Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Acoustical And Perceptual Correlates Of Vocal Effort In Normal Hearing And Hearing-Impaired Children, Corinne A. Thomas-Kersting

Dissertations and Theses

The present study was designed to investigate the perceptual and spectrographic features of vocal effort in the speech of severely to profoundly hearing-impaired children and their normal hearing agemates. Recorded vowel and speech samples were obtained from ten normal hearing children, ten severely to profoundly hearing-impaired children attending Oral/Aural educational programs, and eight severely to profoundly hearing-impaired children attending Total Communication programs. The degree of perceived vocal effort for vowels and speech was evaluated, using a nine point equal-appearing-interval scale. In order to obtain a physical measurement for vocal effort, a digital wave analyzer was used to produce vowel spectra, …

A Change In Pass/Fail Criterion On The Mini-Screening Language Test For Adolescents, Denice Lynn Palmer Milholland

Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to determine whether varying criterion for pass/fail on the Mini-Screening Language Test for Adolescents (Mini-STAL) would increase accuracy of predicting outcome of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language (STAL). The Mini-STAL was developed by Prather et al. (1981) to identify rapidly those students between grades six through twelve who are in need of language intervention. Using Prather's established criterion (one or more errors equal failure), the Phoenix school district (Prather, 1981) found too many of their school population (20 percent) were failing the Mini- STAL. Thus, they established an experimental criterion (two or more errors equal …

Language Development And Visual-Motor Integration In The Preschool Child, Andrea Lynn Perry Graham

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the visual-motor integrative abilities of preschool children with their articulatory and syntactical development. Two questions were posed: Do children having accelerated visual-motor integrative skills perform at a higher level than children having delayed visual-motor integration skills in 1) their articulation proficiency, and 2) their syntactical abilities?

The Descriptive Function Of Language: Changes With Age And Pressure To Inform, Eve Susan Liebman

Dissertations and Theses

Currently language is viewed as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of three interrelated components; content, form and function (Bloom and Lahey, 1978). In recent publications, language function has been referred to as pragmatics (Prutting, 1979). The essence of pragmatic theory is that language is used functionally in social contexts, to accomplish specific types of communication (Wood, 1981). One such communicative function is referred to as the informative function, which occurs when a speaker provides ideas and information to others, as in describing, naming and giving examples {Wood, 1981). It is not clear, however, when children become competent in making specific, clear …

A Comparison Of Two Language Screening Instruments In Two Populations, Karen Kumpula-Lacey

Dissertations and Theses

Screening has been suggested as the most efficient method to find students with potential language problems (Neidecker, 1980). Based on the need for a standardized adolescent language screening tool, Prather, Breecher, Stafford, and Wallace (1980) developed the Screening Test of Adolescent Language (STAL). This is a six to eight minute test with twenty-three items which examine vocabulary, auditory memory span, language processing, and proverb explanation. Following an item analysis of the STAL, Prather, Brenner, and Hughes (1981) derived the Mini-Screening Test of Adolescent Language (M-STAL). This test contains five items from the STAL and requires one minute to administer.

Evaluating The Aural/Oral Skills Of Children Identified By The Slingerland Pre-Reading Screening Procedures, Sandra L. Singleton

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research tends to confirm the concept that it is imperative to diagnose learning disorders early and start remediation immediately. Slingerland (1977) developed an assessment tool, which reportedly aids in the identification of remediational needs before a child has experienced failure. This screening device was designed to "show modality weaknesses that call for specific instruction to prevent early failare" (Slingerland, 1977). All of the subtests from the Pre-Reading Screening Procedures are cross-modality tasks because the testing of a modality, "Auditory" or "Visual", requires the use of one or two other modalities (motor or speech) to generate a response. In order to …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Non-Operant And Operant Carryover Techniques For /L/, Michelle Ann Tremblay

Dissertations and Theses

Developing strategies to promote effective carryover is one of the most difficult tasks a clinician faces. Mention has been made in the literature of possible activities to use in the clinical setting to promote carryover. Suggestion has been made in the literature that operant conditioning is a technique which can be employed to achieve carryover. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether there is a difference in relative effectiveness between operant and non-operant techniques for achieving carryover of /l/.

