 .8 8 1.68 1 .7 8
T o ta l 1 .7 8 1 .5 6
Grand Mean
1.67
a Range o f s c o re s i s 0 to 3 .
39
m o n o sy lla b le s and p o l y s y l la b l e s . F ig u re s 6 and 7 i l l u s
t r a t e th e s e c o n s i s t e n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s .
Number o f Word P a r ts and Word
P a r ts X Word C ateg o ry
In o rd e r to u n d e rsta n d th e m eaning o f th e s i g n i f i
c a n t word p a r t s e f f e c t (Fp ■ 8 .9 3 5 , p < . 0 1 ) , i t i s
n e c e s s a ry to exam ine th e s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n o f word
p a r t s and word c a te g o ry (F^ x p “ 3 4 .6 6 6 , p < . 0 1 ) , f o r
th e e f f e c t was d i f f e r e n t on m o n o sy lla b le s and p o ly s y l
l a b l e s . A Neuman-Keuls t e s t (W iner, 1962) was perform ed
to exam ine th e d if f e r e n c e s betw een two and three-phonem e
m o n o sy lla b le s and two and t h r e e - s y l l a b l e p o l y s y l la b l e s .
T ab le 6 shows two-phoneme m o n o sy lla b le s and t h r e e - s y l l a b l e
p o ly s y lla b le s to be s i g n i f i c a n t l y e a s i e r th a n three-phonem e
m o n o s y lla b le s . F ig u re 8 i l l u s t r a t e s th e g r e a t e r d i f f i
c u lt y o f three-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s o v e r th e s e o th e r
ty p e s o f w o rd s.
Word C ateg o ry X S tim u lu s Word F requency
X Number o f Word P a rts
The f a c t o r o f s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y in te r a c t e d
w ith number o f word p a r t s and word c a te g o ry (F^ x F X P *
1 9 .3 2 5 , p < . 0 1 ) . A Neuman-Keuls t e s t was perform ed to
d e te rm in e w hich i n t e r a c t io n s a cc o u n te d f o r th e s i g n i f i
cance (s e e T ab le 7 ) . T w o -p art, h ig h -fre q u e n c y
40
3.0
2 .5
1.0
0 .5
High F req u en cy Low F requency
F ig u re 6
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r h ig h and low fre q u e n c y w ords
Monosyllables
A—A Polysyllables
41
3.0
2.0
1.0
0 .5
H igh Frequency Low F requency
F ig u re 7
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r h ig h and low freq u e n cy m o n o sy lla b le s
and p o ly s y lla b le s
42
TABLE 6
Neuman-Keuls T e s t f o r D iffe re n c e s betw een
Two and T h re e -P a rt M o n o sy lla b le s
and P o ly s y lla b le s
A B C D
X = 1 .1 5 X = 1 .6 5 X = 1.92 X = 1 .9 7
A .50 .77* .82*
B
I-'*
C M
•
.32
C .05
D
P < .05
A ■ T h r e e -p a rt m o n o sy lla b le s
B = T w o-part p o ly s y lla b le s
C = T h re e -p a r t p o ly s y lla b le s
D = T w o-part m o n o sy lla b le s
■— fl Monosyllables 43
Mr A Polysyllables
3.0
2.0
1 .5
1.0
0 .5
T w o-Part Words T h re e -P a rt Words
F ig u re 8
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s
44
TABLE 7
Neuman-Keuls T e s t f o r D iffe re n c e s betw een High
and Low F req u en cy , Two and T h re e -P a rt
M o n o sy llab les and P o ly s y lla b le s
A B C D E F G H
X -1.07 X -1.23 X -1.60 X -1.63 X -1.67 X -l. 70 X -2.17 X -2.30
A .1 6 .53 .56 .60 .63
1.10 **
1 .23**
B .37 .40 .44 .47 .94* 1 .0 7 * *
C .03 .07 .10 .57 .70
D .04 .07 .5 4 .67
E .03 .50 .63
F .47 .60
G .13
H
* * p < . 0 1 *p < . 0 5
A ■ T h r e e - p a r t, h ig h fre q u e n c y m o n o sy lla b le s
B ■ T h r e e - p a r t, low fre q u e n c y m o n o sy lla b le s
C = T w o -p art, h ig h freq u e n cy p o ly s y lla b le s
D = T w o -p art, low freq u e n cy m o n o sy lla b le s
E = T h r e e - p a r t, low fre q u e n c y p o ly s y lla b le s
F ■ T w o -p a rt, low freq u e n cy p o ly s y lla b le s
G ■ T h r e e - p a r t, high freq u e n cy p o ly s y lla b le s
H ■ T w o -p a rt, h ig h fre q u e n c y m o n o sy lla b le s
45
m o n o sy lla b le s and t h r e e - p a r t , h ig h fre q u e n c y p o ly s y lla b le s
