| This investigation was designed to determine whether the perception of the morphological markers for verb tense is disrupted when speech is attenuated. Three groups of normal-hearing subjects were included: (1) 10 adults, (2) 10 children aged 5;2 to 6;2 with histories of five or more episodes of otitis media, and (3) 10 children aged 5;4 to 6;2 with histories of no more than one episode of otitis media. Children's medical records revealed normal prenatal, perinatal, and development histories, no surgeries, no hospitalization due to accident or illness, and normal speech development.;All subjects were tested audiologically prior to the experimental session. Experimental stimuli included 12 test verbs in each of three tenses: unmarked present, third person singular, and past regular tense (e.g., skip, skips, skipped). The set of 36 test verbs was presented in a sound field at levels of 65, 50, and 35 dBA. The number of verbs correctly repeated by subjects at each presentation level constituted their performance.;The ability of adults to correctly repeat test verbs was unaffected by the intensity at which the words were presented. Children's performance tended to be poorer than adults at 50 dBA and 35 dBA but not at 65 dBA. Children with histories of otitis media performed similarly to their relatively otitis-free peers at 65 dBA and 50 dBA but significantly poorer at 35 dBA. At the lowest presentation level, children with histories of middle ear disease were least able to repeat verbs in the past tense. Although both groups of children demonstrated hearing within normal limits, the thresholds of children without histories of recurrent otitis media were significantly better than the hearing thresholds presented by children with histories of recurrent middle ear disease.;The superior performance of adults compared to children is probably attributable to adults' more extensive linguistic experience and knowledge. The poor ability of children with histories of recurrent otitis media to perceive the morphological markers for verb tense may be related to reduced linguistic experience resulting from fluctuating hearing loss associated with episodic otitis media or may be the result of decreased hearing sensitivity compared to children without histories of recurrent middle ear disease. |
