Stimulability

Stimulability refers to the capability of an individual to improve accuracy of production under controlled imitative conditions relative to nonimitative conditions. Stimulability assessment entails the use of multisensory cues to elicit imitative responses, typically in the form of paired auditory and visual stimuli. For example, a speaker with a speech sound disorder may substitute [θ] for /s/ during a picture-naming task (e.g., thun for sun). Subsequently, the examiner may assess stimulability by asking the speaker to look at the examiner’s mouth and listen carefully as the target sound is produced in isolation and at various linguistic levels (i.e., syllables, words, and so on). Following each presentation, the speaker is encouraged to imitate the form produced by the examiner. Individuals who produce the target sound correctly ...