Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Nonword Repetition Performance And Social Behaviors In 7- To 11-Year-Old Children With Language Impairment, Bethany Lynne Hillary

Theses and Dissertations

Recent literature has suggested a link between verbal working memory and language impairment (LI) in children. There is limited research, however, about the link between verbal working memory and social behaviors in children with LI. This study was designed to explore the relationship between social behaviors (measured by the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale; Hart & Robinson, 1996) and verbal working memory abilities (measured by a 3-, 4-, and 5-syllable nonword repetition task) in children with LI. Thirty-six children (18 with LI and 18 typically developing) aged 7 to 11 years participated in the study. Children with LI were rated by …

Parental Hesitation As A Factor In Delayed Childhood Immunization, Karlen E. (Beth) Luthy, Renea L. Beckstrand, Neil E. Peterson

Faculty Publications

Introduction: One reason for lower immunization rates is that some parents hesitate to have their children immunized. A hesitancy questionnaire was developed to identify reasons parents hesitate in having their children immunized.

Methods: The hesitancy questionnaire was distributed from local pediatric and family practice offices and from the area's county health department. To be eligible, participants needed to be present in the clinic with a child needing a minimum of one immunization that was at least 6 months overdue.

Results: When questioned why their child was overdue for immunizations, the most common response was that participants were confused about the …

The Ability Of Children With Language Impairment To Understand Emotion Conveyed By Prosody In A Narrative Passage, Chelsea Celeste Voorhees

Theses and Dissertations

Several recent studies indicate that children with Language Impairment (LI) have difficulty recognizing and inferring meaning from emotional prosody. The present study is a replication investigating the ability of children with LI to recognize emotion conveyed by prosody in an orally presented narrative passage. Twenty-two children with LI and twenty-two age matched peers ranging from age 7;0 to 10;11 (M= 9.11, SD= 2.54) were selected to participate. Participants listened to recordings of a seven sentence passage read by actors to express happiness, anger, sadness, and fear. The children's task was to identify which emotion the speaker portrayed. Scores obtained from …

Teaching The Teacher Program To Assist Nurse Managers To Educate Nursing Staff In Ecuadorian Hospitals, Sheri P. Palmer, Sondra Heaston

Faculty Publications

Continuing education for hospital staff nurses is a concern worldwide. Current research shows that continuing education among nurses can positively affect patient outcomes (O’Brien, T., Freemantle, N., Oxman, A, et al., 2002. Interactive continuing education workshops or conferences can improve professional practice and patient outcomes. Journal of Evidence Based Nursing. 26 (5)). Seeing a need for improved patient outcomes among hospitals in Ecuador, we conducted a teaching the teacher program to assist nurse managers to carry-out continuing education in their hospital system. This teaching the teacher program was established through the collaboration between one College of Nursing in Utah, USA …

Psychometrically Equivalent Thai Monosyllabic Word Recognition Materials Spoken By Male And Female Talkers, Chela Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate a set of Thai monosyllabic word lists to use in the measurement of word recognition ability. A native male and female talker from Thailand, who were judged to have a standard Thai dialect, participated as talkers in digitally recording familiar Thai monosyllabic words. Twenty native Thai participants were used as subjects to determine the percentage of correct word recognition for each word at 10 intensity levels ranging from --5 to 40 dB HL in 5 dB increments. The 200 words with the highest raw scores were …

The Relationship Among Emotion Understanding, Language, And Social Behavior In Children With Language Impairment, Lara Lynn Goldie

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the influence of emotion understanding, language, and working memory on reticence and prosocial behavior in children with language impairment (LI). The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL; Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999) and The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT; Bracken & McCallum, 2003) were administered to 39 children with LI and 39 typical age-matched peers. A nonword repetition task and two tasks measuring emotion understanding were also administered. Each of the participant's classroom teachers completed The Teacher Behavioral Rating Scale (TBRS; Hart & Robinson, 1996). Structural equation modeling was used to estimate models of the data using a maximum likelihood …

