Do Children Talk Like We Do? The Role of Auditory Feedback in Speech Development

Auditory feedback—the way we hear ourselves speak—plays a crucial role in how we control our speech. When confronted with altered auditory feedback, individuals may compensate (adjust their speech), follow (match the altered feedback), or be non-responsive. The study aims to determine if children’s responses to altered auditory feedback mirror those of adults as they develop and how these responses relate to factors like age and language abilities. My project includes both adults and children, using tasks such as altered auditory feedback, vowel collection, F1 discrimination, and additional assessments of speech, language, and cognitive skills for children. Preliminary analyses using linear regression and Bayes Factor indicate a relationship between age and compensation in the "up" feedback condition, with language skills emerging as a possible factor in the "down" feedback condition. Ongoing data collection will further clarify these findings, contributing to our understanding of how children’s auditory feedback responses develop. The findings from this study aim to clarify how children’s responses to auditory feedback change with development, offering insights that may guide improvements in therapies and support for children with communication disorders.