Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Word Retrieval Behaviors Of Aphasic Adults In Conversational Speech : A Preliminary Study, Priscilla Jane Blake

Dissertations and Theses

Word retrieval difficulties are experienced by almost all aphasic adults. Consequently, these problems receive a substantial amount of attention in aphasia treatment. Because of the methodological difficulties, few studies have examined WRBs in conversational speech, focusing instead on confrontational naming tasks in which the client is asked to retrieve a specific word. These studies have left unanswered questions about the WRB processes.

The purposes of this study were to: (1) develop profiles of WRB for moderately impaired aphasic adult clients and examine these profiles for evidence that reflects the level of breakdown in the word retrieval process, and (2) determine …

A Study Of The Association Among The Diagnosis Of Speech-Language Impairments And The Diagnoses Of Learning Disabilities And/Or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Pamela E. Cogswell

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if an association exists among the diagnosis of speech-language impairments (SLI) and the diagnoses of learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a school-aged population of children referred to a Learning Disorders Clinic (LDC) because of academic underachievement and/or behavior problems. The two research questions asked in this study are: (a) What percentage of students diagnosed with SLI have a concomitant diagnosis of LD and/or ADHD? and (b) Is there an association among the diagnosis of SLI and the diagnoses of LD and/or ADHD?

A sample of 94 subjects …

The Percentage Consonants Correct And Intelligibility Of Normal, Language Delayed, And History Of Language Delayed Children, Randi Jartun

Dissertations and Theses

Highly unintelligible children may mistakenly be assumed to have difficulty only with the misarticulation of consonants. Expressive language concerns may be ignored while the primary focus of intervention becomes the correction of misarticulated speech. Questions have arisen regarding the possibility of both speech and expressive language difficulties contributing to unintelligibility. Shriberg and Kwiatkowski (1982) developed an ordinal means of rating severity of involvement. One of the constructs of the severity scale was intelligibility. The metric percentage consonants correct (PCC) was developed to identify severity of involvement of disorders of phonology.

The Effect Of Otitis Media On Articulation In Expressive Language-Delayed Children, Marla Lohr-Flanders

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have long been concerned with the effects of otitis media on speech and language acquisition because of the high correlation of a mild to moderate hearing loss during the time period that fluid (effusion) may be in the middle ear. Middle-ear effusion would prevent many of the auditory messages from accurately reaching the nervous system (Zinkus, 1986). Deprived of the ability to discern the subtle acoustic differences that provide information for phonetic contrasts, a child's speech acquisition may differ from children who do not experience such losses.

The present study examined the relationship between an early history of otitis …

Effects Of Encouraging, Discouraging, And Neutral Instructions On Naming By Aphasic Subjects, Denise Marie Nelson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of three instructional conditions (encouraging, discouraging, and neutral) on eighteen aphasic adults' performance on a naming task. Each subject listened to each audiotaped instructional condition followed by a 20 picture naming task presented with a slide projector for a total of three tasks and 60 pictures. Subjects' mean scores were combined and averaged to derive a grand mean score for each instructional condition. A repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to determine if the differences were significant at the .01 level. No significant differences were found.

Indirect Intervention For Preschool Stutterers, Prudence Ann Bowers

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the advisability of utilizing parents to provide treatment for their dysfluent preschoolers. It involved the development, implementation and evaluation of a specific treatment program involving indirect language stimulation techniques. The primary question asked was whether or not parents can be successful in significantly reducing or eliminating dysfluent speech in their children. The secondary question was whether or not parents can be trained successfully to provide treatment.

A Comparison Of The Vocabulary Needs Of Speaking And Nonspeaking Twins, Dana Lynette Hamburg

Dissertations and Theses

Children with severe physical disabilities often do not have the capabilities for oral communication. Therefore, the vocabulary needs of nonspeaking children has been a subject of research in the area of augmentative communication for a number of years. The idea of allowing children with disabilities the opportunity for expression and communication is one not easily ignored. Obtaining vocabulary items, however, that are useful to nonspeaking disabled children that also meet normal language acquisition standards has been a concern. This study specifically addresses this concern by looking into the vocabulary issues of twins. The purpose of this research project is to …

The Correlation Between Correct Verbal And Nonverbal Responses On An Intelligence Test And Expressive Language Test Score, Jeanie P. Wagener

