Speechreading performance under different conditions of video image, repetition, and speech rate.

Speechreading was assessed under different conditions of video image, repetition, and speech rate in three experiments on children who are deaf. The objective of the experiments was to obtain information for the design of interactive speechreading training programs using an interactive laser videodisc. Results of Experiment 1 showed that three different video images of testers (Entire-Face, 2/3 Profile, and Lips-Only), did not result in significantly different scores. Experiment 2 assessed which form of repetition (Entire-Face, 2/3 Profile, Lips-Only,) after the first Entire-Face presentation had the biggest effect on improving speechreading performance. The three different forms of repetition appeared to lead to a similar significant improvement. In Experiment 3, various speechreading stimuli were presented at four different speech rates. It appeared that these four speech rates did not significantly influence the speechreading scores. Results suggest that there is a wide range within which speaker-sender variables may vary without affecting the overall speechreading results.