Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 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 Capstones

No abstract provided.

Articulatory Changes Following Treatment Of Muscle Tension Dysphonia: Preliminary Acoustic Evidence, Christopher Dromey, Shawn L. Nissen, Ray M. Merrill, Nelson Roy

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), a voice disturbance that occurs in the absence of structural or neurological pathology, may respond to manual circumlaryngeal techniques, which ostensibly alter the posture of the larynx and/or the configuration of the vocal folds without directly targeting supralaryngeal articulatory structures. Although the phonatory benefits of these techniques have been documented previously, this investigation examined whether acoustic evidence exists for articulatory changes accompanying successful management. Method: In this retrospective study of a clinical database, pre- and post-treatment speech samples from 111 women with MTD were analyzed for acoustic evidence of supraglottal vocal tract changes associated …

Graduate Bulletin, 2008-2010, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Repetition Priming And Anomia: An Investigation Of Stimulus Dosage, Catherine A. Off

Speech, Language, Hearing, and Occupational Sciences Faculty Publications

In a recent review of anomia management, Maher & Raymer reported that 30% of aphasia intervention research from 1946 to 2001 focused on naming; however, "despite this proliferation of case reports and small group studies, there is still no clear agreement on how best to manage these deficits" (Maher & Raymer, 2004, p. 13). The inconsistency of acquisition, maintenance, and generalization effects observed across participants and types of treatment protocols is likely to stem from an inadequate knowledge base about how subject and treatment variables influence learning.

One treatment variable that has received increasing attention over the past two or …

Word Recognition Materials For Native Speakers Of Taiwan Mandarin, Shawn L. Nissen, Richard W. Harris, Alycia Dukes

Faculty Publications

Purpose: To select, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate word recognition materials that can be used to measure the speech perception abilities of native speakers of Taiwan Mandarin in quiet. Method: Frequently used bisyllabic words produced by male and female talkers of Taiwan Mandarin were digitally recorded and subsequently evaluated using 20 native listeners with normal hearing at 10 intensity levels (–5 to 40 dB HL) in increments of 5 dB. Results: Using logistic regression, 200 words with the steepest psychometric slopes were divided into 4 lists and 8 half-lists that were relatively equivalent in psychometric function slope. To increase …

The Effect Of Joint Book Reading And The Language Experience Approach On Vocabulary Acquisition, Whitney Sturm

Masters Theses

Research indicates that reading books is beneficial for development of vocabulary and syntax (Robbins & Ehri, 1994). Joint book reading is defined as the interaction between an adult, child, and a book while reading. The language experience approach (LEA) is a reading method that "promotes reading and writing through the use of personal experiences and oral language"(Taylor, 1992). The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of joint book reading and the language experience approach on vocabulary acquisition in preschool and kindergarten children with hearing impairments, as well as, preschool and kindergarten children with normal hearing.

Within …

Vocal Tremor And Vibrato In The Same Person: Acoustic And Electromyographic Differences, Christopher Dromey, Marshall E. Smith

Faculty Publications

Summary. The goal of this case study was to measure and describe differences between vocal vibrato and essential tremor of the voice in one individual who exhibited both types of modulation. Recordings of spoken and sung vowels produced by the same individual at three effort levels were examined via analysis of acoustic and laryngeal electromyographic (LEMG) signals. Modulation rate, periodicity, and spectral measures of both audio and muscle activation signals revealed generally slower, more prominent, and more regular patterns in sung than in spoken conditions. There was not always a clear correspondence between LEMG and acoustic measures, but both showed …

First And Second Language Tongue Movements In Spanish And Korean Bilingual Speakers, Christopher Dromey, Shawn L. Nissen, Cynthia Wheeler

Faculty Publications

A number of previous studies have relied on perceptual judgments or acoustic analysis to examine second language (L2) production. However, few researchers have studied L2 performance by directly tracking the physical movements of the articulators. The purpose of the present study was to investigate intraspeaker differences in native (Korean or Spanish) and L2 (English) production through kinematic indices of tongue activity. This involved measurement of the speed, duration, and distance of tongue movements or strokes during speech. Findings indicated that the speakers had significantly slower stroke speeds and longer movement durations for L2 when compared to their native language (L1), …