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between verbal and nonverbal indices of intelligence from an infant development scale given at approximately two years of age with scores on an expressive language test administered to the same children two years later. The questions this study sought to answer were: (1) is there a difference between the number of verbal and nonverbal items passed at 18-34 months by a group of normal children and a group of late talkers, (2) is there a significant relationship between correct verbal and nonverbal responses on an infant development test and scores …

A Retrospective Study Of The Clinical Evaluation Of Language Functions Elementary Screening Test (Celf-S), Tamara Lynn Caldwell

Dissertations and Theses

One of the more widely-used methods for pinpointing children in need of more in-depth language evaluation is screening. One language screening instrument designed to accomplish this in an effective and efficient way was the Clinical Evaluation of Language Functions Elementary Screening Test (CELF-S) (Semel & Wiig, 1980).

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the CELF-S in identifying those children in a second grade setting, who were in need of more thorough evaluation. This study sought to answer the following questions: 1) What is the percentage of false negatives produced by the CELF-S?, and 2) What …

Output Of Compression Hearing Aids With Transient And Continuous Input Stimuli, Carol Ann Gregory

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the compression circuit of a hearing aid could be activated by a high frequency biasing tone such that its output for a transient stimulus could be made to approximate that of a continuous tone alone. Sufficient compression activation by a transient stimulus would mean that this type of hearing aid could be used in obtaining aided ABR measurements, since transient stimuli are commonly used for this procedure. Four hearing aids were used, and transient or continuous stimuli were introduced either alone or in combination with an 8 or 10 kHz biasing …

Written Narrative Texts Of Language Impaired And Normal Adolescents, Kevin Jon Penner

Dissertations and Theses

Classroom teachers frequently refer adolescents to speech language pathologists for language skills evaluations. Many of the traditional evaluation tools of the speech-language pathologist focus on the student's oral language skills. The first indication to the classroom teacher that there may be a language problem, however, is usually from the student's written classwork. Very few written language assessment tools are available which give speech language pathologists information regarding linguistic units which can be viewed as communication acts. This paper focuses on one particular discourse unit - the written narrative. Narratives are a natural form of thought and demonstrate how a person …

Percentage Of Phonological Process Usage In Expressive Language Delayed Children, Sherri Lynn Miller

Dissertations and Theses

Language delay and phonological delay have been shown to coexist. Because they so often co-occur, it is possible that they may interact, sharing a relationship during the child's development. A group of children who were "late talkers" as toddlers, achieved normal development in their syntactic ability by the preschool period. Because their language abilities are known to have increased rapidly, data on their phonological development could provide information on the relationship between phonological and syntactic development.

The purpose of this study was to compare the percentage of phonological process usage of the eight most commonly used simplification processes in four-year-old …

Story Retelling Skills In 4-Year-Olds With Histories Of Normal And Delayed Language Development, Rita Louise Smith

Dissertations and Theses

There is a growing group of researchers who believe that narrative skills are the bridge from oral language to literacy (Culatta, Page, & Ellis, 1983; Roth & Spekman, 1989; Westby, 1989). Narrative production requires higher level language skills to create a cohesive discourse unit using decontextualized language. Narrative ability has also been found to be the best predictor for normal speech and language development for preschoolers with language impairments (Bishop & Edmundson, 1987) and reading comprehension achievement for learning-disabled, school-age children (Feagans & Applebaum, 1986) . These same skills are prerequisites for achievement of literacy and school success.

The purpose …

The Value Of The Spi In Forecasting Chronic Stuttering, Dena Diane Stork

Dissertations and Theses

Speech-language pathologists are in need of useful assessment instruments which differentiate early stuttering behaviors and will enable them to identify preschool children who need immediate intervention for stuttering. Furthermore, useful assessment tools are needed especially due to the variability across studies of normal disfluency and lack of reliability information on more formal measures of differential evaluation of normal disfluency and incipient stuttering.