w ere found e a s i e r to b len d th a n t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s
o f e i t h e r h ig h o r low fre q u e n c y . In term s o f th e number
o f w ords i d e n t i f i e d , th e d if f e r e n c e in perform ance am ounted
to a b o u t one more c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n f o r e v e ry
th r e e a tte m p te d . T hus, i t i s n o t s u f f i c i e n t to s t a t e t h a t
two-phoneme m o n o sy lla b le s and t h r e e - s y l l a b l e p o ly s y lla b le s
w ere e a s i e r th a n three-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s : th e q u a l i f i
c a tio n m ust be made t h a t th e e a s i e r w ords w ere a ls o o f h ig h
fre q u e n c y . The fin d in g f o r three-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s ,
how ever, h o ld s tr u e r e g a r d le s s o f word fre q u e n c y : b o th h ig h
and low fre q u e n c y th ree-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s w ere s i g
n i f i c a n t l y h a rd e r to b le n d . F ig u re 9 shows th e mean number
o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a t h ig h and low stim u lu s
word fre q u e n c ie s f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o l y s y l la b l e s . Note th e low p lacem en t o f t h r e e - p a r t
m o n o s y lla b le s , r e g a r d le s s o f fre q u e n c y , and th e g r e a te r
s p re a d o f means among h ig h fre q u e n c y w o rd s. T his i n t e r
a c tio n o f fre q u e n c y and word p a r t s i s i l l u s t r a t e d in
F ig u re s 10 and 11.
.^C onsonant C a te g o ry
A s e p a r a te a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e was perform ed on
th e m o n o sy lla b le word c a te g o ry to t e s t th e d if f e r e n c e
betw een w ords b e g in n in g w ith co n so n an t s to p s and th o s e
b e g in n in g w ith co n so n an t c o n tin u a n ts . T ab le 8 p re s e n ts
■ —■ T w o-Part M o n o sy llab les
0 - 0 T h re e -P a rt
M o n o sy llab les
A -A T w o-Part P o ly s y lla b le s
A- -A T h re e -P a rt
P o ly s y lla b le s
3 .0
2 .5
2.0
1 .5
1.0
0 .5
High F requency Low Frequency
F ig u re 9
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t each le v e l o f s tim u lu s word freq u e n cy
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s
p— ■ Monosyllables
h —A Polysyllables
47
3.0
2.0
1 .5
1.0
0 .5
HIGH FREQUENCY
T w o-Part Words T h re e -P a rt Words
F ig u re 10
Mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t th e h ig h s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y l e v e l
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s
Monosyllables 48
A " " " A Polysyllables
3.0
2 .5
2.0
1 .5
1.0
0 .5
L O W FREQUENCY
T h re e -P a rt Words T w o-Part Words
F ig u re 11
Mean num ber o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s
a t th e low s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y le v e l
f o r two and t h r e e - p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s and
p o ly s y lla b le s
49
TABLE 8
A n a ly s is o f V a ria n c e f o r Number o f C o rre c t Word
I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a s a F u n c tio n o f Method
o f P r e s e n ta tio n , C onsonant C a te g o ry ,
and S tim u lu s Word F requency
S ource o f V a r ia tio n d f SS M S F
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n (M) 2 11.267 5.633 2.619
E rror^® 27 58.075 2.151
F req u en cy (F) 1 1 .875 1.875 4.927*
M X F 2 .600 .300 .788
E r r o r s* 5 27 10.275 .381
C onsonant C a te g o ry (Z) 1 .750 .750 .180
M X Z 2 1 .400 .700 1 .676
E rro rwc 27 11.275 .418
F X Z 1 3 .6 7 5 3.675 9.6 5 8 * *
M X F X Z 2 .800 .400 1.051
E rrortyd 27 1 0.274 .381
*p < .0 5 **p < .01
a Betw een e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to s u b je c ts
n e s te d w ith in m ethod o f p r e s e n t a ti o n .
