Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

The Effects Of Physical Activity Education On Exercise Self-Efficacy And Physical Activity: A Comparison Study Between Exercise Science And Physical Education Teacher Education, Megan Wojcicki

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand the adjustment families undergo when a child is diagnosed with deafness as well as their adjustment to the child hearing after a cochlear implant is in place. The participants of the study were four hearing adults between the ages of 18-28 who have a younger sibling with a cochlear implant. The qualitative study used reports from four participants to reflect on how hearing loss and subsequent cochlear implantation impacted the family’s lives. Contrary to expecting findings, the themes did not change and all four reported nurturing and personal growth as key themes.

Neurophysiologic Investigation Of The Auditory What And Where Pathways In Young And Middle-Aged Adults, Ann Marie Olson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

When a sound is heard, individuals intrinsically attempt to identify the sound and its location. This automatic and parallel processing is known as the auditory “what” and “where” pathways. The present study involved the neurophysiologic investigation of the auditory dual pathways in an attention and working memory task as a function of age. Using identical stimuli, event-related potentials were measured in young and middle-aged adults with normal hearing for both pitch identification (“what” pathway) and location (“where” pathway). Results showed differences in cortical processing of the “what” and “where” pathways as a function of age and task instruction. Although processing …

Cortical Gyrification In Velo-Cardio-Facial (22q11.2 Deletion) Syndrome: A Longitudinal Study, Arun Kunwar, Seethalakshmi Ramanathan, Joshua Nelson, Kevin M. Antshel, Wanda Fremont, Anne Marie Higgins, Robert J. Shprintzen, Wendy R. Kates

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Introduction: Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS) has been identified as an important risk factor for psychoses, with up to 32% of individuals with VCFS developing a psychotic illness. Individuals with VCFS thus form a unique group to identify and explore early symptoms and biological correlates of psychosis. In this study, we examined if cortical gyrification pattern, i.e. gyrification index (GI) can be a potential neurobiological marker for psychosis.

Method: GIs of 91 individuals with VCFS were compared with 29 siblings and 54 controls. Further, 58 participants with VCFS, 21 siblings and 18 normal controls were followed up after 3 years and longitudinal …

Phonological Complexity: The Interaction Of Three-Element Clusters And Word Lexacility On Speech Sound Disorders, Heidi Joann Simon

Theses and Dissertations

Phonological complexity and word lexicality have been shown to induce phonological change in children with speech-sound disorders (SSDs); however, no prior research has used three-element cluster treatment target to directly compare real words (RW) to non-words (NW). Thus, the current research project sets out to answer the question of treatment efficacy in terms of real words and non-words using the complex three-element target, /str-/. Using a repeated measures single-subject research design, five children (5;7 to 7;7) were split into two SSD treatment groups (RW and NW) and directly compared in terms of learning during treatment, generalization from treatment, sound segments …

Spontaneous Recovery In Children With Expressive Language Delay, Jaimie Sierakowski

Honors Theses

By age 2, most children have an expressive vocabulary of approximately 200 words and begin to combine these words into meaningful phrases. However, some children acquire expressive language skills more slowly than others while displaying no signs of cognitive, receptive, or sensory delays. These children who experience an expressive language delay are often characterized in the literature as late talkers. Research shows that many of these children have delays early in childhood, but eventually catch up to their typically-developing peers, with no need for language intervention. Others, however, continue to experience expressive delays and. have an increased risk of developing …

Nonword Repetition And Interactions Among Vocabulary, Phonotactic Probability, And Phonological Awareness In Four Linguistic Groups, Sue Ann S. Lee, Brenda K. Gorman

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

The current study was designed to compare the English nonword repetition accuracy in 7-year-old monolingual English, Korean–English bilingual, Chinese–English bilingual, and Spanish–English bilingual children. The relationships among nonword repetition accuracy, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and phonotactic probability in each group of children were also examined. The results indicated significant differences among the groups’ accuracy of consonants and vowels by syllable length. Different correlational patterns emerged among nonword repetition accuracy, vocabulary, and phonological awareness. Theoretical and clinical implications for the use of nonword repetition tasks for children from various linguistic backgrounds are discussed.

