Application of Melodic Intonation Therapy Using Linguistic Principles: Acquisition and Generalization Effects

This investigation was designed to examine the acquisition and response generalization effects of Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT). Linguistic principles were applied to the selection of items used for treatment and measurement of generalization effects. Treatment was applied to “Wh- Questions” in the context of a multiple baseline design across behaviors with one participant with chronic Broca’s aphasia and acquired apraxia of speech. Generalization was measured to untrained exemplars of trained items as well as to untrained items with similar and different underlying linguistic representations. Preliminary findings indicated positive acquisition effects and possible generalization effects