^ W ith in e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to th e i n t e r a c t i o n
betw een s tim u lu s word freq u e n cy and s u b je c ts n e s te d w ith in
method o f p r e s e n t a ti o n .
cW ith in e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to th e i n t e r a c t i o n
betw een c o n so n an t c a te g o ry and s u b je c ts n e s te d w ith in
m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
^ W ith in e r r o r v a ria n c e e q u iv a le n t to th e i n t e r a c t i o n
betw een s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y , c o n so n an t c a te g o ry , and
s u b je c ts n e s te d w ith in m ethod o f p r e s e n t a ti o n .
50
th e a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e f o r th e number o f c o r r e c t word
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s a s a fu n c tio n o f m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n ,
co n so n an t c a te g o ry and stim u lu s word fre q u e n c y . The
fin d in g s p e r ta in in g to method o f p r e s e n ta tio n and s tim u lu s
word fre q u e n c y w e re , o f c o u rs e , c o n s is te n t w ith th e t o t a l
a n a ly s is o f v a ria n c e (s e e T ab le 3) and a s su ch need n o t be
d is c u s s e d f u r t h e r . No d if f e r e n c e s w ere found betw een s to p s
and c o n tin u a n ts (F^ ■ .1 8 0 , N. S . ) . T ab le 9 p r e s e n ts th e
mean number o f c o r r e c t word i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s w ith in each
method o f p r e s e n ta tio n f o r co n so n an t c a te g o r ie s and
stim u lu s word fre q u e n c y l e v e l s . The t o t a l mean f o r w ords
b e g in n in g w ith s to p s (X - 1 .5 8 ) was a lm o st i d e n t i c a l to
t h a t f o r c o n tin u a n ts (X ■ 1 .5 3 ) .
Summary o f th e R e s u lts
1 . C o n tra ry to th e p r e d ic tio n made in 1H:1 , w ords
p re s e n te d in a p ro g r e s s iv e method w ere n o t i d e n t i f i e d more
o f te n th a n w ords p re s e n te d s in g ly .
2 . C o n tra ry to th e p r e d ic tio n made in 2H ;1, p o ly
s y l l a b l e s w ere n o t i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n th a n m onosyl
l a b l e s .
3 . As p r e d ic te d in h y p o th e s is 3H:1 , h ig h fre q u e n c y
w ords w ere i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n th a n low fre q u e n c y w o rd s.