The Evaluation Of Interhemispheric Transfer Time (Ihtt) In Adults, Katherine Elise Cormier

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of the present study was to develop an objective technique to measure interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of linguistic stimuli using late auditory evoked potentials to develop normative data in adults. Nine participants, five females and four males (M = 25.22) were included in this study. Each participant had their hearing tested and electrodes were placed on the forehead, tip of the nose, below the right eye and several places on the scalp. The results revealed that when comparing electrode sites (CZ, C3, and C4), waves (P1-N1-P2) and ears (right ear and left ear) there was no statistically significant …

Asymmetric Directional Microphone Fittings For Individuals With An Asymmetric Hearing Loss, Jessica White

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study investigated the effects of asymmetric directional microphone fittings on participants' acceptance of background noise and speech understanding in noise abilities. Thirteen adult, bilateral hearing aid users or non-hearing aid users with bilateral asymmetrical sensorineural hearing loss were fit binaurally with four different microphone conditions (i.e., bilateral omnidirectional, asymmetric directional poorer ear, asymmetric directional better ear, and bilateral directional) and monaurally with two microphone conditions (i.e., unilateral directional better ear and unilateral omnidirectional better ear). The amplification used was a pair of Siemens Intuis directional behind-the-ear hearing aids and comply earmolds.

The results indicated speech understanding in noise …

Effects Of Cardiovascular Exercise On The Selection Of Preferred Listening Levels Using Ipods, Jessica Leigh Ann Newman

Doctoral Dissertations

The present project evaluated the effect of cardiovascular exercise on the selection of preferred listening levels using iPods. The participants in this study included 15 Louisiana Tech University students ranging in age from 19 and 30 years. The inclusion criteria for participants was as follows: (1) normal hearing sensitivity; (2) no known neurological, cognitive, or otologic impairment; (3) removal from excessive noise for at least 48 hours prior to testing; and (4) endurance in running on a treadmill for the duration of ten minutes.

Pre-test audiometric thresholds and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were obtained in a sound treated booth. …

Bluetooth Headset Specifications And Its Possible Effects On Hearing Loss, Kristi Ann Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine Bluetooth headset specifications and its potential effects on hearing loss. The following research questions were assessed: (1) what is the maximum peak output of various Bluetooth headsets coupled to a cellular phone; (2) what is the average output of various Bluetooth headsets coupled to a cellular phone; and (3) what is the frequency response of various Bluetooth headsets coupled to a cellular phone? Sixteen Bluetooth headset devices of various manufacturers were used for this study. Bluetooth headsets used for this study were determined by consumer demands and lack of output specifications provided …

The Effects Of Background Noise On Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions And Hearing Screenings, Amy E. Hollowell

Doctoral Dissertations

Hearing screenings are an important tool for identifying children who have, or are at risk for hearing loss in the schools. In light of a body of evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of objective screening measures, such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) recommends traditional pure tone audiometric screening as the tool of choice for hearing screenings in the schools. Pure tone audiometric screenings conducted in the schools are problematic for a number of reasons, but the most significant is the presence of background noise which is routinely encountered. The main purpose of the …

Development Of An Elementary School Background Noise, Amanda L. Mccann

Doctoral Dissertations

The deleterious effects of noise on hearing, comprehension, and academic development have been widely studied. In an effort to accurately observe the effects of noise on specific listening environments, researchers have relied on commercially available forms of background noise. However, these commercially available recordings only contain adult speech and background noises associated with adult environments. A commercially available form of background noise that represents the sounds associated with elementary and middle schools are not readily available. Given that much effort has gone into examining the effects of background noise on classroom performance, it would appear prudent that a background noise …

Children’S Nonword Repetition Skills As A Function Of Their Race And Clinical Status, Hannah Smitherman

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Let's Talk Speech! Volume 5 Issue 1, Barbara T. Schmidt Ph.D.

Communication Sciences and Disorders Newsletter

The 2011-2012 academic year has been wonderful and full of exciting changes. You are probably all getting tired of hearing me say that each semester! I cannot avoid saying it. We have new full time and part time faculty, great students, plans for an upcoming “relaxation retreat,” an annual scholarship fundraiser, a 2013 trip to Ireland, and so much more. However, as I reflect on the year and the articles that were submitted to the Newsletter, I feel compelled to point out that the SpeechLanguage Pathology Department is facing one major problem: we have too many exceptional students and faculty …

Impact Of Noise And Working Memory On Speech Processing In Adults With And Without Adhd, Anne M. P. Michalek

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Auditory processing of speech is influenced by internal (i.e., attention, working memory) and external factors (i.e., background noise, visual information). This study examined the interplay among these factors in individuals with and without ADHD. All participants completed a listening in noise task, two working memory capacity tasks, and two short-term memory tasks. The listening in noise task had both an auditory and an audiovisual condition. Participants included 38 young adults between the ages of 18-35 without ADHD and 25 young adults between the ages of 18-35 with ADHD. Results indicated that diagnosis, modality, and signal-to-noise ratio all have a main …

