Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Representation Of Lexical Form: Evidence From Studies Of Sublexical Ambiguity, Conor T. Mclennan, Paul A. Luce, Jan Charles Luce

Psychology Faculty Publications

The authors examined the role of intermediate, sublexical representations in spoken word perception. In particular, they tested whether flaps, which are neutralized allophones of intervocalic /t/s and /d/s, map onto their underlying phonemic counterparts. In 2 shadowing tasks, the authors found that flaps primed their carefully articulated counterparts, and vice versa. Because none of the flapped stimuli were lexically ambiguous (e.g., between rater and raider), these results provide evidence that such priming is sublexically mediated. Therefore, the current study provides further insights into when underlying form-based representations are activated during spoken word processing. In particular, the authors argue that phonological …

Are Specific Language Impairment And Dyslexia Distinct Disorders?, Hugh W. Catts, Suzanne M. Adlof, Tiffany Hogan, Susan Ellis Weismer

Faculty Publications

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to determine whether specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia are distinct developmental disorders.

Method - Study 1 investigated the overlap between SLI identified in kindergarten and dyslexia identified in 2nd, 4th, or 8th grades in a representative sample of 527 children. Study 2 examined phonological processing in a subsample of participants, including 21 children with dyslexia only, and 43 children with SLI only, 18 children with SLI and dyslexia, and 165 children with typical language/reading development. Measures of phonological awareness and nonword repetition were considered.

Results - Study 1 showed limited but …

Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome, Robert J. Shprintzen, Anne Marie Higgins, Kevin M. Antshel, Wanda Fremont, Nancy Roizen, Wendy R. Kates

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Purpose of review: Velo-cardio-facial syndrome has emerged from obscurity to become one of the most researched disorders this past decade. It is one of the most common genetic syndromes in humans, the most common contiguous gene syndrome in humans, the most common syndrome of cleft palate, and the most common syndrome of conotruncal heart malformations. Velo-cardio-facial syndrome has an expansive phenotype, a factor reflected in the wide range of studies that cover both clinical features and molecular genetics. In this review, we cover multiple areas of research during the past year, including psychiatric disorders, neuroimaging, and the delineation of clinical …

Psychometrically Equivalent Digital Recordings For Speech Audiometry Testing In Mandarin Chinese: Standard Mandarin Dialect, Lara-Jill Jennings

Theses and Dissertations

The development of digitally recorded speech audiometry materials in Mandarin Chinese has been limited to date. High quality materials proliferate in the English language and have been developed for other languages such as Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, Polish, and Russian. The aims of this study were to develop, digitally record, evaluate, and equate words and word lists in Mandarin Chinese to use for speech reception threshold testing and for speech discrimination testing. The words that were evaluated were chosen from a Chinese frequency usage dictionary. One native male and one native female talker recorded the words onto …

Event Related Potentials: A Study Of The Processing Of Gapping Structures In Adolescents, Michelle Miller Nishida

Theses and Dissertations

Many questions remain unanswered regarding the intricacies of the human brain, especially with regard to the complexities of language processing. One essential component of human sentence processing is the ability to detect, decipher, and recover from errors in the interpretation of both verbal and written language. This process of repair of ungrammatical sentences and revision or reinterpretation of ambiguous sentences has been studied extensively in recent years. A variety of tools have been developed, including the use of event-related potentials (ERPs) in order to assess how language is processed and developed, and to help better identify the nature of these …

Effectiveness Of Story Enactments Versus Art Projects In Facilitating Preschool Children's Story Comprehension, Jennifer Ann Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to compare preschool children's comprehension of a story after either enacting the story or participating in an art project, and (b) to qualitatively describe the children's interactions during the more interactive story enactment instruction. Twenty children from two Head Start classrooms were told the stories as a class, and then participated in either an art project (AP) or story enactment (SE) in small groups. The children in each classroom each heard three stories followed by the AP condition, and three followed by the SE condition. The children's comprehension of the story was …

Acoustic And Spectral Characteristics Of Young Children's Fricative Productions: A Developmental Perspective, Shawn L. Nissen, Robert Allen Fox

Faculty Publications

Scientists have made great strides toward understanding the mechanisms of speech production and perception. However, the complex relationships between the acoustic structures of speech and the resulting psychological percepts have yet to be fully and adequately explained, especially in speech produced by younger children. Thus, this study examined the acoustic structure of voiceless fricatives (/f, θ, s, ʃ/) produced by adults and typically developing children from 3 to 6 years of age in terms of multiple acoustic parameters (durations, normalized amplitude, spectral slope, and spectral moments). It was found the acoustic parameters of spectral slope and variance (commonly excluded from …

Acoustic And Spectral Characteristics Of Young Children’S Fricative Productions: A Developmental Perspective, Shawn L. Nissen, Robert Allen Fox

