Purpose: Child phonologists have long been interested in how tightly speech input constrains the speech production capacities of young children, and the question acquires clinical significance when children with hearing loss are considered. Children with sensorineural hearing loss often show differences in the spectral and temporal structures of…

Children (N=110, ages 8 to 10) with either normal or poor reading ability were tested on (1) ability to recall sequences of nonspeech tones presented at various rates, and (2) ability to make phonetic decisions using brief and transitional properties of the speech signal. Results did not support the hypothesis that temporal-processing deficits…

This article reviews experiments that have revealed developmental changes in speech perception that accompany improvements in access to phonetic structure. It explains how these perceptual changes appear to be related to other aspects of language development. Evidence is provided that these changes result from adequate language experience in…