Supplemental for Ultrasound Visual Feedback Treatment and Practice Variability for Residual Speech Sound Errors (Preston et al., 2014)

Purpose The goals were to (a) test the efficacy of a motor-learning-based treatment that includes ultrasound visual feedback for individuals with residual speech sound errors and (b) explore whether the addition of prosodic cueing facilitates speech sound learning.

Method A multiple-baseline, single-subject design was used, replicated across 8 participants. For each participant, 1 sound context was treated with ultrasound plus prosodic cueing for 7 sessions, and another sound context was treated with ultrasound but without prosodic cueing for 7 sessions. Sessions included ultrasound visual feedback as well as non-ultrasound treatment. Word-level probes assessing untreated words were used to evaluate retention and generalization.

Results For most participants, increases in accuracy of target sound contexts at the word level were observed with the treatment program regardless of whether prosodic cueing was included. Generalization between onset singletons and clusters was observed, as was generalization to sentence-level accuracy. There was evidence of retention during posttreatment probes, including at a 2-month follow-up.

Conclusion A motor-based treatment program that includes ultrasound visual feedback can facilitate learning of speech sounds in individuals with residual speech sound errors.

研究目的：本研究的旨在（a）检验基于运动学习治疗的疗效，其中包含超声视觉反馈，用于治疗存在残留语音声音错误的个体；（b）探究是否通过添加韵律提示可以促进语音声音的学习。
研究方法：采用了多基线、单被试设计，并在8名参与者中进行了复制。对于每位参与者，一种声音情境在7个治疗周期中接受超声加上韵律提示的治疗，而另一种声音情境在7个治疗周期中仅接受超声治疗，不包含韵律提示。治疗周期中包括超声视觉反馈以及非超声治疗。使用词汇水平探测评估未治疗词汇，以评估记忆和泛化。
研究结果：对于大多数参与者，无论是否包含韵律提示，目标声音情境在词汇水平上的准确性均有提高。观察到从单音到簇的泛化，以及句子水平准确性的泛化。在治疗后的探测中，包括2个月后的随访，均存在记忆的证据。
研究结论：包含超声视觉反馈的运动学习治疗方案可以促进存在残留语音声音错误个体的语音声音学习。