Faculty Publications

Scientists have made great strides toward understanding the mechanisms of speech production and perception. However, the complex relationships between the acoustic structures of speech and the resulting psychological percepts have yet to be fully and adequately explained, especially in speech produced by younger children. Thus, this study examined the acoustic structure of voiceless fricatives /f, s, b/ produced by adults and typically developing children from 3 to 6 years of age in terms of multiple acoustic parameters durations, normalized amplitude, spectral slope, and spectral moments. It was found that the acoustic parameters of spectral slope and variance commonly excluded from …

The Localizing Value Of Focal Delta Slowing In Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Abuhuzeifa Abubakr, Ilse Wambacq

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Clinical and structural correlates of lateralized interictal delta activity in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have been well documented in the literature. Nevertheless, its occurrence has not been considered a significant clinical feature. Objective: To evaluate the significance of focal delta- range slowing for localizing the epileptogenic focus in patients with TLE, and predicting the outcome of temporal lobe surgery. Methods: Sixteen consecutive patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent anterior temporal lobe resections were selected for the study. Findings of MRI, SPECT, neuropyschology assessment, pathology and surgical outcome were analyzed and correlated with focal delta slow activity …

Creating A Curriculum To Integrate Augmentative And Alternative Communication In A Preschool Setting, Megan R. Graham

Communication Disorders and Occupational Therapy Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background/Introduction: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices are tools used to help individuals with speech difficulties to communicate. The University of Arkansas AAC Lab is designed to develop and evaluate technology and implementation strategies for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In this research setting, we used Proloquo2Go, TouchChat, and a developing AAC program. I have created a curriculum for this Lab that integrates this AAC program into a preschool setting for preschoolers with extensive support needs. Purpose: This project was meant to create a pre-school curriculum for special needs preschoolers implementing models of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy, Occupational …

The Effect Of A Lingual Magnet On Fricative Production: An Acoustic Evaluation Of Placement And Adaptation, Andrea Lynn Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

Much of speech kinematics research is conducted by attaching a device to the articulators. However very little research has been conducted to determine what influence these devices may have on the perceptual and acoustic characteristics of speech. This study examined the effect of placing a small magnet on the tongue of ten normal adult speakers while reading a sentence containing /s/ and "sh" in initial, medial and final position. Two different placements of 10 and 15 mm from the tip of the tongue were analyzed. Data were taken before magnet placement, immediately after magnet placement, after 5 minutes of conversation, …

How Individuals With Parkinson's Disease Modify Their Speech In A Repetition For Clarification, Lynn Marie Watkins

Theses and Dissertations

The speech of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) is typically characterized as lacking in proper prosody because of its monopitch and monoloud quality, in addition to its reduced intensity. These qualities make it difficult for others to understand speakers with PD. The purpose of the current study was to identify what individuals with PD would do vocally, if anything at all, to improve speech production following a simulated misunderstanding of what they had just said. The study evaluated the performance of 5 individuals with PD and compared their performance to 5 age- and sex-matched controls. Specifically, measures of vocal intensity …

Exploration Of Lip Shape Measures And Their Association With Tongue Contact Patterns, Jessica Lynn Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of tools and techniques have been developed to measure the movements of the vocal tract, specifically of the tongue and lips. In recent years, computer technology has allowed for extensive exploration of these precise movements and for the development of speech recognition systems. However, there has been relatively little work on the combination of visible facial movements and internal articulatory activity. In this study, two different technologies were used to explore the internal and external movements of speech production in eight speakers: palatometry quantified tongue contact patterns and computerized video image analysis was used to derive lip shape …

Sex-Related Acoustic Changes In Voiceless English Fricatives, Shawn L. Nissen, Robert Allen Fox

Faculty Publications

This investigation is a comprehensive acoustic study of 4 voiceless fricatives (/f θ s ʃ/) in English produced by adults and pre-and postpubescent children aged 6-14 years. Vowel duration, amplitude, and several different spectral measures (including spectral tilt and spectral moments) were examined. Of specific interest was the pattern of normal development of the acoustic properties of fricatives and the nature of sex-specific patterns of fricative articulation in prepubescent children. Little evidence of amplitude or duration differences was found between speakers that was related to the sex of the speaker. However, significant sex-specific differences in fricative articulation were found in …

The Effects Of Divided Attention On Speech Motor, Verbal Fluency And Manual Motor Task Performance, Erin Hamblin

Theses and Dissertations

Research in dual task performance varies widely in its methodology and results. The present study employed three different types of activity to provide insights into the interference that occurs in dual task performance. Twenty young adults completed a speech task (repeating a sentence), a verbal fluency task (listing words beginning with the same letter), and right- and left-handed motor tasks (placing pegs and washers in a peg board) in isolation and in concurrent conditions. Speech kinematic data revealed that during concurrent performance of manual tasks, lip displacement and peak velocity decreased, while sound pressure level and spatiotemporal variability increased. The …