Cost-Efficient Treatment Options For Uninsured Or Underinsured Patients For Five Common Conditions, Karlen E. (Beth) Luthy, Neil E. Peterson, Joey Wilkinson

Faculty Publications

The nurse practitioner's (NP's) role in providing quality care continues to evolve, concurrent with the ever-evolving health care system. With an influx of uninsured and underinsured patients, NPs must not only provide high-quality health care, they must also address cost-efficient treatment options for patients who cannot afford expensive medications. Familiarity with the cost of medications and prescribing cost-efficient medications are valuable tools NPs can use to encourage patient compliance with a specific care regimen, consequently improving the overall health of uninsured or underinsured individuals. Knowledge of patient assistance programs may also assist NPs in decreasing prescription drug costs for patients. …

Development Of Thai Speech Audiometry Materials For Measuring Speech Recognition Thresholds, Lauren Alexandra Hart

Theses and Dissertations

Speech audiometry materials are essential for thorough audiological testing. One aspect of speech audiometry is evaluating an individual's speech recognition threshold (SRT). Recorded materials for SRT are available in many languages; however there are no widely published recorded SRT materials available in the Thai language. The goal of this study was to develop relatively psychometrically equivalent SRT materials for evaluating the hearing abilities of native speakers of the Thai language. To accomplish this, 90 commonly used bisyllabic Thai words were digitally recorded by a male and a female talker and evaluated by 20 native Thai listeners. Twenty-eight words with relatively …

Recognition Of Emotion In Facial Expressions By Children With Language Impairment, Dorthy A. Stott

Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has shown that children with language impairment (LI) have increased social difficulties. This study examined the relationship between language skills and emotion understanding through recognition of facial expressions of emotion in children with LI and their typically developing peers. It is a replication of the research of Spackman, Fujiki, Brinton, Nelson, and Allen (2005) and Atwood (2006). Participants consisted of 22 children with LI and 22 age- and gender-matched peers with typically developing language, from the age range of 7:0 to 10:11 years. They were shown photographs of faces conveying one of the following emotions: happiness, sadness …

The Effect Of A Pseudopalate On Voiceless Obstruent Production: A Spectral Evaluation Of Adaptation, Karie Lindsay Dean

Theses and Dissertations

Many studies in speech communication have provided valuable findings concerning the kinematic nature of speech articulation. This type of research often involves introducing an oral device to the vocal tract such as lingual pellets, magnets, and different forms of pseudopalates to track the movement and placement of the articulators. This study examined the effect of an electropalatography (EPG) pseudopalate on the production of five voiceless obstruents (/p, t, k, s/ and /sh/). Acoustic recordings from 20 adult speakers with typical speech production were made during three different speaking conditions: prior to pseudopalate placement, immediately after placement, and following 20 minutes …

Recognizing The Need To Dissemble Emotions In Hypothetical Social Scenarios: Differences In Children With Language Impairment, Emily Rowberry Jones

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the ability of children with LI to recognize the need to dissemble emotions. Participants included 22 children with LI and 22 typically developing peers, ages 7;1 to 11;0 years. Children were presented with 10 hypothetical social scenarios in which the main character experienced an emotion which should be dissembled for social purposes. The participant's responses were categorized as dissemblance or display. Children with LI reported that they would hide the experienced emotion significantly less often than their typical peers. Children in both groups reported higher levels of dissemblance when asked what their parents would want them to …

It's What We're Here For: Nurses Caring For Military Personnel During The Persian Gulf Wars, Patricia Rushton, Lynn Clark Callister, Jared E. Scott

Faculty Publications

Military nursing service during wartime represents significant contributions to a unique type of health care. The purposes of this study were to: (1) generate themes that elucidate combat nursing experiences, (2) honor nurses who served by sharing their stories, and (3) permanently archive accounts of nursing personnel who served during the Persian Gulf Wars during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Eleven military nurses who provided health care to American troops in the Persian Gulf participated in a historical study as part of the ongoing Nurses at War oral history project documenting the experiences of nurses during times of …