English Literacy Development For English Language Learners: Does Spanish Instruction Promote Or Hinder?, Brenda K. Gorman, Connie Summers, Kelly M. Thomason

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Acoustic Characteristics Of English Lexical Stress Produced By Native Mandarin Speakers, Shawn L. Nissen, Yanhong Zhang, Alexander L. Francis

Faculty Publications

Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese have difficulty producing native-like English stress contrasts. Acoustically, English lexical stress is multidimensional, involving manipulation of fundamental frequency F0, duration, intensity and vowel quality. Errors in any or all of these correlates could interfere with perception of the stress contrast, but it is unknown which correlates are most problematic for Mandarin speakers. This study compares the use of these correlates in the production of lexical stress contrasts by 10 Mandarin and 10 native English speakers. Results showed that Mandarin speakers produced significantly less native-like stress patterns, although they did use all four acoustic correlates to …

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

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate aspects of the functional distance hypothesis, which predicts that tasks regulated by brain networks in closer anatomic proximity will interfere more with each other than tasks controlled by spatially distant regions. Speech, verbal fluency, and manual motor tasks were examined to ascertain whether right-handed activity would interfere more with speech and language performance, because of the presumed greater demands on the left hemisphere.

Method: 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 …

Comparing The Effects Of Sung Versus Spoken Lyrics On Speech And Language Acquisition In Late-Talking Toddlers, Chelsea Ki Sook Clock Bell

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of two intervention approaches with children who are delayed in their development of expressive language (i.e. "late talkers"). Identification and intervention for late talkers is often controversial. This study examined whether music therapy has an equal or greater effect on speech and language acquisition in two toddlers with late-developing speech and expressive language when compared to a literacy-based intervention involving storybook reading. The use of storybook reading in speech and language therapy has been examined and found successful when used with children with communication disorders. However additional research is needed …

Aging Effects On The Transcription Of Differentially Impaired Dysarthric Speech, Molly Anne Duggan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Thirty participants transcribed 60 words and 30 sentences spoken by persons with dysarthria. Participants, all aged 65 and older were divided into three age groups: Young-Old, Middle-Old, and Old-Old. Each group was comprised of 10 participants. Stimuli were recorded by two male speakers with differing severity levels of dysarthria. Results suggested age did affect the transcription scores, as the Young-Old participants were able to transcribe words and sentences with greater accuracy than the Old-Old participants. The severity of the dysarthric speaker also affected the accuracy of participants in transcribing their words and sentences. Utterances produced by the speaker with mild …

Respiratory Kinematics Of Adult Males During Graded Listening Tasks, Laura Lerette Gingrich

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Covert speech movements have been observed to increase with linguistic complexity during listening tasks. This study investigated the presence of covert respiratory movements during listening tasks of increasing complexity to answer the following research questions: 1. Do normal adult male listeners aged fifty and above without central nervous system injury change from rest breathing patterns to speech breathing patterns while listening to passages of increasing complexity; 2. Is there a greater shift towards speech breathing while listening to passages of greater complexity? Chest wall kinematics often male participants were obtained and analyzed for significant changes from rest breathing during four …

Examining The Effects Of Non-Intensive Therapy On Word Retrieval, Speech Intelligibility And Quality Of Life Following Intensive Therapy, Hillary Leigh Goodwin

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if involvement in intensive treatment would help a patient with aphasia, secondary to a cerebral vascular accident, accompanied by dysarthria, maintain skill levels during non-intensive treatment. A literature review uncovered numerous studies on intensive treatment. These studies discussed the improvements the subjects were able to make across various areas during the time of intensive treatment; however, very little research was available to indicate these subjects’ success when re-entering non-intensive treatment. This study proposed two specific questions: was the subject able to maintain word retrieval, speech intelligibility, and quality of life levels from …

Analysis Of Echoic Properties In Vocalizations Of A Preverbal Child On The Autistic Spectrum, Sarah A. Mcconnell

Honors Program Theses

Echolalia, the echoing of words, is a hallmark of language in children with autism. Echolalia in autistic language is generally viewed as a manifestation of gestalt learning, a particular cognitive style that impacts language learning, memory, and overall cognition. While extensive research has investigated echolalia, research has not investigated non-word echoing.

Iowa Conference On Communicative Disorders [Program, 2008], Iowa Conference On Communicative Disorders

Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders Programs

The Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders provides continuing education activities in speech- language pathology that are acceptable to the State of Iowa and the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Areas of emphasis include adults and pediatrics.