Auditory And Visual Correlates Of The Processing Of Gapping Structures In Adults, Tara Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare event-related potential (ERP) effects of speech processing and effects in sentence reading elicited by sentences containing gapping structures, or a "missing" verb. N400 and P600 waveforms were collected in 20 adults between 18 and 30 years of age. Two experiments were conducted with each participant. In the two experiments ERP recordings were collected as sentences, some containing gapping structures, were presented to the subjects. In one experiment sentences were presented through headphones in sentences spoken at normal rate and with normal intonation. In the second experiment sentences with the same gapping structures …

Performance Intensity Functions For Digitally Recorded Japanese Speech Audiometry Materials, Tanya Crawford Mangum

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop digitally recorded speech audiometry materials in the Japanese language to evaluate Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) and speech discrimination. Trisyllabic words were used to evaluate the SRT and bisyllabic words were used for speech discrimination. Words were recorded by one native female talker and one native male talker who were judged as having standard Japanese dialects. Twenty native Japanese speakers between the ages of 20 and 32 were used as subjects to evaluate 69 trisyllabic words across 13 different intensity levels. The 25 trisyllabic words with the steepest psychometric function (%/dB) were selected …

An Investigation Of Vocal Abuse In School Teachers, Jodi L. Franczak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of vocal abuse in school teachers and teacher's aides pre and post one academic term. Vocal abuse was defined as any of several behaviors, including long periods of talking, yelling, smoking, consuming alcohol, etc. that can result in damage to the laryngeal mechanism. Initially, the participants of the study included fifteen elementary school teachers and five elementary teacher's aides from two schools: the Red Lake Madsen Public School, and Golden Learning Center. Six participants were excluded from the study for various reasons. Participants were randomly assigned to either Group 1 …

Choral Reading With Filtered Speech: Effect On Stuttering, Manish Rami, Joseph Kalinowski, Michael P. Rastatter, Donald Holbert, Mark Allen

Communication Sciences & Disorders Faculty Publications

This study investigated use of choral reading with filtered components of speech and whispered speech on the frequency of stuttering. Three passages read by a normal adult male were lowpass filtered with kneepoint frequencies at 100 Hz (approximate glottal source), 500 Hz (source and first formant), and 1 kHz (source and the first two formants). Along with a whispered passage, a normal passage, and a control condition, these stimuli were used in a repeated-measures design with 12 adult stutterers as they read passages while listening to one of the stimuli. Frequencies of stuttering in each condition were analyzed. The choral …

The Effect Of Reading With Reversed Speech On Frequency Of Stuttering In Adults, Manish Rami, Elisa Diederich

Communication Sciences & Disorders Faculty Publications

This study explored the effect of reading with reversed speech on the frequency of stuttering. Eight adults who stutter served as participants and read four 300-syllable passages while listening to three types of speech stimuli: normal speech (choral reading), reversed speech at normal speed, reversed speech at half speed and a control condition of no auditory feedback. A repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant decrease in stuttering frequency in the choral reading condition but not in reversed speech at normal and half speed. However, the reversed speech at half speed condition showed a large effect size (w²=0.32). Data …

An Inquiry Based Instructional Planning Model That Accommodates Student Diversity, Cheryl M. Jorgensen

Institute on Disability

The students in today’s public school classrooms represent great diversity and the struggle of teachers to teach all their students well. This paper describes an inquiry based instructional planning model that reflects lessons from the literature on effective teaching for diverse classrooms. An example of a high school lesson exemplifies the model. The model includes a framework for planning supports for students with extraordinary learning challenges.

Examining The Time Course Of Indexical Specificity Effects In Spoken Word Recognition, Conor T. Mclennan, Paul A. Luce

Psychology Faculty Publications

Variability in talker identity and speaking rate, commonly referred to as indexical variation, has demonstrable effects on the speed and accuracy of spoken word recognition. The present study examines the time course of indexical specificity effects to evaluate the hypothesis that such effects occur relatively late in the perceptual processing of spoken words. In 3 long-term repetition priming experiments, the authors examined reaction times to targets that were primed by stimuli that matched or mismatched on the indexical variable of interest (either talker identity or speaking rate). Each experiment was designed to manipulate the speed with which participants processed the …

Accuracy Of Parental Report On Phonological Inventories Of Toddlers, Kristin Marie Teske

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considering the diminishing availability of professional resources, increasing costs, and time requirements involved in early childhood mass screenings, parents are an essential source of information. In this study, the Survey of Speech Development (SSD) (Perry-Carson & Steel, 2001; Steel, 2000) was used to determine the accuracy of parents in reporting the speech sound inventories of their toddlers. Parents of 30 children, who were between the ages of 27 to 33 months old, completed the SSD prior to a speech and language assessment session. Based on assessment results, the children were classified as normal developing or language delayed. A 20-minute play …

Assessing The Accuracy Of The Differential Assessment Of Autism And Other Developmental Disorders (Daadd) As A Screening Tool, Christine Jurgens

Masters Theses

Professionals are encountering children with developmental disorders more often and with more diversity than ever before. Disorder labels are being introduced increasingly early in a child's life in order to qualify them for services. However, characteristics of developmental disorders overlap significantly in young children, with features beginning to differentiate as the child enters formal education at kindergarten age. Debate continues on whether the autistic spectrum is being over-diagnosed, based on increasing incidence and prevalence statistics.

