Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Noun Clauses In Clinical Child Language Samples, Christine Beate Scoville

Theses and Dissertations

Noun clauses are grammatical constructions that are of relevance both to typical language development and impaired language development. These clauses have been part of published techniques for the clinical analysis of language samples, and computer software for the automated analysis of clinical language samples has attempted to identify noun clauses, with limited success. The present study examined the development and clinical use of noun clauses as well as the automated identification of these clauses. Two sets of language samples were examined. One set consisted of 10 children with specific language impairment (SLI) whose age ranged from 7;6 to 11;1 (years;months), …

Using Systematic And Engaging Early Literacy Instruction And Digital Books To Teach At-Risk Kindergarteners To Read Target Words, Audra Marie Hales

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention activities that incorporate digital books to teach kindergarteners to read. The study used a single-subject-multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design to compare kindergarten students' reading of comparable CVC words before and after intervention. Four students at-risk for reading difficulties were chosen for the study based on their performance on assessments and their teachers' recommendations. Students were divided into two dyads and received intervention three times a week for 25 minutes for approximately six weeks, or 18 total sessions. Baseline assessment data was collected prior to …

The Effect Of Timbre And Vibrato On Vocal Pitch Matching Accuracy, Sirisha Duvvuru

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Research has shown that singers are better able to match pitch when the target stimulus has a timbre close to their own voice. This study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. Do classically trained female singers more accurately match pitch when the target stimulus is more similar to their own timbre? 2. Does the ability to match pitch vary with increasing pitch? 3. Does the ability to match pitch differ depending on whether the target stimulus is produced with or without vibrato? 4. Are mezzo sopranos less accurate than sopranos? Stimuli: Source signals were synthesized with a source slope …

Perceptual, Acoustic, And Kinematic Effects Of Sentence-Initial, Single-Phoneme Prolongation In People Who Do And Do Not Stutter, Darrell Sharp Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined a sentence-initial one-second sound prolongation as a possible fluency-inducing condition in people who stutter. The effects of this prolongation technique on the single sentence utterances of five people who stutter (PWS) and five age- and gender-matched controls were investigated. Variables tested included stuttering percentages, speaking rate, duration of phonated intervals, and correlation between upper lip and lower lip/jaw. Results showed a non-significant trend for less stuttering to occur when participants used the prolongation technique. Significant findings included longer durations of phonated intervals and more negatively correlated upper- and lower-lip movements during the prolongation condition. Rate of speech …

The Correlation Between Spectral Moment Measures And Electropalatometric Contact Patterns For /T/ And /K/, Janelle Barrett

Theses and Dissertations

Spectral moment analysis has helped further our understanding of the spectral properties of obstruent speech production; however, the physiologic correlates of these spectral measures are not well understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible correlations between the linguapalatal contact patterns used to produce the stops /t/ and /k/ and the resulting spectral characteristics. Using spectral moment analysis and electropalatography, the real-word productions of eight speakers of American English were investigated. The spectral measures for the stop consonant tokens in the present study were found to be similar to data reported in previous research with adult …

Familiality Of Auditory Evoked Potentials: Preliminary Investigation Of The Auditory Brainstem Response And Late Latency Cortical Response, Matthew B. Lucas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Twenty-four participants, consisting of six sibling pairs and six non-sibling pairs, participated in this study investigating the familiality of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). The auditory brainstem response (ABR) recorded at high stimulus rates, revealed that Wave V latency increases, while amplitude decreases as stimulus rate increases. ABR Wave V latency was also found to increase with click position within a stimulus train, plateauing by the third stimulus. No evidence for familiality was found with respect to the ABR Wave V under these conditions. The late latency response (LLR) components N1 and P2 were found to decrease between the first and …

