Blending Non-Words

Background

This is an auditory test of ability to blend individual phonemes into nonwords. There are 3 practice items and 10 test items. For each item, the examiner says individual phonemes and an incorrect (or correct) nonword; then the same individual phonemes are repeated followed by the correct (or incorrect) nonword. The order of presentation for the correct nonword and the incorrect nonword is alternated randomly. The client indicates his/her answer using a Yes/No response.

Stimuli

There are only spoken stimuli for this task: individual phonemes and nonwords.

Instructions

Tell the client that you are going to say some nonsense words one sound at a time. Give an example by saying a series of sounds followed by a nonsense word and asking if that was the nonsense word that was made up of the sounds. Follow this procedure for both the nonword that is comprised of the presented phonemes and a different nonword.

Examiner: I am going to say some made up or nonsense words. I will say each nonsense word one sound at a time, then I will put the sounds together. I want you to tell me "Yes" if that was the nonsense word made by the sounds, and No if it was a different nonsense word. There are no pictures, because they are made up words. Let's start with some practice ones.

For practice item 1, say -: "p" "ar" "l" Did I say "porf"? (record response); "p" "ar" "l" Did I say "parl"? (record response)
Give corrective feedback - eg Yes, "p-a-rl" makes the word "parl", or, Listen again, if we put the sounds together "p-a-rl" we get "parl" not "porf". Deliver each stimulus on this format, omitting the corrective feedback for the test items.

For the Practice items

If #1 is wrong, point out the correct answer and move to the next item.
If #2 is wrong, point out the correct answer and move to the next item.
If #3 is wrong, repeat all practice items, aiming for 2/3 correct for both correct and incorrect options within each item.

Once practice items have been administered, say "good, now lets start with the test words. I won't be able to tell you if you are right or wrong with these."

Repeats

For test items, if no response or the client requests it, repeat up to 2 times.

Scoring

Circle the client's choice of "Yes" or "No" at the time of administration. After administration, score "1" for each correct response (circled and bold) in the appropriate square of the score box. Scoring is based on a total out of 20.