Research has suggested that developmental disorders impact multiple developmental areas, including language, socialization, sensory, motor, and medical/physical aspects and skills. Therefore, distinguishing one developmental disorder …

An Assessment Of Speech-Language Pathologists, ' Special Educators, ' And Elementary Teachers' Language Knowledge Related To Reading Instruction, Jessica Catto

Masters Theses

An assessment was designed from Louisa Cook Moats' (1996, 2000) research and questions to assess the knowledge of elementary education teachers (grades 1-3), special education teachers, and speech language pathologists in regard to several areas of reading instruction including phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary/morphology.

Subjects consisted of a total of 57 educational professionals, 19 subjects in each group. Results revealed that speech-language pathologists scored significantly higher on the phonemic awareness portion of the assessment as well as total test score, when compared with elementary and special education teachers. Mean scores on the total test ranged from 78-89% accuracy. Mean scores …

Does Storybook Intervention Provide A Meaningful Improvement In Language Impaired Children, Diana Patrice Burns

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine if storybook based intervention improved language skills in language impaired children. Eight children from a local Head Start Program participated in the study, four of whom caused the teacher language concerns and four of whom did not. On pretesting, six of the children demonstrated scores consistent with language impairment and two scored within normal limits. The four children who scored the lowest in the testing were chosen to participate in storybook intervention. Participants received individual instruction in 30-minute sessions twice weekly for 6 weeks. A teacher questionnaire report was completed by the …

A Comparison Of Syntax Training For Students With Developmental Disabilities Utilizing Clinician-Directed Versus Self-Determined Session Paradigms, Jane O'Regan Kleinert

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Self-determination is the ability to control one’s life and to actively participate in the decisions which affect the direction of one’s life. This ability is considered a critical life skill for individuals with developmental disabilities. The ability to make choices, plan, and self-evaluate are among the primary skills included in the development of self-determination. Currently, there is very limited emphasis on the importance of self-determination in the literature of communication disorders. This study was designed to determine if a teaching paradigm which incorporates key elements of self-determination is as or more effective and efficient in teaching syntax than a traditional, …

Sex-Related Acoustic Changes In Voiceless English Fricatives, Shawn L. Nissen, Robert Allen Fox

Faculty Publications

This investigation is a comprehensive acoustic study of 4 voiceless fricatives (/f q s Ý/)in English produced by adults and pre- and postpubescent children aged 6–14 years. Vowel duration, amplitude, and several different spectral measures (including spectral tilt and spectral moments) were examined. Of specific interest was the pattern of normal development of the acoustic properties of fricatives and the nature of sex-specific patterns of fricative articulation in prepubescent children. Little evidence of amplitude or duration differences was found between speakers that was related to sex of the speaker. However, significant sex-specific differences in fricative articulation were found in all …

Psychometrically Equivalent Mandarin Bisyllabic Speech Discrimination Materials Spoken By Male And Female Talkers, Shawn L. Nissen, Richard W. Harris, Lara-Jill Jennings, Dennis L. Eggett, Holly Buck

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to develop, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate a set of Mandarin bisyllabic word lists for use in measurement of speech discrimination. Familiar bisyllabic words were digitally recorded by male and female talkers of Standard Mandarin. Percentage of correct word recognition was measured for each word at ten intensity levels ( /5 to 40dB HL) in 5 dB increments using 20 normally hearing subjects. Using logistic regression, 200 words with the steepest logistic regression slopes were included in four psychometrically equivalent word lists of 50 words each, and eight half-lists of 25 words each. …

Life On A Tricycle A Case Study Of Language Impairment From 4 To 19, Lee Robinson, Bonnie Brinton, Martin Fujiki

Faculty Publications

This article presents a longitudinal case study of a child named Cody identified with specific language impairment. Cody was followed from 4 to 19 years of age, at which time he compared his social skills with those of peers: “It’s like they’re driving sports car and I’m on a tricycle.” His initial long- and short-term intervention goals are presented, along with the treatment methods employed and the resulting outcomes. Although long-term goals remained consistent, as the nature of Cody’s academic, social, and emotional challenges shifted, it was necessary to gear treatment to address his changing needs. Cody’s case illustrates the …