Role Of Therapeutic Devices In Enhancing Speech Intelligibility And Vocal Intensity In An Individual With Parkinson’S Disease, Swetha Swaminathan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The prevailing speech therapy techniques for treating hypokinetic dysarthria in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) yields improvements within the clinical setting, however, maintenance and generalization of acquired behaviors continue to be a challenge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of portable therapeutic devices including Ambulatory Phonation Monitor with biofeedback (APM) and auditory masker in maintenance and carryover of improved speech. Our participant was an individual diagnosed with PD for the past 25 years who continued to display speech disturbances despite undergoing several behavioral speech therapy programs and neurosurgical procedures. Speech intelligibility and average intensity measures under …

The Effect Of Intervention Using A Robot On The Social Engagement Behaviors Of Four Children With Autism In Interaction With An Unfamiliar Adult, Sarai Sophia Dodge

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of low doses of interactive therapy with a robot on the basic social engagement skills of four children with autism in interaction with an unfamiliar adult. The current study was part of a larger work investigating the effects of treatment incorporating a robot on the social engagement behaviors of children with autism. A single-subject, multiple-baseline research design was implemented and included four types of sessions: baseline, traditional intervention, intervention including the robot, and follow-up. Each participant received a total of 20 intervention sessions in addition to baseline and follow-up sessions. Intervention with the robot was …

An Acoustic Analysis Of Elements Of Contrastive Stress Produced By 8 To 10-Year-Old Children, Nicole Michelle Clover

Theses and Dissertations

Contrastive stress is an aspect of communication that can be used to highlight information, de-accent redundant information, and create distinctions between new and previously-provided information. Previous research has documented that adult speakers use relative changes in their vocal intensity, fundamental frequency (F0), and duration to mark contrastive stress in a sentence. However, less is understood about how and when children mark contrastive stress in their communication, thus the current study aims to examine a number of acoustic elements of contrastive stress in 8 to 10-year-old children. Speech samples were elicited from 20 children and analyzed to determine if the acoustic …

The Effects Of Utilizing A Robot On The Social Engagement Behaviors Of Children With Autism In A Triadic Interaction, Kristi Anne Blanchard

Theses and Dissertations

The study presents the use of a humanoid robot to facilitate social engagement behaviors in four children with autism. These children were enrolled in a semester long treatment program based on components of the SCERTS model designed to facilitate social communication (Prizant, 2003). Following baseline, children received intervention sessions with and without the robot. During sessions involving the robot, each child would participate in a 10 minute interaction (as part of a 50 minute sessions) using a robot to facilitate interaction with a graduate clinician or parent. The interactions were recorded and analyzed for occurrences of social engagement behaviors. This …

The Effect Of Utilizing A Humanoid Robot On Social Engagement Behaviors In Children With Autism During Interaction With A Familiar Adult, Alyssa Stabenow

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on intervention using a humanoid robot to facilitate social engagement and joint attention in four children with autism. Intervention was conducted over a three month period, with each child receiving pre-testing, intervention, and post-testing. Intervention was based on the SCERTS model (Prizant, Wetherby, Rubin, & Laurent, 2003). Pre- and post-testing involved interactions with a parent, a familiar adult interaction, a less-familiar adult interaction, and a triadic interaction. This study focuses on the baseline and follow-up testing from the interaction with the familiar adult. Following a period of traditional intervention, sessions involving a humanoid robot (named Troy) were …

Improving Literacy Through Instruction And Community Experiences: : The Effect Of A Summer Program On Literacy Outcomes Of Students From Low Ses Homes, Lisa Delozier Bowers

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Among the academic challenges faced by students from low socio-economic (SES) homes is the loss of academic skills during the summer months. Unfortunately, the public schools are often unable to provide summer learning opportunities because limited space, funding, and teacher availability. Established community organizations frequently provide summer programs, however, there is little research to indicate that they can be used to address summer learning loss.

