Batería ICRA-A: Descripción y análisis psicométrico del Cuestionario para padres. Fuerza perlocutiva de actos de habla básicos

Abstract

El desarrollo del lenguaje demanda la presencia de un interlocutor y genera interacciones a edades tempranas en las que cada cuidador del niño tiene su percepción del mismo evento de comunicación. Esto genera una dinámica que contiene información subjetiva valiosa de registrar vinculada con la fuerza perlocutiva de los actos de habla básicos, especialmente cuando la competencia comunicativa no sigue el desarrollo típico. Con el objetivo de sondearla en la clínica fonoaudiológica, se diseñó el Instrumento 3 de la Batería ICRA-A, Cuestionario para padres. Integra el método ICRA (Investigación de la Competencia Comunicativa para la realización de Actos de Habla) desarrollado para la evaluación y terapéutica de los Circuitos Mínimos de Comunicación. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar las percepciones de los padres de las variables pragmáticas de sus hijos a edades tempranas, describir el instrumento que las sondea, la modalidad de implementación y su análisis psicométrico (validez y confiabilidad). Se constató su capacidad para discriminar entre las percepciones de padres de niños con y sin patología en relación con indicadores de comunicación temprana en cinco de las seis dimensiones que lo conforman. Los resultados arrojaron correlación moderada entre las respuestas de madres y padres de cada grupo, fortaleciendo la hipótesis inicial de que cada cuidador responda el cuestionario en forma independiente. Se destaca la relevancia de que los fonoaudiólogos puedan sondear la percepción parental a partir de la cual dar pautas y modelado a cada cuidador del paciente, teniendo en cuenta variables comunicativas pragmáticas para potenciar un Circuito Mínimo de Comunicación en niños con compromisos de lenguaje, no verbal y verbal, a edades tempranas.

The development of language requires, from scratch, the presence of a listener and the construction of interaction formats between the child and the adult. On the other hand, caregivers have their own perception of this same communication event constructed by both parties (child and adult) and implements verbal and non-verbal resources which communicative impact is variable, especially when language is not typically developed. All these dynamics provides valuable subjective information that must be recorded, analyzed and considered in the speech-language pathology clinic from the concepts of pragmatic linguistics and, especially, of speech acts and their forces. Based on this, it will be possible to outline initial guidelines, strategies and modeling for parents to incorporate in their daily lives, with an impact on the way they interact with their families. In our research line, we distinguish three forces of speech acts: the locutionary force related to the emission of words to produce a certain meaning, the illocutionary force related to the intention of the speaker, and the perlocutionary force related to the effect that the sender´s speech acts produce on the receiver. This paper highlights the relevance of the latter, and the importance for speech-language pathologists to have specific instruments to assess it by analyzing how each caregiver perceives the child’s communicative dynamics. The ICRA-A Battery is part of the pragmatic research line of ICRA (Investigation of Communicative Competence for the Performance of Speech Acts, for its acronym in Spanish) focused on the evaluation and therapeutics of the Minimal Communication Circuits based on the concept of speech act. It is made up of four instruments: Analysis and Recording of Speech Acts, Pragmatic Observation of Play, Parent Questionnaire and Parents' Guide. The first two were administered directly by the speech therapist and the last two were completed by the caregivers. The objective of this paper is to present Instrument 3 of the ICRA-A Battery, the Parent Questionnaire, designed from the perspective of prelinguistic dimensions and precursors to basic speech acts. The record allows gathering information on the perception each parent has regarding their child's communicative competence by complementing the more objective results obtained from the administration of Instruments 1 and 2 of ICRA-A Battery. This paper also aims to analyze the perceptions of the parents of the pragmatic variables of their children at an early age, describe the instrument as well as its constitutive concepts, the implementation modality in the speech and language pathology clinic, and the validity and reliability psychometric analysis. In five out of the six dimensions comprising such instrument, capability of discriminating perceptions of parents of children with and without a pathology related to early communication indicators were verified. Results showed a moderate correlation between responses from mothers and fathers in each group, strengthening the initial hypothesis that each caregiver answers the questionnaire independently. From the analysis carried out, it was possible to establish the strengths and weaknesses of the variables that make up the instrument and to enhance the form of recording by grouping those strengths and weaknesses into prelinguistic dimensions. It is important for speech-language pathologists to be able to sound out parental perception from which they provide guidelines and modeling to each patient´s caregiver, taking into account pragmatic communicative variables to promote a Minimum Communication Circuit in children with nonverbal and verbal language compromises at an early age.