Auditory Discrimination among Economically Disadvantaged and Nondisadvantaged Preschool Children

Abstract

Assessment of auditory discrimination ability in economically disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged preschool children using the Wepman Test of Auditory Discrimination was made. The results indicated a significant deficiency in auditory discrimination in the economically disadvantaged group, suggesting the need for further research, as well as a modified curriculum in the education of this group.

Language tests and the “disadvantaged” reader

“…Deutsch also adds that the slum child receives little connected and concentrated speech directed at him. Clark and Richards (1966) also accept this interpretation. Thus, a language-deficient-environment is held accountable for failures in language development and in the process dependent upon adequate verbal skills.…”

“…Wepman and Clark find that the ability to perform on this test follows a developmental sequence which ends at about eight years of age (Wepman, 1958;Clark and Richards, 1966). Further, the sequence of steadily improving ability to perform on a Wepman-type test appears independent of auditory acuity (Monroe, 1932;Wepman, 1960;Clark and Richards, 1966;Deutsch, 1967).…”

“…Further, the sequence of steadily improving ability to perform on a Wepman-type test appears independent of auditory acuity (Monroe, 1932;Wepman, 1960;Clark and Richards, 1966;Deutsch, 1967). Money (1962) states that many patients whose peripheral auditory end-organs and nerves are intact may still be incapable of unscrambling the flow of speech sounds.…”

“…This approach frequently has been used to explain the consistently high proportion of Negro children who fail to learn to read adequately. For example, several investigators have found that lower-class black youngsters produce significantly more inadequate responses on the Wepman test than do white children (Deutsch, 1963;Clark and Richards, 1966). faults the confusing home environments of these children for their failures.…”

Longitudinal Study of Human Hearing: Its Relationship to Noise and Other Factors 2. Results from the First Three Years

“…Preschool children from lower socioeconomic groups make more errors in auditory discrimination tests than more privileged children, even after the effects of chronological age and intelligence quotient are partialled out (Clark and Richards, 1966).…”