ASL STEM

Definition

Experimental technique usually used with infants between five and eighteen months with two phases: conditioning and testing. During the conditioning phrase, the infant learns to associate a change in sound with the activation of visual reinforcers, first presented at the same time and then in succession, such that the infant begins to anticipate the appearance of the visual reinforcers and look at them before they are activated. During the testing phase, when the infant looks to the visual reinforcers immediately after a change in sound, it suggests that the infant has perceived the change in sound, thereby demonstrating the ability to discriminate between the two sounds involved.

Source: Language Files, eleventh edition, edited by Vedrana Mihalicek and Christin Wilson