The Ability of Emotionally Disturbed Children to Process Auditory Information

Abstract

This study investigated the auditory processing abilities of emotionally disturbed children. Areas examined were: auditory discrimination, auditory sequential memory, auditory closure, and auditory selective attention. Subjects were given four tests used to measure auditory processing: The Wepman Test of Auditory Discrimination; The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, auditory sequential memory and auditory closure subtests; and a professionally prepared dichotic listening tape. The results of this study showed that although not all emotionally disturbed children have auditory processing problems, there is a tendency for a problem to occur in at least one area of auditory processing. Host of the problems were found in the areas of auditory selective attention, auditory sequential memory, and auditory closure. Few problems were found in the area of auditory discrimination.