The effects of emotional arousal and increased speaking rate on children's newly learned /r/ productions

Abstract

Generalization of newly learned phones into spontaneous speech remains a serious problem for many children with articulation disorders. It has been suggested that generalization may be governed, at least in part, by the stability of the new phone. Various clinicians have argued that response stability, in turn, may be affected by emotion and speaking rate. The present study was designed to determine whether children's newly learned /r/ phones would be adversely affected by unpleasant emotions and/or faster than normal speaking rates. Sixteen misarticulating children retold a story after frustration and no frustration procedures, in combination with slow and fast slide presentations. In contrast to previous clinical assumptions, no significant differences in subjects' /r/ productions were found among the conditions. The research implications and limitations, and suggestions for future research, are discussed.