Effect of Density of Tests Interposed in Equivalence-Based Instruction on Speech Accuracy in Picture Naming

Abstract

Children who are deaf and hard of hearing and received cochlear implants when exposed to equivalence-based instruction (EBI) exhibit improvements in speech accuracy in picture naming. The density of tests can be a variable. The present study investigated whether interspersing picture naming and reading tests between steps of an instructional curriculum (i.e., EBI) affects speech accuracy in naming tasks in two 7-year-old girls who were deaf and hard of hearing and had cochlear implants in the process of literacy. The children (Ran and Bia) were exposed to a computer-assisted curriculum that sought to teach reading. The curriculum was divided into four units and 17 teaching steps. Picture naming and reading tests were included between teaching steps in two of the four teaching units that were counterbalanced between participants. After teaching, speech accuracy in naming increased 47 percentage points for Ran and 14 percentage points for Bia. A unit-by-unit analysis showed that vocalizations tended to be more accurate in units where probe density was greater.