The long-term objective of this proposal is to develop and market automated software that will facilitate graphic symbol learning. Many individuals with little or no functional speech use some form of graphic symbol system for communication. Hence, the to-be-developed software has the potential to enhance the capacity of individuals that use a graphic symbol system to communicate and function within their environment. The first steps for meeting this objective involve determining the feasibility of this objective by completing the two specific aims detailed below. The first aim is to develop automated software based on an effective instructional strategy to teach graphic symbols. An instructional strategy based on a phenomenon from the cognitive sciences known as the "generation effect" was chosen for software development because its robustness has been demonstrated over a multitude of experimental studies. The "generation effect" refers to the finding that items that are generated by participants (self-generated) are better remembered relative to items that are supplied by the experimenter for study. In shod, the software to be developed will facilitate symbol memory by having the participants self-generate the symbols. In addition to software development, completion of the first aim requires appropriate hardware and a specific symbol system. The Prentke Romich Company Pathfinder was chosen as the hardware system because features of this computerized communication device such as programmable keys and a liquid crystal display (LCD) that show the contents of a key upon depression can easily be modified for use with software that will allow users to self-generate symbols in the LCD by depressing appropriate keys. Finally, Blissymbolics was chosen as the graphic symbol system for software development because qualities of these symbols make it easy to empirically define the component parts from which a symbol will be self-generated. The second aim is the determination of the effectiveness of the software for facilitating memory. This will be accomplished by conducting an experiment in which a participant's memory for Blissymbols that are self-generated by depressing appropriate keys is compared to Blissymbols that appear in the LCD without any participant input. It is hypothesized that superior memory will be found for self-generated Blissymbols, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of the software for enhancing graphic symbol memory.
Thesaurus Terms: computer assisted instruction, computer program /software, computer system design /evaluation, deaf aid, memory, speech disorder, symbolism computer human interaction, information display, self care clinical research, human subject, patient oriented research
