Digital Commons Network^™

The Examination Of Morpho-Syntactic Production In Bahamian Children Exposed To Bahamian Creole English And English, Danielle Moss

Dissertations, 2020-current

Purpose. Information on the morpho-syntax development of children who speak varieties of Bahamian English, such as Bahamian Creole English (BCE), remains understudied. Therefore, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) assessing the expressive language of children who speak BCE encounter challenges in making clinical judgments of language difference, developmental errors, and language disorder because they are unable to judge the morpho-syntactic features of this creole to the rules of another variety of Bahamian English, standard English (SE¹), as both varieties, BCE and SE, are independently rule-governed. This dissertation study investigated the morpho-syntax of typically developing four and six-year-old Bahamian children who speak …

Measuring Listening Effort Using Physiological, Behavioral And Subjective Methods In Normal Hearing Subjects: Effect Of Signal To Noise Ratio And Presentation Level, Lakshmi Magudilu Srishyla Kumar

Dissertations, 2020-current

The main objective of the study is to compare the effectiveness of pupillometry, working memory and subjective rating scale —the physiological, behavioral, and subjective measures of listening effort— at different signal to noise ratios (SNR) and presentation levels: when administered together. Eleven young normal hearing individuals with mean age of 21.7 years (SD=1.9 years) participated in the study. The HINT sentences were used for speech perception in noise task. The listening effort was quantified using peak pupil dilation, working memory, working memory difference, subjective rating of listening and recall effort. The rating of perceived performance, frustration level and …

Revealing The Impact Of Singing In An Aphasia Group, Ava L. Barton

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Aphasia is an acquired, neurogenic language disorder that affects an individual’s ability to express and comprehend language to varying degrees. Individuals with aphasia are restricted in their ability to communicate effectively and as a result, experience decreased quality of life and marked psychosocial consequences. There are numerous interventions that target the language symptoms associated with aphasia. However, social groups, such as book clubs, address both the language and psychological needs of individuals with aphasia. This project explored spontaneous moments of singing that occurred within an aphasia book club. Twenty-four moments of singing were identified and analyzed from six previously recorded …

Demonstrable Effect Of Vocal Changes On Singing Voices Of Post-Menopausal Women, Haley K. Griffith

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

There is little research concerning the impacts of menopause on the female singing voice, and few research studies examine any treatment methods or exercises to help sustain vocal quality throughout and after menopause. To determine areas in which more detailed studies could be completed, I completed a thorough literature review of current research studies that investigate relationships between menopause and the voice. Many studies examined vocal symptoms of menopause, such as a lowered fundamental frequency (F0) and decreased vocal quality. However, there exists no formally researched or published vocal exercises that help to mitigate these menopausal voice symptoms.

In response, …

Effects Of Age And Middle Ear Resonance On The Frequency Tuning Of The Cvemp, Paris M. Atabek

Dissertations, 2020-current

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess age-related changes in the frequency tuning of the cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) and determine the optimal air conduction tone-burst stimulus frequency to elicit a cVEMP in the young, middle age, and older adult populations. Additionally, we performed wideband acoustic immittance measures to better delineate whether observed changes in frequency tuning properties of the cVEMP across the lifespan emanate from changes in the middle ear transfer function or from the otolith end organs.

Design: A cross-sectional study design included 98 healthy participants divided into 3 age groups of …

Speech Understanding And Listening Effort In Noise With A New Speech Processing Algorithm, Abigail E. Compton

Dissertations, 2020-current

This study examined the effect of a new speech processing strategy (SpeechZone2) in a commercially available hearing aid on speech understanding in noise and self-reported listening effort. Seven adult, experienced hearing aid users (2 males, 5 females; mean age = 64.6 years) with mild to severe, sloping sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. Binaural Unitron Flex receiver in the ear style hearing aids with closed domes were used to provide the manufacturer prescribed amplification for each participant. The hearing aids were programmed with two separate memories: 1) omnidirectional microphone without SpeecZone2 processing, and 2) adaptive directionality with SpeechZone2 processing. …

The Impact Of Hair Covering Hearing Aid Microphones On Directional Performance, Sara F. Wagner

Dissertations, 2020-current

This study examined the effect of hair covering on hearing aid directional microphone performance. Nine adult, experienced hearing aid users (3 males, 6 females; mean age = 64.6 years) with mild to severe, sloping symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss were included in this study. Binaural Oticon Opn 1 receiver-in-the-ear hearing aids with closed domes were used to provide the recommended amplification for each participant. Speech Reception Threshold (dB SNR required for 50% speech understanding) was measured in all combinations of directional microphone (on/off) and hair covering (with/without) resulting in a total of four conditions. Results showed that directional microphones significantly improved …

Induction Of Nocebo Effects By Verbal Suggestions During The Caloric Test, Abbey Weist

Dissertations, 2020-current

The caloric test is the most frequently performed vestibular diagnostic test and is considered the “gold-standard” for the assessment of the peripheral vestibular system. Using a warm or cool stimulus, the caloric test alters the temperature gradient in the vestibular system resulting in nausea and dizziness. The nocebo effect is a phenomenon that can occur when negative expectations result in negative effects. No study has examined whether expectations of nausea and dizziness during the caloric test enhance the experience of unwanted symptoms. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether a nocebo response can be elicited during the caloric …

Music And Speech Perception In Pre-Lingually Deafened Young Listeners With Cochlear Implants: A Preliminary Study Using Sung Speech, Harley J. Wheeler

Dissertations, 2020-current

Timbre and pitch cues, though definitionally and physically distinct characteristics of sound, are attributes of all sound signals. A body of literature has shown that alteration of one characteristic can influence the perception of the other; e.g., speech spoken with an atypical contour of pitch can influence a listener's accuracy in identifying the words spoken; conversely, whether a melodic contour is presented via a MIDI piano representation or as sung speech can influence the accuracy of identification of the pitches' contour. Trends for these interactions have been documented for normal hearing children and adults, as well as postlingually deafened adult …

Envelope-Following Response Amplitude And Cochlear Traveling Wave Delay, Julia E. Dawson

Dissertations, 2020-current

Potential clinical roles of the envelope following response (EFR), such as diagnostic testing and amplification verification, are promising. Despite its potential, variability in response amplitude due to various stimulus characteristics is not yet fully understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of cochlear traveling wave delay on EFR amplitude. EFRs were recorded on young, normal hearing individuals using amplitude-modulated tones to represent first (F1) and second formants (F2) of vowel stimuli. EFR stimuli were created with a fixed fundamental frequency and a fixed formant carrier frequency. Stimulus conditions employed a dynamic frequency approach by sweeping the …