A summer program was designed to improve oral and written narrative skills for students from low SES homes. This program was based in a local community ministry and was designed to use thematic units that …

Independent Component Analysis Of Event-Related Electroencephalography During Speech And Non-Speech Discrimination: : Implications For The Sensorimotor ∆∞ Rhythm In Speech Processing, Andrew Lee Bowers

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Background: The functional significance of sensorimotor integration in acoustic speech processing is unclear despite more than three decades of neuroimaging research. Constructivist theories have long speculated that listeners make predictions about articulatory goals functioning to weight sensory analysis toward expected acoustic features (e.g. analysis-by-synthesis; internal models). Direct-realist accounts posit that sensorimotor integration is achieved via a direct match between incoming acoustic cues and articulatory gestures. A method capable of favoring one account over the other requires an ongoing, high-temporal resolution measure of sensorimotor cortical activity prior to and following acoustic input. Although scalp-recorded electroencephalography (EEG) provides a measure of cortical …

An Exploratory Study Of Characteristics Associated With Postsecondary Educational Attainment In Students Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Amy Marie Hebert

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is well documented that attrition in the postsecondary settings for students who are deaf or hard of hearing is greatly due to their academic and communication skills, as well as pre-entry attributes. However there is little evidence that indicates why students who are deaf or hard of hearing are successful in the postsecondary setting. This study tested a hypothesis that demographic, family, psychological and educational variables have a relationship with postsecondary attainment. The variables included in the study were gender, race, math literacy, reading literacy, high school academic setting (public/residential), communication modality (sign language/oral speech), cochlear implant user, parental …

The Effect Of Concurrent Cognitive, Linguistic And Motor Tasks On Speech Intensity In Parkinson’S Disease, Teresa J. Valenzano

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the effect of concurrent tasks on speech intensity in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Thirteen PD participants and twenty-two controls performed three tasks concurrent with a speech task. The speech task involved a repeated carrier phrase and a target word. The concurrent tasks involved math addition (cognitive), verb generation (linguistic), and manual visuomotor tracking (motor) at three levels of difficulty. All three concurrent tasks were associated with reduced speech intensity relative to the isolated speech task. The concurrent motor task was generally associated with the greatest reduction in speech intensity. Task performance measures were not significantly different for the …

Speech Compensation To Formant Perturbations In English And Vietnamese Talkers, Linh L.T. Nguyen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this experiment was to examine mechanisms underlying the auditory feedback system using Vietnamese and English talkers in response to feedback perturbations. F1 discrimination thresholds, vowel goodness ratings, and vowel category bounds for English /ɪ/ were determined. Vowel spaces were collected for both languages and auditory feedback of F1 was manipulated for English and Vietnamese vowels. Speech compensation during perturbed auditory feedback occurred in English and Vietnamese vowels suggesting that the underlying mechanisms are universal. However, there were differences in speech compensation for some vowel conditions, which may have occurred due to vowel location in each language group’s …

Development Of Psychometrically Equivalent Speech Audiometry Materials For Measuring Speech Recognition Thresholds In Native Tagalog Speakers, Brandon Brian Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

In addition to the use of pure-tones for testing hearing, speech signals are highly valuable diagnostic tools for identifying and evaluating hearing impairment. Speech audiometry involves the implementation of such signals in the measurement of hearing acuity. One aspect of speech audiometry involves assessment of the speech recognition threshold (SRT) which evaluates an individual's ability to hear and understand speech. While live speech has been used in the past to assess SRT, recorded materials are preferred and have been shown to be advantageous over live speech. High-quality digitally recorded speech audiometry materials have been available in English for some time, …

Outcomes Of A Social Communication Intervention On The Use Of Emotion Words, Amy Tucker Cornett

Theses and Dissertations

Children with language impairment (LI) have often been identified as having social communication breakdowns. A number of these problems are likely the result of deficits in emotional competence. This thesis examines a social communication intervention designed to target the emotional competence of children with LI. Three elementary school-aged children with LI were recruited to receive twenty, 20-minute intervention sessions over the course of four months. Each intervention session involved a combination of activities targeting emotion recognition and emotion inferencing using story retell, story exploration, story enactment, perspectives charts, journal entries, emotion labeling, and personalization. These activities revolved around Mercer Mayer's …