Performance On Natural Dissemblance Tasks In 7-11 Year-Old, Language-Impaired And Typically Developing Children, Noel Quist

Theses and Dissertations

Studies over the past several years have shown that children with language impairment (LI) have greater difficulty in social situations than typically developing children. More specifically, studies have shown that children with LI have more difficulty with dissemblance. This study was conducted to assess whether these children are less likely to dissemble in real-life situations. Forty-four children aged 7 to 11 years (22 LI and 22 typically developing) were presented with four situations designed to elicit dissemblance. Their reactions were scored and compared. The results of this study showed subtle differences between children with LI and typically developing children. Children …

Development Of Tongan Materials For Determining Speech Recognition Thresholds, Lisa Dawn Bunker

Theses and Dissertations

Speech recognition threshold (SRT) is an important clinical measure that validates the pure-tone average (PTA), assists in diagnosis and prognosis of hearing and hearing impairment, and helps identify non-organic hearing impairment. Few published, recorded, and standardized materials exist in languages other than English, which results in audiologists testing individuals using materials developed in a non-native language. Research shows that this is problematic, as certain criterion for SRT testing are not met. Thus, performance may reflect test-language deficiency rather than hearing impairment. Currently, there are no known published materials for use in measuring the SRT in individuals whose native language is …

The Effects Of Task Preference On Speech And Motor Performance Under Divided Attention Conditions, Amy Sue Leiter

Theses and Dissertations

Dual task performance and the interaction of tasks has been the subject of much research. When tasks are performed together they affect each other to varying degrees depending upon such factors as the similarity of the tasks, their difficulty, and whether one task is given preference over another. In this study, task preference was investigated under divided attention conditions in order to determine what effect preference had on task performance. Twenty young adults took part in this study and were randomly assigned into two groups. Each group was experimentally motivated to favor one of the two tasks – either speaking …

Emergency Nurses’ Perceptions Of Size, Frequency, And Magnitude Of Obstacles And Supportive Behaviors In End-Of-Life Care, Renea L. Beckstrand, Michelle D. Smith, Sondra Heaston, A. Elaine Bond

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Emergency nurses care for dying patients daily. The process of dying in an emergency department can be complicated. Research on specific obstacles that impede the delivery of end-of-life care in emergency departments and behaviors that support it is limited.

Methods: A 70-item questionnaire was mailed to randomly selected ENA members. Subjects were asked to rate items on the size, frequency, and manitude of obstacles and supportive behaviors that relate to end-of-life care for ED patients.

Results:

The perceived obstacles with the greatest magnitude were as follows: (a) ED nurses’ work loads being too high to allow adequate time for …

Oral Retelling As A Measure Of Reading Comprehension: The Generalizability Of Ratings Of Elementary School Students Reading Expository Texts, Rachel Clinger Burton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to refine a rating procedure used to assess intermediate elementary school students' ability to orally retell what they had read from two expository passages. Oral retellings from 28 fourth grade students were tape-recorded and rated on two different occasions by each of 4 raters. A four-facet (passage, day of test administration, rater, and rating occasion) generalizability study was conducted using a partially nested design. The six largest sources of variability identified in the G-study included (a) students, (b) the student-by-day interaction, (c) the interaction of passage with rater (nested within student and day), (d) …

The Development Of Word Recognition Materials For Native Speakers Of Tongan, Lara Cahoon Seaver

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate a set of Tongan bisyllabic word lists for use in measurement of word recognition testing. Commonly used bisyllabic words were digitally recorded by male and female native talkers of Tongan. The psychometric performance of the words was measured at ten intensity levels (- 5 to 40 dB HL) in 5 dB increments by 20 listeners with normal hearing acuity. The 200 words with the highest rate of listener identification were included in four relatively psychometrically equivalent word lists of 50 words each and eight half-lists of …

