Identification of obstruent contrasts by children with and without phonological disorders.
Mayara Ferreira de Assis, Elissa Barbi Mouro Pagliari Cremasco, Isabella Rodrigues Domingues and 1 others
PMID 40053029WHAT IT FOUND
Children with phonological disorders identified stop sounds more slowly than typical peers, but fricative identification speed was similar.
Across both groups, errors most often involved confusing the place of articulation rather than voicing.
Key findings
01Children with phonological disorders showed lower accuracy in identifying obstruent contrasts compared to children with typical development.
02Reaction time for correct identification of stop sounds was significantly longer in children with phonological disorders, but this delay was not seen for fricatives.
03For both groups, the most frequent errors involved the place of articulation rather than voicing or combined features.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study did not account for the severity or specific subtype of phonological disorders, which may influence perceptual performance. Participants included children aged 4 to 9, a range that spans early phonological acquisition, meaning some errors may reflect developmental norms rather than disorder-specific deficits.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Brazilian government agencies (CAPES, FAPESP, CNPq). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of reaction time difference for fricatives as evidence that perception is intact for all sound classes. The delay for stops indicates specific difficulty with these sounds, and the overall lower accuracy in the PD group confirms a general perceptual deficit.