Long-term training, transfer, and retention in learning to lipread.

A long-term training paradigm in lipreading was used to test the fuzzy logical model of perception (FLMP). This model has been used successfully to describe the joint contribution of audible and visible speech in bimodal speech perception. Tests of the model were extended in the present experiment to include the prediction of confusion matrices, as well as performance at several different levels of skill. The predictions of the FLMP were contrasted with the predictions of a prelabeling integration model (PRLM). Subjects were taught to lipread 22 initial consonants in three different vowel contexts. Training involved a variety of discrimination and identification lessons with the consonant-vowel syllables. Repeated testing was given on syllables, words, and sentences. The test items were presented visually, auditorily, and bimodally, at normal rate or three times normal rate. The subjects improved in their lipreading ability across all three types of test items. Replicating previous results, the present study illustrates that substantial gains in lipreading performance are possible. Relative to the PRLM, the FLMP gave a better description of the confusion matrices at both the beginning and the end of practice. One new finding from the present study is that the FLMP can account for the gains in bimodal speech perception as subjects improve their lipreading and listening abilities.

Discovery and expository methods in teaching visual consonant and word identification.

An experiment was conducted to examine the processes involved in lipreading as well as to investigate an optimal approach to teaching lipreading skill. We compared discovery and expository methods of learning to lip-read. Twenty-six college students with normal hearing were trained over 3 days to lip-read consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. The training material consisted of a prerecorded videotape of four different talkers. The task was a forced-choice procedure with feedback. Subjects learned with training, but there was no difference between the two learning methods. As a retention measure, subjects returned 4 weeks later and repeated the training. There were significant savings of the original learning. Three weeks after the retention phase, subjects were tested with a 10-item forced-choice monosyllabic word task. Those subjects who had extensive training on CV syllables did no better on identifying the monosyllabic words than did a control group of 9 subjects with no training. Nevertheless, performance for all three groups (discovery, expository, and no training) improved during training in the word identification task.