Pragmatics: The Verbal Expression Of Feelings, Ann Paula Zimmerman

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine at which age levels, between four and eight years, children express Praise, Apology, Commiseration, Blame, Challenge, Endearment, and both a Positive and Negative State.

Subjects were thirty children, six from each age level between four and eight years, selected from an elementary and preschool within the Portland area. Sixteen picture cards and stories were designed to elicit the eight different feelings. Each subject responded to questions at the end of the story and was given two chances to express the appropriate feeling. Each response was judged as appropriate or inappropriate and scored …

Communication Development And Its Disorders: A Psycholinguistic Perspective, Rhea Paul, Donald J. Cohen

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

There is a reciprocal relationship between the study of language disorders and research in normal language development. Recent studies in normal acquisition have led to a model of language development that includes not only linguistic achievements, but the development of social and cognitive abilities that lay the basis for the transition from prelinguistic communication to the use of conventional forms. This model has been applied to the study of developmental disorders of language learning. Such a model allows the more puzzling disorders of language development, such as childhood aphasia and primary autism, to be placed in a framework that predicts …

Phonational Frequency Ranges In Vocally Untrained Adults Using Different Cardinal Vowels, Lorie Renee Chambers

Dissertations and Theses

In the clinical management of voice clients, it is important to measure accurate pitch ranges in order to determine if a client has a normal range or is speaking at an optimum pitch. It is not clear from the literature which vowel should be used in determining these pitch ranges. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the phonational frequency ranges in adults with no vocal training when phonating the cardinal vowels of /i/, /u/, and /a/. The investigation sought to answer the following question: Does the phonational frequency range in vocally untrained adults vary significantly when phonating the …

The Acquisition Of Obligatory-Do, Bernadette Maresh-Ericksen

Dissertations and Theses

The auxiliary verb obligatory-do is used in forming questions, negative and emphatic sentences. Currently there is no test or norms established for the acquisition of obligatory-do. The purpose of this study was to establish age trends, via elicited imitation for the acquisition of obligatory-do according to the sentence type in which it expressively occurs i.e., negative sentences, emphatic sentences, interrogative reversals and wh-questions. This study addressed the following question: At what ages do children expressively demonstrate, via elicited imitation, the auxiliary verb obligatory-do in negative sentences, emphatic sentences, interrogative reversals and wh-questions? A secondary question was: In what manner does …

Towards A Measure Of Superior-Subordinate Perceptual Correspondence And Its Relationship To The Performance Appraisal, Elizabeth Duane Vergeer Crist

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine what, if any, relationship existed between the correspondence of perceptions between superior-subordinate work dyads and the superior's rating of the subordinate's work performance.

Toward A Measure Of Correspondence In Relational Perceptions In Marital Dyads, Deborah Anne Coker

Dissertations and Theses

In order to assess a component of communication in interpersonal relationships, an instrument was developed to determine the correspondence in relational perceptions between partners in a marital dyad. The current study focuses on the levels of awareness spouses exhibit regarding phenomenological perceptions of themselves, their partners and the status of their dyadic system.

Verbal Fluency Performance Of Normal Elderly Subjects, Molly Secrest

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the verbal fluency of normal gerontologic subjects and to determine the extent of association between verbal fluency score and level of education. Specifically, this investigation sought to determine means, ranges and standard deviations for three groups of subjects: those 61 to 69 years of age, those 70 to 79 years of age, and those 80 years of age and above. In addition, correlations between verbal fluency score, and age, sex, years of education, and order of stimulus presentation were computed.