Acquisition Of Initial Mental Graphemic Representations By Children At Risk For Literacy Development, Kenn Apel, Shurita Thomas-Tate, Elizabeth B. Wilson-Fowler, Danielle Brimo

Faculty Publications

We examined the acquisition of initial mental graphemic representations (MGRs) by 46 kindergarten children (mean age = 5 years, 9 months) at risk for literacy development because of low socioeconomic status. Using a storybook context, we exposed children to novel nonwords that varied in their phonotactic and orthotactic probabilities and then assessed the children's development of initial MGRs through spelling and reading recognition tasks. The children developed some initial MGRs but less than past reports of children from middle socioeconomic backgrounds. Children with more advanced word recognition abilities developed more initial MGRs than their peers with less advanced word recognition …

Ototoxic Hearing Loss And Retinoblastoma Patients, Shaum Bhagat

Faculty Publications

Chemotherapy is often used in the conservative management of retinoblastoma. Chemotherapy drugs, while ameliorative, can produce long-lasting side effects that potentially can affect survivor quality of life. Carboplatin is a common chemotherapy agent with known ototoxic side effects that is used in the treatment of retinoblastoma (Rodriguez-Galindo et al., 2003). The potential for carboplatin-induced hearing loss is of concern to the medical professional, given that retinoblastoma is often diagnosed in early childhood and children with retinoblastoma have visual impairments. This chapter will outline the mechanisms underlying carboplatin ototoxicity. The extent of knowledge concerning the pathophysiology of carboplatin-induced hearing loss will …

Test-Retest Reliability In The Determination Of The Speech Recognition Threshold, Alyssa Montierth Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

For many years, speech recognition threshold (SRT) testing has been used as an indicator of audiologic health. However, with changing methods and technology, test-retest reliability has not been reviewed extensively with newer digitally recorded spondaic words which meet a published criterion of listener familiarity. This study examined the test-retest reliability of 33 high frequency usage and psychometrically equated spondaic words. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association recommended method (2-dB decrements) was used to measure the left and right SRT of 40 participants using both male and female talker recordings. For each participant, four SRTs were found during the test condition and four …

Accuracy Of Automated Grammatical Tagging Of Narrative Language Samples From Spanish-Speaking Children, Tyson Gordon Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

The present study measured the accuracy of automated grammatical tagging software as compared to manual tagging in Spanish-speaking children's personal and fictional event narrative language samples. Studies have identified articles, clitic (contracted with a verb) pronouns, and verbs as clinical markers for language impairment in Spanish-speaking children. Automated grammatical tagging software may aid in the rapid identification of these grammatical markers. Grammatical morphemes of 30 first and fourth grade children's personal and fictional event narrative samples were tagged and compared with their respective manually tagged samples. The accuracy of word-level coding averaged 91%, and similar accuracy was found for clinically …

Sentence Recognition From Articulatory Movements For Silent Speech Interfaces, Jun Wang, Ashok Samal, Jordan R. Green, Frank Rudzicz

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Recent research has demonstrated the potential of using an articulation-based silent speech interface for command-and-control systems. Such an interface converts articulation to words that can then drive a text-to-speech synthesizer. In this paper, we have proposed a novel near-time algorithm to recognize whole-sentences from continuous tongue and lip movements. Our goal is to assist persons who are aphonic or have a severe motor speech impairment to produce functional speech using their tongue and lips. Our algorithm was tested using a functional sentence data set collected from ten speakers (3012 utterances). The average accuracy was 94.89% with an average latency of …

Effect Of Parallel Talk On The Language And Interactional Skills Of Preschoolers With Cochlear Implants And Hearing Aids, Sharon A. Raver, Jonna Bobzien, Corrin Richels, Peggy Hester, Anne Michalek, Nicole Anthony

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Children with profound congenital hearing loss often do not have the same prelinguistic opportunities for social and verbal interaction as their peers with typical hearing [14]. Consequently, language and social skills may be challenging for this group, even after they are provided with amplification or a cochlear implant. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of using a parallel talk intervention to increase the language and interactional skills of three preschoolers with deafnesss. Results revealed that all participants increased verbal turn-taking and that two of the three increased initiated and responded vocal/verbal comments, and initiated and responded nonverbal responses during a …

'Computerized Profiling' Of Clinical Language Samples And The Issue Of Time, Steven Long

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

This collection is a resource book for those working with language disordered clients in a range of languages. It collects together versions of the well-known Language Assessment Remediation Screening Procedure (LARSP) prepared for different languages. Starting with the original version for English, the book then presents versions in more than a dozen other languages. Some of these are likely to be encountered as home languages of clients by speech-language therapists and pathologists working in the UK, Ireland, the US and Australia and New Zealand. Others are included because they are major languages found where speech-language pathology services are provided, but …