Acoustic Characteristics Of English Lexical Stress Produced By Native Mandarin Speakers, Shawn L. Nissen, Yanhong Zhang, Alexander L. Francis

Faculty Publications

Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese have difficulty producing native-like English stress contrasts. Acoustically, English lexical stress is multidimensional, involving manipulation of fundamental frequency (F0), duration, intensity and vowel quality. Errors in any or all of these correlates could interfere with perception of the stress contrast, but it is unknown which correlates are most problematic for Mandarin speakers. This study compares the use of these correlates in the production of lexical stress contrasts by 10 Mandarin and 10 native English speakers. Results showed that Mandarin speakers produced significantly less native-like stress patterns, although they did use all four acoustic correlates to …

Word Recognition Materials For Native Speakers Of Taiwan Mandarin, Shawn L. Nissen, Richard W. Harris, Alycia Dukes

Faculty Publications

Purpose: To select, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate word recognition materials that can be used to measure the speech perception abilities of native speakers of Taiwan Mandarin in quiet. Method: Frequently used bisyllabic words produced by male and female talkers of Taiwan Mandarin were digitally recorded and subsequently evaluated using 20 native listeners with normal hearing at 10 intensity levels (-5 to 40 dB HL) in increments of 5 dB. Results: Using logistic regression, 200 words with the steepest psychometric slopes were divided into 4 lists and 8 half-lists that were relatively equivalent in psychometric function slope. To increase …

Paripartum Cardiomyopathy: Implications For Nps, Jeffrey A. Goss, A. Elaine Bond, Renea L. Beckstrand, Lynn C. Callister

Faculty Publications

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), the fifth leading cause of death in pregnancy, is often overlooked or misdiagnosed because of vague symptoms and a lack of specific criteria for diagnosis. The authors performed a literature review of articles published between January 2000 and November 2007, and found that early diagnosis via echocardiography and interventions with specific treatment modalities can reduce mortality. Dobutamine stress testing may be prognostic for left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Standard heart failure (HF) drug regimens, heart transplantation, and mechanical assist devices are viable treatment modalities, depending on individual needs. Subsequent pregnancies must be followed closely. The authors recommend that …

Peripheral Intravenous Catheters Started In Prehospital And Emergency Department Settings, Ligia Zarate, Barbara Mandleco, Russell Wilshaw, Patricia K. Ravert

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine the rates of phlebitis in trauma patients according to where the peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) was inserted in a prehospital setting or in an emergency department setting. Variables investigated also included where the catheter was anatomically placed, the gauge of the catheter, and the patients' Injury Severity Score. The overall phlebitis rate was 5.79%. The rate of phlebitis was 2.92% when started by an RN in the emergency department, 6.09% when started by an intermediate emergency medical technician and 7.78% when started by a paramedic in prehospital setting. There was no significant …

The Effects Of Deep Brain Stimulation On The Speech Of Patients With Parkinson's Disease, Erin Suzanne Bjarnason

Theses and Dissertations

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has received more attention in recent years as a treatment option for regulating the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Previous studies of DBS documented consistent improvements in motor function but more variability in speech outcomes. In the present study, six participants diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease who reported worsened speech with stimulation were recorded performing speech acoustic tasks with the stimulators on, and again with the stimulators off. Improvements were noted for most participants in measurements of formant slopes, long term average spectrum (LTAS) of a sustained vowel, and spirantization with stimulation …

Accuracy Of Automated Analysis Of Language Samples From Persons With Deafness Or Hearing Impairment, Anne M. Hasting

Theses and Dissertations

Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) and the Language Assessment, Remediation, and Screening Procedure (LARSP) are among the more common analyses for syntax and morphology, and automated versions of these analyses have been shown to be effective. This study measured the accuracy of automated DSS and LARSP on the written English output of six prelingually deaf young adults, ranging in age from 18 to 32 years. The samples were analyzed using the DSS and LARSP programs on Computerized Profiling; manual analysis was then performed on the samples. Point-by-point accuracy for DSS and for each level of LARSP was reported. Characteristics of the …