Effect Of A Humanoid Robot During Therapy On Responding To Joint Attention With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine Lowe

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the use of a humanoid robot to engage two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on responding language behaviors including language, affect, imitation, and eye contact. The robot was integrated into each child's regular intervention in low-doses (10 min of a 50 min session). The goal was to increase responding language behaviors in the children with their conversational partners. The two children participated in pre and post assessment sessions as well as 16 intervention sessions. The data from these sessions were coded into two main categories including how the children interacted (Initiating Engagement, Responding to …

Effect Of Head Movement On Sound Localization In Real And Simulated Cochlear Implant Users, Kassandra-Anne H. Birtch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cochlear implant (CI) users’ limited ability to use acoustical cues for sound localization causes left/right confusions and front/back reversals. Head movement is beneficial in reducing these errors in acoustically hearing listeners. This study investigated the effect of head movement on localization throughout 360o of azimuth for both real and simulated CI users. Listeners in a bilateral electro-acoustic (CI with ipsilateral hearing aid) simulation derived the greatest head movement benefit in reducing front/back reversals. Left/right confusions were reduced in simulations with matched bilateral stimulation. Sensitivity to both timing and level cues for sound localization was correlated with sound localization performance without …

Inspiratory Breathing Exercises For Vocal Tremor: A Preliminary Study, Jessica Tayseer Hilo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Essential voice tremor (EVT) is a voice disorder that results from dyscoordination within the laryngeal musculature, which negatively impacts the symmetrical motion of the vocal folds. Several investigators have shown that individuals with EVT experience difficulty speaking and a reduced quality of life (QOL; Cohen, Dupont, & Courey, 2006; Verdonck-de Leeuw & Mahieu, 2004). While traditional voice therapy has been ineffective in lessening the severity of vocal tremor, a current approach (Barkmeier- Kraemer, Lato, & Wiley, 2011) designed to lessen the perception of vocal tremor has resulted in reported patient satisfaction with little actual change in voice quality. The present …

Recognition Of Speech In Multi-Talker Babble By Individuals With Hearing Loss, Kyle J. Christensen

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the speech recognition abilities of individuals with hearing loss using multi-talker babble as a competing stimulus. Twenty-six young adults participated, 15 in the normal hearing group (mean age of 21.9 years) and 11 in the hearing loss group (mean age of 22.2 years). The participants with normal hearing (0-20 dB HL) had a high frequency pure tone average (HFPTA) of 5 dB HL in both ears, while the participants in the hearing loss group had an HFPTA of 13 dB HL in the right ear and 25 dB HL in the left …

The Effect Of Multitalker Background Noise On Speech Intelligibility In Parkinson's Disease And Controls, Talia M. Leszcz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the effect of multi-talker background noise on speech intelligibility in participants with hypophonia due to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Ten individuals with PD and 10 geriatric controls were tested on four speech intelligibility tasks at the single word, sentence, and conversation level in various conditions of background noise. Listeners assessed speech intelligibility using word identification or orthographic transcription procedures. Results revealed non-significant differences between groups when intelligibility was assessed in no background noise. PD speech intelligibility decreased significantly relative to controls in the presence of background noise. A phonetic error analysis revealed a distinct error profile for PD …

Reliability Of The Mean Length Of Utterance Measure In Samples Of Children's Language, Katherine Marie Bigelow

Theses and Dissertations

Mean length of utterance (MLU) is widely used in child language sample analysis as a way to quantify language development. The current study examines the split-half reliability of MLU and two alternative measures: MLU2 and median length of utterance (MdLU). The effects of utterance segmentation into phonological units (P-units) or communication units (C-units) on reliability were also studied. Sixty conversational child language samples were used which included ten children with language impairment. All measures were found to have high levels of split-half reliability, with MLU and MLU2 having higher levels of reliability than MdLU. There was no significant difference between …

Exploring Picture Word Priming Effects In Healthy Aging Adults Using Event Related Potentials, Sasha C. Christopher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanics with which older adults activate and access different subdomains of their mental lexicons during word retrieval for picture naming.