A Comparison Of Morphophonic Faces And The Picture Exchange Communication System On The Production Of Verbal Communication In Preschoolers With Autism, Ashley Nicole Bourque

LSU Master's Theses

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit difficulties with both verbal and nonverbal language with approximately 50% of children diagnosed with autism remaining functionally mute into adulthood (Charlop & Haymes, 1994; Charlop-Christy, Carpenter, Le, LeBlanc, & Kellet, 2002). This study explored intervention using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for two nonverbal preschoolers with ASD. The effects of PECS using two picture systems, Picture and Words (P&W) and MorphoPhonic (MPh) picture word, was assessed in the communicative outcomes after 6 weeks of intervention. This study asked if MPh picture words would elicit more picture-exchange communication acts in functional contexts than …

Production Of Syllable Stress In Speakers With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Rhea Paul, Nancy Bianchi, Amy Augustyn, Ami Klin, Fred Volkmar

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This paper reports a study of the ability to reproduce stress in a nonsense syllable imitation task by adolescent speakers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as compared to typically developing (TD) age-mates. Results are reported for both raters’ judgments of the subjects’ stress production, as well as acoustic measures of pitch range and duration during stressed and unstressed syllable production. Results reveal small but significant differences between speakers with ASD and typical speakers in both perceptual ratings of stress and instrumental measures of duration of syllables. The implications of these findings for understanding prosodic deficits in ASD are discussed.

Auditory Processing Disorder, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

A response from the editor is presented in response to a question on on the nature of auditory processing disorder (APD) in children.

Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome: 30 Years Of Study, Robert J. Shprintzen

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome is one of the names that has been attached to one of the most common multiple anomaly syndromes in humans. The labels DiGeorge sequence, 22q11 deletion syndrome, conotruncal anomalies face syndrome, CATCH 22, and Sedlačková syndrome have all been attached to the same disorder. Velo-cardio-facial syndrome has an expansive phenotype with more than 180 clinical features described that involve essentially every organ and system. The syndrome has drawn considerable attention because a number of common psychiatric illnesses are phenotypic features including attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. The expression is highly variable with some individuals being essentially …

Practice In Child Phonological Disorders: Tackling Some Common Clinical Problems, Tim Brackenbury, Marc Fey, Gregory Lof, Benjamin Munson, A. Lynn Williams

ETSU Faculty Works

Goal of presentation is to identify areas of child phonology that clinicans have difficulty with.

Comparison Of Two Treatment Conditions For Young Children With Speech Sound Disorders, Megan Overby, A. Lynn Williams, John Bernthal

ETSU Faculty Works

The purpose of this study was to compare treatment outcomes between stimulus presentation conditions to children with moderate to severe SSD: a traditional paper presentation versus a computer software generated presentation. The participants were four monolingual kindergarten children with moderate to severe SSD. A multiple baseline across behaviors single subject design was employed in the study. Two non-stimulable, non-cognate sounds from two different manner categories were selected as sound targets. One sound error was treated using paper stimuli presented in a traditional paper table-top presentation (TAB condition) while the other sound error was treated using stimuli presented on the computer …

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

Masters Theses

The use of collaborative referencing tasks as a supplement to traditional speech therapy for two individuals ( one male and one female) with non:fluent aphasia due to cerebrovascular accident (CVA) was investigated. The participants' spouses served as communication partners for the collaborative referencing task. Stimuli consisted of three sets of ten pictures of individuals performing actions. Participants and spouses alternated serving as director and matcher for six trials each session. Each picture set was targeted until participants reached 80% accuracy across two trials at identifying pictures. Analysis of transcripts showed that participants and communication partners followed the three phases of …

What Is Rti And How Do I Fit In?, Sandra Laing Gillam

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

Since 1977, most children with LD have been identified for services on the basis of an IQ-achievement discrepancy criterion. That is, children must be failing in one or two areas, significantly, even though they score well on an IQ measure in order to qualify for special education services. There are a number of problems with this practice, not the least of which being that many children with serious learning difficulties do not perform well on verbally loaded measures of IQ and do not qualify for comprehensive services designed for children who meet the discrepancy criteria. In addition, discrepancy criteria and …