Do norms apply when using the articulation test albums in MaUSECat?
We are not aware of any research that has assessed the effect of different picture stimuli on the pronunciation of words elicited by those stimuli. Intuitively, it would not seem to matter, as long as the picture puts the target word in the mind of the speaker and that word is then spontaneously uttered. However, our purpose in including articulation test albums with MaUSECat is not to replace the picture stimuli that come with each test. For reasons of standardization as well as copyright, clinicians should always use the actual test materials when administering any norm-referenced articulation test. The articulation test albums can be put to good use instructionally, as they allow students to compare the lexical content of a number of tests. For example, by selecting a test album and then searching for a specific phonological tag, one can quickly determine the number of 3 syllable words, the number of initial clusters, the number of affricates, etc., in that test.