The Effect Of Parent-Child Interaction On The Language Development Of The Hearing-Impaired Child, Arla J. Melum

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years much interest has been focused on the manner in which the young child acquires language. Some researchers (Chomsky, 1965; McNeil) have postulated an inherent capacity to comprehend and utilize linguistic structures, while others such as Irwin, (1960), Hess and Shipman (1965), and Greenstein, et al, (1974) have focused on experiential determinants of language competence in early childhood. As with all children, the social and emotional behavior of deaf children is greatly influenced by their ability to communicate with significant others. Interactions between the normally developing child and his parents are characterized by mutual responsiveness, where each initiates …

Magnitude Estimation Of The Quality And Intelligibility Of Degraded Speech, Theresa Smith

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to identify within-group and between-group differences in perceived quality and perceived intelligibility of degraded speech for listeners with normal and impaired hearing. Following a visual magnitude estimation task, 10 subjects with normal hearing and 10 subjects with sensory-neural hearing impairment listened to connected speech samples degraded by seven levels of harmonic distortion and estimated the magnitude of their quality and intelligibility. Log average quality estimates and log average intelligibility estimates varied linearly with log degradation values for each group. The slopes of the log-log functions were interpreted as measures of perceptual sensitivity. Slopes for …

A Comparison Of Two Articulation Carry-Over Techniques, Robyn Schwartz

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the comparative effectiveness of two articulation carry-over techniques. It was hoped that through this comparison answers regarding carry-over results could be ascertained for purposes of aiding public school clinicians currently spending the majority of management time on carry-over. If one technique was found to be superior, its use among speech pathologists might aid in changing this time allocation trend.

A Comparison Of Overall Verb Complexity Between Aphasic Adults And Language Disordered Children, Cheri Suzanne Carrico

Masters Theses

In this investigation, no difference in the overall complexity of verbs produced in spontaneous speech existed between adults and children with primarily expressive language disorders. Six adults, four males and two females between 37;1 and 68;7 years of age, and eight children, five males and three females between 4;3 and 8;3 years of age, comprised the subjects. Each had essentially intact receptive language skills, but was deficient in expressive language abilities. None evidenced a history of hearing, mental or emotional deficits.

Spontaneous language samples elicited from each subject were scored using the Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) procedure (Lee, 1974). Marginal, …

Survey Of Skills For Blissymbol Use : A Pilot Study, Leisa J. Moore

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to design an evaluative questionnaire to be used by two speech-language pathologists to survey cerebral palsied children's skills in areas pertinent to the learning of Blissymbolics, and to outline a Blissymbol protocol for recording Blissymbols of which children had knowledge. Skills of cerebral palsied children were surveyed and the Blissymbol knowledge of each was recorded.

The subjects of this pilot study were four cerebral palsied children, ages five years seven months to eight years five months. The children were currently involved in Blissymbol training, or had received Blissymbol training within the past year. Two …

The Prevalence Of Visual Disorders In Speech And Language Delayed Children, Lori A. Hanson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Many of the tests used in speech and language evaluations involve visual stimuli. It is assumed that the child being tested has adequate vision to perform these tests. The present study examined the prevalence of vision problems in speech and language delayed children to determine if a routine vision screening is necessary. The study also investigated whether student speech pathologists' screening results were significantly different from an optometrist's results.

Prior to actual testing, the student speech pathologists were taught how to administer and score a vision screening composed of tests from the Modified Clinical Technique. The children were initially screened …

Survey Of Pediatricians : What Are The Criteria Used For Referral To Speech And Language Pathologists?, Janet Bradley

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of the present research was to summarize from the pediatric literature the norms for speech and language development and to determine if the pediatrician is utilizing these norms as criteria for making referrals to speech and language pathologists. Research tends to show a discrepancy between the incidence of speech and language disorders and the rate of referrals made by physicians.

The methodology involved developing a three-part questionnaire to determine what screening instruments are being used in the pediatric office in regard to speech, language, and hearing, and what informal criteria are utilized for making referrals for a speech …

An Age Related Feature Analysis Of The Autocom, Nancy Jo Blair

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The current research was designed to outline the Autocom features, develop teaching sequences which incorporated these features and determine the ability of prefirst and third grade subjects to operate the features for functional conmunication. The population was comprised of 20 physically and intellectually normal children-- 10 prefirst graders and 10 third graders. The subjects were met with individually at the La Sierra Hearing, Speech and Language Center for one or two sessions, for approximately 45 to 60 minutes per session.