4 . As p r e d ic te d in h y p o th e s is 4 H jl, tw o -p a rt mono
s y l l a b l e s w ere i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n th a n t h r e e - p a r t mono
s y l l a b l e s . T h is f in d in g , how ever, a p p lie s o n ly to h ig h
TABLE 9
Mean Number o f C o rre c t Word I d e n t i f i c a t i o n s in Each
Method o f P r e s e n ta tio n f o r C onsonant C a te g o rie s
and S tim u lu s Word F requency Levels®
S in g le Forw ard Backward T o ta l
High
F requency 1 .5 0 2.00 1.10 1 .5 3
S tops
Low
F requency 1 .8 0 1 .8 0 1 .3 0 1.63
T o ta l 1 .6 5 1 .9 0 1.20 1.58
High
F requency 2.10 1 .9 0 1 .5 0 1 .8 3
C o n tin u a n ts
T.c k j
F requency 1 .7 0 1 .4 0 .60 1 .2 3
T o ta l 1 .9 0 1.65 1 .0 5 1.53
T o ta l 1 .7 8 1 .7 8 1.13
Grand Mean
1 .5 6
^ a n g e o f s c o re s i s 0 to 3 .
Ln
52
fre q u e n c y tw o -p a rt m o n o sy lla b le s .
5 . As p r e d ic te d in h y p o th e s is 5H :1, t h r e e - p a r t
p o ly s y lla b le s w ere i d e n t i f i e d more o f te n th a n tw o -p a rt
p o l y s y l l a b l e s .
6. C o n tra ry to th e p r e d ic tio n made in 6H;1, mono
s y l l a b l e s b e g in n in g w ith s to p s w ere n o t i d e n t i f i e d more
o f te n th a n m o n o sy lla b le s b e g in n in g w ith c o n tin u a n ts .
In summary, th e m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n had no s i g
n i f i c a n t e f f e c t on word r e c o g n itio n : w h e th er th e w ords w ere
p re s e n te d s in g ly o r in a forw ard o r backw ard p ro g re s s io n
made no d i f f e r e n c e . P o ly s y lla b le s a s a c a te g o ry w ere n o t
e a s i e r to b le n d th a n m o n o sy lla b le s , b u t h ig h freq u e n cy
t h r e e - s y l l a b l e p o ly s y lla b le s w ere s i g n i f i c a n t l y e a s i e r th a n
h ig h o r low fre q u e n c y three-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s . Sim i
l a r l y , h ig h fre q u e n c y two-phoneme m o n o sy lla b le s w ere e a s i e r
th a n h ig h o r low fre q u e n c y three-phonem e m o n o sy lla b le s .
No d if f e r e n c e s w ere found betw een co n so n an t s to p s and
c o n tin u a n ts .
CHAPTER IV
DISCUSSION
The p re s e n t stu d y in v e s tig a te d th e e f f e c t s o f
s e v e r a l f a c t o r s on e a se o f a u d ito r y b le n d in g in an a tte m p t
to e s t a b l i s h a h ie r a r c h y o f b l e n d a b i l i t y th a t would be o f
p r a c t i c a l use to te a c h e rs o f r e a d in g . The r e s u l t s s u g g e st
th e fo llo w in g c o n c lu s io n s and recom m endations:
1 . T here i s no h ie r a r c h y o f b l e n d a b i l i t y ,
a p p e a lin g though th e id e a w as. P o ly s y lla b le s
a s a c la s s a re n o t e a s i e r to b le n d th a n mono
s y l l a b l e s , and compound w ords, w hich w ere
e x clu d ed from th e stu d y on th e a ssu m p tio n o f
b e in g e a s i e s t o f a l l , may be th e same o r even
h a r d e r . A h ie r a r c h y o f s o r t s was in d ic a te d by
th e m u ltip le i n t e r a c t i o n o f word c a te g o ry ,
s tim u lu s word fre q u e n c y , and number o f word
p a r t s ; how ever, s in c e th e s e r e s u l t s a r e based
on o n ly th r e e r e p r e s e n ta t iv e w ords from each
c l a s s , l i t t l e c o n fid e n c e sh o u ld be p u t in th e
h ie r a r c h y th e y s u g g e s t.
