Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Bite Blocks And Hearing Status On Vowel Production, Harlan Lane, Margaret Denny, Frank Guenther, Melanie Matthies, Lucie Ménard, Joseph Perkell, Ellen Stockmann, Mark Tiede, Jennell Vick, Majid Zandipour

Harlan Lane

This study explores the effects of hearing status and bite blocks on vowel production. Normal-hearing controls and postlingually deaf adults read elicitation lists of /hVd/ syllables with and without bite blocks and auditory feedback. Deaf participants' auditory feedback was provided by a cochlear prosthesis and interrupted by switching off their implant microphones. Recording sessions were held before prosthesis was provided and one month and one year after. Long-term absence of auditory feedback was associated with heightened dispersion of vowel tokens, which was inflated further by inserting bite blocks. The restoration of some hearing with prosthesis reduced dispersion. Deaf speakers' vowel …