The Effect Of Regional Dialect On The Validity And Reliability Of Word Recognition Scores, Jamie Ann Garlick

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of talker and listener dialect on the validity and reliability of word recognition scores from two sets of Mandarin speech audiometry materials. Four lists of bisyllabic words in Mainland Mandarin and Taiwan Mandarin dialects were administered to 16 participants of each dialect with normal hearing across two test sessions. The performance on materials presented in the native dialect was compared to performance on non-native dialect assessment to determine validity and reliability of test materials. Statistical analysis indicated significant differences between word recognition scores across test sessions, talker and listener dialect, …

Event Related Potentials Of Syntactic Language Processing In Two Children With Specific Language Impairment: A Case Study, Melissa Ann Willes

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the electrophysiological activity of two children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and two aged-matched peers while listening to syntactically correct sentences versus syntactically incorrect sentences. The study specifically analyzed the N400 and P600 components. The N400 component is a negative wave occurring approximately 400 ms post-stimulus and is elicited by semantically incorrect stimuli. The P600 component is a positivity that occurs approximately 600 ms post-stimulus and reflects processing of syntactically incorrect stimuli. The participants in the study included a 7-year-old child and a 9-year-old child with SLI and two age-matched peers with typically developing language. Each participant …

The Effect Of Non-Native Dialect On Speech Recognition Threshold For Native Mandarin Speakers, Nathan Edward Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

Speech recognition thresholds are used for several clinical purposes, so it is important that they be accurate reflections of hearing ability. Variations in the acoustic signal may artificially decrease threshold scores, and such variations can result from being tested in a second dialect. Thirty-two native Mandarin-speaking subjects (sixteen from mainland China and sixteen from Taiwan) participated in speech recognition threshold testing in both dialects to see whether using non-native dialect test materials resulted in a significantly lower score. In addition, tests were scored by two interpreters, one from each dialect, to see whether the scorer's dialect resulted in a significantly …

Promoting Self-Confidence In Clinical Nursing Students, Karen M. Lundberg

Faculty Publications

Clinical nursing instructors are continually telling their students that they just need more confidence. But how do students find this needed confidence and how can nursing instructors help them? The author discusses sources and principles of confidence in relationship to teaching behaviors and strategies for increasing self-confidence, such as simulations, peer modeling, story telling, skill review sessions, and journaling.

Articulatory Changes Following Treatment Of Muscle Tension Dysphonia: Preliminary Acoustic Evidence, Christopher Dromey, Shawn L. Nissen, Ray M. Merrill, Nelson Roy

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), a voice disturbance that occurs in the absence of structural or neurological pathology, may respond to manual circumlaryngeal techniques, which ostensibly alter the posture of the larynx and/or the configuration of the vocal folds without directly targeting supralaryngeal articulatory structures. Although the phonatory benefits of these techniques have been documented previously, this investigation examined whether acoustic evidence exists for articulatory changes accompanying successful management. Method: In this retrospective study of a clinical database, pre- and post-treatment speech samples from 111 women with MTD were analyzed for acoustic evidence of supraglottal vocal tract changes associated …

Hospital Nursing Research Program: Partnership Of Service And Academia, Patricia Ravert, Katreena Collette Merrill

Faculty Publications

Hospitals in a nonprofit mountain west corporation conducted a gap analysis to determine readiness for Magnet Recognition. Major gaps included nursing research and availability of consultation and resources for research. Based on the findings, the development of a dynamic research program promoting nursing research and evidence-based practice within hospitals was undertaken. A nursing research council was reestablished with representatives from service and academia. A literature review and analysis of corporate/academia resources were completed. The plan called for a nursing research coordinator position and development of a research budget. Academia continues to be represented on the hospital institutional review board. A …