2 . High fre q u e n c y w ords sh o u ld be s e le c te d
f o r i n s t r u c t i o n in b le n d in g . F requency o f
53
54
usage was th e o n ly v a r ia b le in t h i s ex p erim en t
w hich made a s i g n i f i c a n t d if f e r e n c e r e g a r d le s s
o f word c a te g o ry and m ethod o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
3. T h re e -p a r t m o n o sy lla b le s , th e m ost
d i f f i c u l t w ords in th e s tu d y , sh o u ld n o t be
used in i n i t i a l b le n d in g i n s t r u c t i o n . In
a c tu a l r e a d in g , o f c o u rs e , th e y c an n o t be
a v o id e d . T h is f in d in g d o e s , how ever, s u g g e st
a s tr a te g y f o r m ee tin g them more e f f e c t i v e l y .
When a c h ild i s re a d in g on h is own, he sh o u ld
be ta u g h t to b le n d th e i n i t i a l co n so n an t w ith
th e fo llo w in g vow el b e fo re a tte m p tin g th e
t h i r d sound. In th e word f e e t , f o r exam ple,
th e f and lo n g e sh o u ld f i r s t be b len d ed in to
f e e ; th e n th e t w ould be added to make f e e t .
In t h i s p ro c e s s three-phonem e w ords a re b ro k en
down in to two s e p a r a te b le n d in g ta s k s o f o n ly
two p a r ts e a c h .
4 . Teach c h ild r e n to b le n d th e s e p a ra te
sounds one a f t e r th e o th e r and n o t in a forw ard
o r backward p ro g re s s io n . A lthough th e r e s u l t s
would be s i m i l a r , th e re i s no re a s o n to i n t r o
duce th e a d d it i o n a l tim e and e f f o r t o f th e
a l t e r n a t e m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n .
55
Two o f th e fin d in g s r a is e d q u e s tio n s o f t h e o r e t i c a l
i n t e r e s t : (1) Why w ere th e r e no s i g n i f i c a n t d if f e r e n c e s
betw een m ethods o f p r e s e n ta tio n ? (2) Why w ere c o n so n an t
s to p s and c o n tin u a n ts o f e q u a l d i f f i c u l t y ?
A p ro b a b le re a s o n f o r th e s im ila r r e s u l t s o f th e
th r e e m ethods i s t h a t th e pause o f one second betw een
s tim u li allo w e d tim e f o r r e h e a r s a l . As B u g e lsk i (1962)
n o te d ,
W hile i t may be c o n v e n ie n t to b re a k up a le a r n in g
s e s s io n i n to some k in d s o f u n i ts o f tim e , and
l a b e l th e s e a s " t r i a l s , " i t may be a q u e s tio n a b le
p r a c tic e in t r y in g to g e t a t an a p p r e c ia tio n o f
w hat S i s a c t u a l l y le a r n in g o r d o in g . I f a
p r e s e n ta tio n tim e i s a n y th in g upwards o f 1 s e c . ,
he may v e ry w e ll r e p e a t th e m a te r ia l to h im s e lf
w ith in th e t r i a l (p . 4 1 1 ).
T hus, in th e b le n d in g t a s k , th e c h ild m ight w e ll have
re p e a te d th e i n i t i a l sound s e v e r a l tim es to h im s e lf b e fo re
th e n e x t sound was p r e s e n te d . A second re a so n r e l a t e s to
th e le n g th o f th e t a s k : two and th r e e sounds a re w e ll
w ith in th e im m ediate memory span o f a s ix - y e a r - o ld c h ild
(W ech sler, 1949; K irk , M cCarthy, and K irk , 19 6 8 ); a
c o n s id e ra b ly lo n g e r ta s k would be needed b e fo re a p ro
g r e s s iv e m ethod w ould be a p p r o p r ia te .