Pitch Strength Of Normal And Dysphonic Voices, Rahul Shrivastav, David A. Eddins, Supraja Anand

Communication Sciences & Disorders Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Teaching Semantic-Syntactic Categories To A Child Who Uses Aac, Kelly Rowe

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of an intervention program designed to elicit productions of two-term semantic-syntactic relations using correct word order from a preschooler who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Method: This study employed a single case, multiple probe across targets design with one preschooler (5;1) who used AAC. Initially, the participant was provided instruction sequentially in the use of two, two-term semantic-syntactic relations (possessor-entity and action-object); however, as the study progressed it was necessary to add a third, two-term semantic-syntactic relation (attribute-entity). The intervention employed two key components: aided AAC modeling and …

Network Modulation During Complex Syntactic Processing, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Dorothee Saur, Wolfgang Mader, Björn Schelter, Sladjana Lukic, Eisha Wali, Jens Timmer, Cynthia K. Thompson

Faculty Publications

Complex sentence processing is supported by a left-lateralized network including inferior frontal cortex and posterior superior temporal cortex. This study investigates the pattern of connectivity and information flow within this network. We used fMRI BOLD data derived from 12 healthy participants reported in and earlier study (Thompson, C. K., Den Ouden, D. B., Bonakdarpour, B., Garibaldi, K. & Parrish, T. B. (2010b). Neural plasticity and treatment-induced recovery of sentence processing in agrammatism. Neuropsychologia, 48(11), 3211-3227) to identify activation peaks associated with object-cleft over syntactically less complex subject-cleft processing. Directed Partial Correlation Analysis was conducted on time series extracted from …

Augmented Input: The Effect Of Visuographic Supports On The Auditory Comprehension Of People With Chronic Aphasia, Sarah E. Wallace, Aimee R. Dietz, Karen Hux, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background: Augmented input (AI), or the use of visuographic images and linguistic supports, is a strategy for facilitating the auditory comprehension of people with chronic aphasia. To date, researchers have not systematically evaluated the effects of various types of AI strategies on auditory comprehension.

Aims: The purpose of the study was to perform an initial evaluation of the changes in auditory comprehension accuracy experienced by people with aphasia when they received one type of AI. Specifically, the authors examined the effect four types of non-personalized visuographic image conditions on the comprehension of people with aphasia when listening to narratives.

Methods …

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss As A Growing Threat To Society, Rachela Greenman

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to determine the exact dangers of leisure music to society, as peoples’ hearing can be negatively impacted by excessive exposure to music, in terms of both duration and sound (dB) level. Two types of studies are analyzed. One study analyzes the effects of concert and disco style music on musicians and party guests, primarily through experiments which test pure-tone audiometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE), and general sound levels of people and places before, during, and after exposure. Another study analyzes the effects of personal listening devices (PLDs) on the population, mainly through studies, …

A Strategic Plan For Engaging Undergraduate Speech Pathology And Audiology Students In The Research Enterprise, Stephen M. Tasko

Academic Leadership Academy

The goal of this project is to develop a strategic plan for the Speech Pathology and Audiology Research Experience, which is a program designed to increase undergraduate student engagement in research activities. The emphasis on undergraduate students is based on the view that the sooner research opportunities are introduced and ‘demystified’, the sooner students envision this as a viable professional option.

The Pacific Assessment Of Confabulation, Larry Boles

School of Pharmacy Faculty Presentations

This paper presents data on the Pacific Assessment of Confabulation (PAC), which was designed to accomplish two goals. First, the PAC is intended to quantify confabulation. Confabulation has been described as dichotomous (i.e., present or absent), without attempts to quantify it. A second goal is to test the hypothesis that occurs in the normal population. Literature related to witness testimony suggests this may be true.

Tracking Articulator Movements Using Orientation Measurements, An Ji, Michael T. Johnson, Jeffrey J. Berry

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

This paper introduces a new method to track articulator movements, specifically jaw position and angle, using 5 degree of freedom (5 DOF) orientation data. The approach uses a quaternion rotation method to accomplish this jaw tracking during speech using a single senor on the mandibular incisor. Data were collected using the NDI Wave Speech Research System for one pilot subject with various speech tasks. The degree of jaw rotation from the proposed approach is compared with traditional geometric calculation. Results show that the quaternion based method is able to describe jaw angle trajectory and gives more accurate and smooth estimation …