Comparison Of The Modal Frequency Levels Of Nonsmoking And Cigarette Smoking White Females Between The Ages Of Forty And Fifty Years, Janis Mae Kaufman

Dissertations and Theses

Acoustical analyses have been utilized to ascertain the functional status of the laryngeal mechanism for clinical management of communication disorders. In particular, the modal frequency level (MFL), defined as the fundamental frequency most often used by an individual in the act of spontaneous speech, is one measurement used to determine if a person's pitch level is adequate. Two other pitch measurements used in the voice assessment are the maximum frequency range (MFR) and the optimum pitch level (OPL). Information is needed to provide guidelines for pitch levels as part of the voice evaluation for adult females of different ages. It …

High Frequency Acoustic Reflexes In Cochlea-Impaired And Normal Ears, Karen Elizabeth Jones

Dissertations and Theses

The acoustic reflex refers to the contraction of a middle ear muscle in response to sound. The contraction causes a stiffening of the middle ear system and, consequently, the flow of acoustic energy to the cochlea is impeded. By measuring the change in admittance in the auditory system during sound stimulation it is possible to indirectly monitor the middle ear muscle contractions. Such measurements provide useful information regarding the integrity of the auditory system and the location of the auditory pathology.

In subjects with normal hearing sensitivity, the acoustic reflex is typically elicited at a sensation level of between 85 …

A Comparison Of Two Vocabulary Tests Used With Normal And Delayed Preschool Children, Lynn Safadi

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference exists between mean standard scores of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R) (Dunn and Dunn, 1981) and the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT) (Gardner, 1979) for children in several diagnostic categories. The subjects used in this study were 45 preschool children ranging in age from 36 to 47 months. These subjects were divided into groups of normal, expressively language-delayed (ELD) and normal children with a history of expressive language delay (HELD).

Intelligibility Of Spondees Via Bone Conduction At Elevated Presentation Levels, Pamela S. Ritchie

Dissertations and Theses

Speech reception threshold testing by bone conduction is very useful in diagnostic audiometry. However, there are little data regarding the CID W-1 spondee word lists used with the Radioear B-71 and B-72 and Pracitronic KH 70 bone conduction vibrators at higher presentation levels for testing hearing impaired clients. Data are needed in order that results of speech reception thresholds using the CID W-1 word lists via these three bone conduction vibrators at higher intensity levels can be used confidently in the clinic. More data are available for speech reception thresholds using the CID W-1 word lists via earphones.

This study …

Developmental Sentence Scoring Sample Size Comparison, Peggy Ann Callan

Dissertations and Theses

In 1971, Lee and Canter developed a systematic tool for assessing children's expressive language: Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS). It provides normative data against which a child's delayed or disordered language development can be compared with the normal language of children the same age. A specific scoring system is used to analyze children's use of standard English grammatical rules from a tape-recorded sample of their spontaneous speech during conversation with a clinician.

The corpus of sentences for the DSS is obtained from a sample of 50 complete, different, consecutive, intelligible, non-echolalic sentences elicited from a child in conversation with an …

Otitis Media And Language Development In Late Talkers, Timothy Forest Lynn

Dissertations and Theses

While there is agreement in the literature that otitis media is an extremely prevalent disorder among young children, there is disagreement as to the effect that otitis media has on language development. The lack of definitive research attests to the complexity of the issue and to the need for continued research.

This study examined the relationship between an early history of otitis media and the language development of a group of "late talkers". The 28 toddlers in this group, while otherwise normal, were late to begin to speak. Each of the subjects was placed into one of two subgroups, depending …

Hearing Aid Satisfaction And Rate Of Return For Repairs: A Comparison Of Two Kaiser Dispensing Programs, Lynn L. Behrendsen

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that a dispensing program utilizing rehabilitative follow-up in the form of a post-fitting check appointment would show: (1) less return for repairs for hearing aids; (2) higher patient satisfaction with the aid; and (3) higher patient satisfaction with the service received during the hearing aid dispense than would a clinic with no follow-up. Data for comparison between the two clinics were drawn from medical chart review, frequency of hearing aid repairs, and from a questionnaire which assessed satisfaction levels. Patients were also asked to estimate the amount of use with …

The Assessment Of Phonological Processes : A Comparison Of Connected-Speech Samples And Single-Word Production Tests, Susan A. Pinkerton

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if single-word elicitation procedures used in the assessment of phonological processes would have highly similar results to those obtained through connected speech. Connected speech sampling provides a medium for natural production with coarticulatory influence, but can be time-consuming and impractical for clinicians maintaining heavy caseloads or working with highly unintelligible children. Elicitation through single words requires less time than a connected-speech sample and may be more effective with highly unintelligible children because the context is known, but it lacks the influence of surrounding words. Given the inherent differences between these two methods …

Identification Of Dyspraxic Characteristics In Children With Moderate And Severe Articulation Disorders, Gail Woodward

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if public school children with moderate and severe articulation disorders exhibit dyspraxic characteristics on a standardized developmental dyspraxia screening test.