The f a i l u r e to f in d any d if f e r e n c e s betw een con
so n a n t s to p s and c o n tin u a n ts co u ld be a f u n c tio n o f th e
d i f f e r e n t r e s e a r c h d e sig n s in th e two e x p e rim e n ts. The
p re s e n t s tu d y employed a mixed l i s t d e sig n in w hich th e
56
same s u b je c ts re c e iv e d words o f b o th h ig h and low f r e
quency, two and th r e e p a r t s , and t h a t began w ith s to p s and
c o n tin u a n ts . By c o n t r a s t , D esberg (1969) c o n s tr u c te d an
unmixed l i s t o f two-phoneme w ords f o r each o f h is fo u r
e x p e rim e n ta l g ro u p s: (1) h ig h fre q u e n c y s to p s ; (2) h ig h
fre q u e n c y c o n tin u a n ts ; (3) low fre q u e n c y s to p s ; (4) low
fre q u e n c y c o n tin u a n ts . H is s u b je c ts may th u s have been
more a ttu n e d to th e c r i t i c a l f e a tu r e s o f t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r
t a s k s , s in c e th e y w ere n o t c o n fro n te d w ith v a r i a t i o n s in
fre q u e n c y , word le n g th , o r c o n so n an t c a te g o r y . T here i s
e v id e n ce t h a t d i f f e r e n t r e s u l t s may be o b ta in e d w ith even
th e same s tim u lu s m a te r ia ls u sin g th e s e d i f f e r e n t e x p e r i
m en tal d e sig n s (Johnson and Penny, 1 9 6 6 ).
I m p lic a tio n s f o r F u rth e r R esearch
The r e s e a r c h s t r a t e g y o f th e p r e s e n t stu d y employed
ra n d o m iz a tio n p ro c e d u re s in th e s e l e c ti o n o f a group o f
w ords t h a t r e p r e s e n te d l a r g e r c la s s e s w ith in th e t o t a l
la n g u a g e . The hope was to i d e n t i f y c e r t a i n groups o f
w ords t h a t would le n d th em se lv e s to i n i t i a l b le n d in g
i n s t r u c t i o n . S in c e t h i s g o a l was n o t a c h ie v e d , an a l t e r
n a te s t r a t e g y sh o u ld b e c o n s id e re d : r a t h e r th a n random ly
s e l e c t i n g s tim u lu s w ords in th e hopes o f g e n e r a liz in g to a
la r g e r lan g u ag e p o p u la tio n , our i n t e r e s t sh o u ld be fo cu sed
on th e w ords we know to be m ost f r e q u e n tly used by c h ild r e n
(R in s la n d , 1945; C a r te r e t t e & J o n e s , 1965; B e rd ia n sk y ,
C ro n n e ll, & K o e h le r, 1 9 6 9 ). Knowing th e power o f freq u e n cy
a s a d e te rm in a n t o f b l e n d a b i l i t y , we c o u ld c o n s tr u c t a most
u s e f u l l i s t o f s p e c i f i c w ords by ra n k -o rd e r in g th e s e h ig h
fre q u e n c y w ords f o r e a s e o f b le n d in g . (T h is g e n e ra l
s t r a te g y was proposed and expanded by E. B. Coleman in a
s e r i e s o f p u b lic a tio n s [1968a, 1968b, 1968c, 1 9 6 8 d ]).
From a p r a c t i c a l s ta n d p o in t, such a l i s t would be u s e f u l
w h e th er th e te a c h e r was in tro d u c in g re a d in g w ith a sound
b le n d in g game a t th e end o f th e c h a in (Homme, 1968) o r
te a c h in g b le n d in g a s a component p a r t o f th e word id e n
t i f i c a t i o n p ro c e s s (D esberg & B e rd ia n sk y , 1 9 6 8 ).
REFERENCES
58
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Creator Kyle, Bruce Allan (author)

Core Title Auditory Blending: Effects Of Presentation Method, Word Frequency, Word Category, And Number Of Word Parts On Word Identification

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, educational psychology,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Meyers, Charles Edward (committee chair), Dembo, Myron H. (committee member), Peterson, James A. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-457422

Unique identifier UC11362191

Identifier 7112398.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-457422 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 7112398.pdf

Dmrecord 457422

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Kyle, Bruce Allan

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

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