Preparation and applicability of a test of speech perception with pictures

To prepare and apply support material for responses to the Speech Recognition Percentage Index (SRPI) test in children.

This is a descriptive, exploratory study conducted in two phases: in the first phase, 31 speech-language pathologists (referees) prepared material composed of regular, frequently used monosyllabic and disyllabic words belonging to the vocabulary of children and figures that could represent these words; the second phase consisted in the application of this material to 30 normal-hearing children aged 2 to 4 years and 11 months.

The material consisted of 25 words and six boards with six figures each. The word selection criterion adopted by the referees included the initial phoneme and real, colorful figures familiar to the children. The mean scores of the children in the SRPI test were 93% (SD ± 8%) with the support of figures and 64% (SD ± 25%) without figure support. Comparison between the results obtained with and without the support of figures showed significant difference for 15 of the 25 test words, with higher scores with the use of supporting figures. Comparison between correct and incorrect responses using the support of figures showed significant difference only for the word "dog" ("cão") (p=0.0079).

There was agreement among the referees with respect to the words and figures. The SRPI test can be rapidly and easily applied, allowing evaluation and systematic monitoring of speech perception ability regardless of child verbalization capacity.