Effects of delayed auditory feedback on children with disorders in auditory processing

Abstract

A comparison was made of the effects of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) on the speech of children with known auditory processing dysfunction and on the speech of children with no such auditory problems. Eight boys with auditory deficiencies were matched for age with eight boys whose auditory abilities were normal. Subjects performed under four DAF and four synchronous feedback conditions. Tape recordings were analyzed by three judges for duration, frequency of speech disruptions, and percentage of correct words. Although the speech of both groups was significantly affected by DAF, no significant differences between the groups were observed. Those experimental subjects with poor contextual speech showed a significantly greater number of speech disruptions and a significantly smaller percentage of correct words under DAF than did those experimental subjects with better contextual speech. The two groups tended to prolong sounds in words more than they repeated of omitted sounds in words. Both groups had more omissions and prolongations during serial speech than during recitation. The control subjects showed more repetitions during recitation than during serial speech. Both groups showed a tendency toward an adaptation effect for repetitions.