Method: Data were analyzed for 12 aging, native English speakers who performed a picture-word priming task. The auditory probe words were presented in the following conditions in relation to the picture stimuli: Identically related, strongly semantically related, weakly semantically related, strongly phonologically related, weakly phonologically related, semantically related to the strong phonological relative of the target picture label, or phonologically-related to the strong semantic relative of the target picture …

Loudness Perception And Speech Intensity Control In Parkinson's Disease, Jenna Paula Clark

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the role of loudness perception and selected auditory processes in 17 participants with hypophonia related to Parkinson’s disease (PD) and 25 controls. For most of the five loudness perception tasks (magnitude estimation, imitation, speech-to-noise judgment, magnitude production, magnitude production in noise), the PD participants produced a significantly different pattern and used a more restricted range than the controls in their self-generated estimates of speech intensity and judgments of speech loudness. Results from two self-assessment questionnaires (CETI-M, M-SAPP) found that the PD participants perceived themselves as less effective communicators than controls. An audiometric evaluation suggested that the PD …

Exploring Intelligibility In Tracheoesophageal Speech: A Descriptive Analysis, Lindsay E. Sleeth

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite literature that suggests tracheoesophageal (TE) voice restoration to have the highest intelligibility of the three alaryngeal modes of speech, previous studies have shown that TE speech is less intelligible than “normal” speech. It is important to understand where problems related to intelligibility currently exist in order for members of the rehabilitation team to provide the best therapy/prostheses to each individual using TE speech as a mode of communication. This study evaluated the intelligibility of 15 male and female tracheoesophageal speakers. Eighteen normal-hearing, naive, young adult listeners assessed digital voice samples of 15 adult male and female TE speakers. Listeners …

Factors In The Client-Clinician Interaction That Are Perceived To Influence Hearing Aid Adoption In First Time Hearing Aid Candidates And Their Rated Importance By Clients And Clinicians, Laya Poost-Foroosh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of the impact of the client-clinician interaction in the hearing aid adoption process. The specific goals of this dissertation were: 1) to identify factors in client-clinician interactions that were perceived by clients and clinicians to influence hearing aid adoption in first time adult hearing aid candidates, 2) to investigate the importance of the identified factors from clients and clinicians perspectives, and 3) to compare the importance of the identified factors between clients and clinicians. These goals were achieved using a mixed-methods approach.

Three studies were undertaken. In the first …

Social Circles Of Children With Language Impairment, Erin Whitworth

Theses and Dissertations

Children with language impairment (LI) often demonstrate difficulties in social communication. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the quantity and quality of the social interactions of children with LI and their typical peers through an analysis of the social networks or circles of each child. Eight children with LI as well as eight children with typically developing language and their parents were interviewed. Children's social networks were organized by social circles to effectively paint a picture of each child's social communication (Blackstone & Hunt Berg, 2003). Children with LI were found to have overall fewer contacts in …

The Correlation Between Spectral Moment Measures And Electropalatographic Contact Patterns For /S/ And /Ʃ/, Benjamin James Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

Spectral Moment Analysis has helped further our understanding of the spectral properties of obstruent speech production; however, the physiologic correlates of these spectral measures are not well understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible correlations between the linguapalatal contact patterns used to produce the fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ and the resulting spectral characteristics. Using spectral moment analysis and electropalatography (EPG), the real-word productions of eight speakers of American English were investigated. The spectral measures for the fricative tokens in the present study were found to be similar to data reported in previous research with adult …