Effect of Complexity on Speech Sound Development: Evidence From Meta-Analysis Review of Treatment-Based Studies
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In the current study, we aimed at understanding the effect of exposure to complex input on speech sound development, by conducting a systematic meta-analysis review of the existing treatment-based studies employing complex input in children with speech sound disorders. In the meta-analysis review, using a list of inclusion criteria, we narrowed 280 studies down to 12 studies. Data from these studies were extracted to calculate effect sizes that were plotted as forest plots to determine the efficacy of complexity-based treatment approaches. The outcome variables of interest were improvement on the treated and generalization to the untreated sounds. Meta-analysis revealed that the exposure to complex input not only promoted improvement in production of complex speech sounds (d = 1.08, CI = 0.98–1.19) but also facilitated the production of untreated simple speech sounds (d = 2.69, CI = 1.98–3.54). Overall, the current findings revealed that the exposure to complex input promotes acquisition of both complex and simple speech sounds. The current findings are in line with the models of language learnability. The current findings have implications in the treatment of speech sound disorders.
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SCED has high clinical relevance as a method of exploring changes within individual patients.
“Further, the design is appreciated for having high clinical relevance as a method of exploring changes within individual patients (Maggu et al. 2021).”
From Self‐Supervised App‐Based Speech Training for Children With Speech Sound Disorder—A Single‐Case Experimental Design Study (2026) · cites this paper as Maggu et al. 2021
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“Further, the design is appreciated for having high clinical relevance as a method of exploring changes within individual patients (Maggu et al. 2021).”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Maggu, A. R., Kager, R., To, C. K. S., Kwan, J. S. K., & Wong, P. C. M.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Corresponding author
- Maggu, Akshay R.
- Wong, Patrick C. M.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2021-04-28
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- 651900-651900
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8113766
- OpenAlex
- W3157663349
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 0.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Voice and Speech Disorders
- Keywords
- speech sound development, speech sound disorders, speech sound therapy, speech sound acquisition, children
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