The Duration Of Tinnitus In An Aging Population, Mary Engel

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the perceived severity of chronic tinnitus in a geriatric population increased, decreased, or remained constant with the passage of time. A questionnaire was designed to ascertain the subjects' perceived severity at time of onset and the perceived severity of their current tinnitus. The subjects were asked to rate their past and present tinnitus severity according to how much it bothered them. They were also asked questions pertaining to noise exposure history, hearing aid use, and tinnitus sound parameters for purposes of comparison with other groups previously studied.

Differentially Diagnosing Stuttering In Young Children Using The Stuttering Severity Instrument, Brenda Pekkola Teich

Dissertations and Theses

Young children between the ages of two and six years often exhibit partword, whole word. and phrases repetitions as their language develops. This is also the age range when stuttering most frequently appears. Consequently. speech-language pathologists need diagnostic criteria and evaluation tools to distinguish between the incipient stutterer and the normally disfluent child.

Today a widely used evaluation tool is the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI) (Riley, 1972, 1980). The SSI is designed to provide a severity level based upon the parameters of frequency. duration. and physical concomitants. Riley (1972) first designed the SSI to not include monosyllabic word repetitions in …

A Comparison Of Two Methods For Measuring The Attenuation Provided By Insert-Type Hearing Protection Devices, Brenda Barrett Kabat

Dissertations and Theses

The need for hearing protection in industry has evolved from the growing awareness of the detrimental effects of noise on hearing and recent legislation enacted to protect the hearing of noise-exposed employees through the use of hearing conservation programs. In lieu of expensive or impractical engineering and administrative controls, personal hearing protection devices (HPDs) are considered to be the most practical and effective means of protecting employees from the damaging effects of noise in industry today.

Reading Comprehension Of Literal, Translational, And High Inference Level Questions In Aphasic And Right Hemisphere Damaged Adults, Ute Kongsbak

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare inferential abilities on a reading comprehension task in two groups of adults who had suffered cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). Sixteen subjects with a CVA to the right hemisphere of the brain were compared to an equal number of left hemisphere damaged subjects. Subjects were selected after they had demonstrated an adequate level of functioning on the Short Porch Index of Communicative Ability (SPICA), a test which measures communicative efficiency, to perform the tasks required in this study. All subjects were administered the revised version of the Nelson Reading Skills Test (NRST). …

The Use Of The California Consonant Test And The Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 In Hearing Aid Evaluations For Individuals With Precipitous Losses Above 1 Khz, Bradley James Allard

Dissertations and Theses

These two joint-studies used recorded versions of the Northwestern University Auditory Test Number 6 (NU-6) and the California Consonant Test (CCT) in the hearing aid evaluations (HAEs) of 12 male and one female subjects, aged 41 to 87 years. They exhibited precipitous high frequency losses beyond 1 kHz in at least one ear. All subjects were evaluated without amplification and while monaurally aided with two conventional high pass hearing aids. Ten of the subjects were evaluated in multi-talker noise and 11 were tested in quiet. Since the CCT was more heavily weighted than the NU-6 with target phonemes sensitive to …

Written Narratives Of Language Disordered And Normal Adolescents On Two Tasks, Antigone Howick Brown

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe written narratives of language disordered adolescents by comparing their written narratives via story grammar analysis with those of normal adolescents. The written narratives were obtained by administering two tasks as required assignments within the English or communications classes of the two groups. Task A was to write about a personal experience and Task B was about an imaginary experience. This study used Merritt and Liles' adaptations (1987) of Stein and Glenn's procedures (1979) for story grammar analysis to describe the content of the narratives.

A Comparison Of An Acoustic Stethoscope And An Amplified Stethoscope In White Noise And Cafeteria Noise During Cardiac Auscultation, Lynda Lynell Gigstad

Dissertations and Theses

A basic relationship between stethoscopic auscultation and background noise interference was reviewed and examined in this study. The principle experimental design of the study questioned whether hospital background noise levels are capable of masking the threshold of detection for auscultated heart sounds. Several cited studies monitoring background noise levels in various hospital locations have reported averages exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1974) and World Health Organization (WHO) (1980) recommendations of "quiet", namely 35 to 40 dBA (Falk & Woods, 1973; Hilton, 1985, 1987; Shapiro & Berland, 1972; Turner, et al., 1975; Woods & Falk, 1974) by as much …