Using teaching sequences developed by the investigator, the subjects were taught to operate each feature of the Autocom. At specific …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Brain-Stem Latencies And Amplitudes In Non Disabled And Learning Disabled Male Children, John D. Johnson, Iii

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Invisible Isolation Of Deaf Women: Its Effect On Social Awareness, Gaylene Becker, Joanne Jauregui

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The place of deaf women in relation to society is discussed, and the formative experiences that shape their personal development are described. Deaf women's needs are delineated, and suggestions are made for providers to meet these needs.

Evaluation Of Blissymbolics As A Means Of Communication For The Deaf-Cerebral Palsy Population, Linda Howells

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purposes of this study are:

1. To present the deaf-cerebral palsied population with a more functional means of communication.
2. To test the validity of using a non-vocal means of communication, Blissymbolics, when other more traditional methods of teaching communication skills (sign language or verbal communication) have been ineffective.

Blissymbolics has been found to be an effective means of communication with cerebral palsy children who are unable to develop verbal communication skills. However, there is no research in the use of Blissymbolics with the deaf-cerebral palsy population.

The traditional means of communication used with the nonspeaking deaf person (manual sign language) …

The Norming Of The Shortened Form Of The Carrow Elicited Language Inventory, Barbara Brown

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present investigation was initiated to establish cut-off scores for the shortened form of the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (CELI). With such norms available, the assessment tool might be utilized as an expressive language screening device for the children ages five years nine months through six years nine months who are entering the first grade.

A review of the literature revealed few expressive language screening devices which are practical for use by the speech-language specialist in the schools. Some screening tools available are impractical in length of time to administer, for example the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test requires fifteen minutes …

Characteristics And Practices Of Forensics Programs In Oregon Secondary Schools, Gregg T. Sylvester

Dissertations and Theses

Since 1943, six studies have been made of speech education in Oregon public schools. Several make reference to forensics, but none discuss this aspect of speech education in depth. As a result, the role of forensics in the schools has been assumed or denied. With the educational situation as it is, however, it is necessary that we have a greater understanding of the relationship between forensics and general speech education and language arts education.

A Comparison Of Boone-Prescott Content And Sequence Analysis Data Of Poorly And Highly Rated Clinician-Client Interactive Skills, Kathleen M. Noonan

Dissertations and Theses

One of the qualifications for being a competent speech and language clinician is to be skilled in interactional procedures within a clinic setting. A clinician's interactional skills are developed through training whereby one participates in several clinical settings with clients displaying a variety of speech, language and hearing disorders. Various evaluation methods, both subjective and objective, have been utilized in guiding the clinician towards interactional competency.

Interactional analysis systems have been designed to provide more objective feedback. The Boone-Prescott Content and Sequence Analysis System (B-P) is one of several such systems. Although this system has been found to be an …

An Investigation Of Observer Evaluation Accuracy Of Clinical Sessions, Douglas Scott Peterson

Dissertations and Theses

Student speech-language pathologists begin their academic preparation as observers. Observations of the clinical management session are for the purpose of providing student clinicians with insight into the management process by providing clinical models. To make observation experiences meaningful there must be some guiding framework which will demonstrate the significance of behaviors observed. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect Boone-Prescott Content and Sequence Analysis System (B-P) instruction had upon the accuracy of beginning student observation evaluations of clinical management sessions.

Developmental Sentence Scoring Sample Size Comparison, Marilyn May Valenciano

Dissertations and Theses

Assessment of language abilities is an integral part of accruing information on the development of concept formation and the learning of grammatical rules. The maturity and complexity of a child's language can be assessed through the use of a language sample. The sample consists of a specified number of utterances which are emitted spontaneously and then analyzed according to a given procedure.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference among the scores obtained from language samples of 25, 50, and 75 utterances when using the DSS procedure for ages 4.0 through 4.6 years. …