Communication Sciences and Disorders 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Relative Timing Of Speech Motor Events At Utterance Invitation In Persons Who Do And Do Not Stutter, Bryan Thomas Brown

Masters Theses

Speech production is a highly complex speech motor activity that presumably requires a high degree of coordination between articulatory, respiratory and phonatory subsystems. Stuttering may be caused by breakdowns in speech motor coordination. The current study attempted to evaluate timing relationship between these systems at speech initiation in the perceptually fluent speech of people who do and do not stutter. To study this, tongue blade speed histories, respiratory transitions from inspiratory to expiratory gestures, and acoustic events at the initiation of perceptually fluent speech in persons who stutter and normally fluent speakers were analyzed in relative time. To identify the …

Promoting Speech And Vocabulary Development Through Specialized Storybooks In Children With And Without Cleft Palate., Joellyn Ruth Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated changes in vocabulary and speech production in response to storybooks embedded with specialized language prompts and speech recasts. Six children received intervention, 3 with cleft palate (CLP), displaying speech-language delays, and 3 with nonclefts, each 12-24 months of age. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was implemented by a clinician. Results indicated all children increased use of target vocabulary and production of stop consonants, while reducing compensatory articulation errors. Generalization of targets to a picture-naming task, a free-play task, and to the home was observed. Effect sizes were moderate-to-high. Children with CLP required more sessions to achieve …

The Challenges Of Bilingual Speech-Language Therapy: Perspectives From Speech-Language Pathologists, Dana Marie Roberts

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In the United States, the increasing population of people who speak a language other than English, especially the Spanish-speaking population, has resulted in a greater number of linguistically diverse clients appearing on speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs’) caseloads and has also effectively increased the demand for bilingual SLPs. However, bilingual SLPs continually report a number of challenges in the field, which could explain why recruiting bilingual SLPs is difficult. This study highlighted the importance of assessing the challenges faced by bilingual SLPs through an analysis of the perspectives of four Spanish-English speaking bilingual clinicians in Central New York. The challenges the participants …

Review Of Medical Imaging Devices For The Integration Of Medical Technology And Earmold Production And Grant Proposal Development, Michelle L. Saltarrelli

Doctoral Dissertations

The first purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of a medical device to replace the current method of earmold production. The medical device would be used to scan the external ear (i.e., external auditory canal and pinna), scan the dimensions to an imaging software system, and finally send the three-dimensional image electronically to a milling machine for the production of earmolds and hearing aid shells. Currently, audiologists use an eight step process described by Dillon (2001) which due to the invasive nature of the procedure presents potential complications to both the clinician and client, The potential complications …

Efficacy Of Central Auditory Processing Case History Form Used At The Louisiana Tech University Speech And Hearing Center, Michelle L. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a deficiency in processing of auditory information. Due to this deficiency, a variety of behaviors can be seen including listening difficulties in background noise, difficulties following oral instruction, and difficulties discriminating and identifying speech sounds. These behaviors result in inattention and academic difficulties. With these characteristics being present in other disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, language/learning deficits, and high functioning autism (i.e., Asperger's syndrome) diagnosis of CAPD becomes complicated.

The Louisiana Tech University Speech and Hearing Center uses a CAPD case history for a child that was adopted from Robert Keith in 2003. …

Effects Of Dichotic Auditory Training On Children With Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Kiley Edwards Stephenson

Doctoral Dissertations

(Central) auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a condition in which individuals with normal hearing present with difficulties often associated with hearing loss. While there are currently many tests available for the CAPD assessment, there are very few therapies for the remediation of a CAPD. A new therapy program, called Dichotic Auditory Training (DAT), aimed at improving the performance of those individuals with CAPD, was the focus of this study. Eight children between the ages of seven and twelve went through the four week training. The Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) test, the SCAN-C/A, and a test designed after the DAT …

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 …

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 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, …

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 …

The Development Of Intentionality, Vocabulary, And Grammar In A Child With Autism, Heidi Huckabee

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Vocal Fold Vibratory Characteristics Pre And Post Phonosurgery Investigated By Stroboscopy, Brittany Anne Durand

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate voice audio perceptual outcomes and true vocal fold vibratory characteristics following surgery for removal of vocal fold polyp. The specific aims of this study were 1) to determine vocal fold vibratory changes following surgery and 2) to compare these changes to audio perceptual ratings and Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores. It was hypothesized that significant vibratory changes would occur following surgery and that Voice Handicap Index scores and audio perception ratings would correlate 1 week before surgery, 1 week following surgery, and 1 month following surgery. The most improved structural, functional, and …

Word Retrieval Treatment Using Collaborative Referencing, Cassie (Shuemaker) Flack

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Contextualization On Second Language Acquisition Using The Situational Discourse Semantic Model, Alice Marie Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

In traditional classrooms a second language is taught via thematic word sets, grammatical explanations, and patterned syntactic practice. This study compared the traditional teaching approach to a scaffolded teaching approach, consisting of words taught within a narrative context. Five fifth-grade students were taught Spanish as a second language during a ten-week intervention. Vocabulary learning and sentence generation were measured following each session, as well as a pre-posttest measure. Results showed that print was an important support used by participants in the traditional condition. However across time, vocabulary learning and sentence length increased significantly more in the scaffolded condition.

Dysphagic Patient Compliance With Thickened Liquid Recommendations, Carrie Potts

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In light of the growing prevalence of dysphagic patients on Speech-Language Pathologists’ caseloads and the frequent prescription of thickened liquids as a treatment strategy (Garcia, Chambers & Molander, 2005; Low, Wyles, Wilkinson & Sainsbury, 2001; Robbins, Nicosia, Hind, Gill, Blanco, & Logemann, 2002), our limited understanding of the factors that contribute to patient adherence presents a significant challenge to the management of dysphagia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the decisions patients make regarding dysphagia recommendations. Drawing upon adherence/compliance research from the field of behavioral medicine, the results of this study revealed a complex interplay of …

Development Of Lexical Tone Production In Disyllabic Words By 2- To 6-Year-Old Mandarin-Speaking Children, Puisan Wong

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigated children's development in the production of Mandarin lexical tones in familiar disyllabic words and tested the hypothesis that disyllabic tone contours with more complex fundamental frequency contours are more difficult for children to produce. Participants were forty-four 2- to 6-year-old monolingual Mandarin-speaking children and 12 mothers. Their disyllabic tone productions were elicited by picture naming and low-pass filtered to eliminate lexical information while retaining the fundamental frequency contours. Three Mandarin-speaking judges listened to the filtered stimuli, and categorized the children's and adult's disyllabic tones. Acoustic analysis was performed on selected accurate child and adult productions and on …