Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Central Auditory Processing And The Link To Reading Ability In Adults, Lisa M. Brody

Honors Scholar Theses

What makes someone a good reader? What makes someone a poor reader? The root biological marker of reading ability has yet to be determined. Many scientists agree that phonological awareness, the understanding of speech sounds, and phonological decoding are key components of reading ability (Melby-Lervag, Lyster, & Hulme, 2012). In addition to this, new research suggests that the auditory system, specifically the timing of auditory processing in the brain, provides a crucial platform that supports the development of reading ability (Banai et al., 2009). This thesis provides empirical data to support the link between reading skill …

The Impact Of Baby Sign Training On Stress Levels Of Daycare Providers, Grisel Julieta Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Proponents of baby sign claim improvements in child-caregiver interactions and reductions in parental stress as benefits of implementing baby sign. Due to research contradicting the claims, and to the rise in daycare attendance, the current study investigated the effects of a baby sign workshop on the stress perception of daycare providers. A pre-test post-test between groups design with 20 participants was conducted using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) and a workshop-specific descriptive survey as measures. The difference between the post-test stress levels of experimental and control groups approached significance, as did the differences between pre-test and post-test results for the …

When Less Can Be More: Dual Task Effects In Stuttering And Fluent Adults, Naomi Nechama Eichorn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study tested the counterintuitive hypothesis that engaging cognitive resources in a secondary task while speaking could benefit aspects of speech production. Effects of dual task conditions on speech fluency, rate, and error patterns were examined in stuttering and fluent speakers based on specific predictions derived from three related theoretical frameworks. Twenty fluent adults and 19 adults with confirmed diagnoses of stuttering participated in the study. All participants completed two baseline tasks: (1) a continuous speaking task in which spontaneous speech was produced in response to given prompts; and (2) a working memory (WM) task involving manipulations of WM …

Neural Underpinnings Of Prosody In Autism, Inge-Marie Eigsti, Jillian Schuh, Einar Mencl, Robert T. Schultz, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This study examines the processing of prosodic cues to linguistic structure and to affect, drawing on fMRI and behavioral data from 16 high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 11 typically developing controls. Stimuli were carefully matched on pitch, intensity, and duration, while varying systematically in conditions of affective prosody (angry versus neutral speech) and grammatical prosody (questions versus statement). To avoid conscious attention to prosody, which normalizes responses in young people with ASD, the implicit comprehension task directed attention to semantic aspects of the stimuli. Results showed that when perceiving prosodic cues, both affective and grammatical, activation of …

Semantic Feature Distinctiveness And Frequency, Katherine Marie Lamb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lexical access is the process in which basic components of meaning in language, the lexical entries (words) are activated. This activation is based on the organization and representational structure of the lexical entries. Semantic features of words, which are the prominent semantic characteristics of a word concept, provide important information because they mediate semantic access to words. An experiment was conducted to examine the importance of semantic feature distinctiveness and feature frequency in accessing the lexical representations of young and older adults in an off-line task using features of animals. The McRae, Cree, Seidenberg, and McNorgan (2005) feature norm corpus …

“What” And “Where” In Auditory Sensory Processing: A High-Density Electrical Mapping Study Of Distinct Neural Processes Underlying Sound Object Recognition And Sound Localization, Victoria M. Leavitt, Sophie Molholm, Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, John J. Foxe

Publications and Research

Functionally distinct dorsal and ventral auditory pathways for sound localization (WHERE) and sound object recognition (WHAT) have been described in non-human primates. A handful of studies have explored differential processing within these streams in humans, with highly inconsistent findings. Stimuli employed have included simple tones, noise bursts, and speech sounds, with simulated left–right spatial manipulations, and in some cases participants were not required to actively discriminate the stimuli. Our contention is that these paradigms were not well suited to dissociating processing within the two streams. Our aim here was to determine how early in processing we …

Graduate Online Bulletin, 2011-2012 (2011), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Communicative Competence In Persons With Aphasia: The Impact Of Executive Function, Judy Marie Mikola

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive function and performance on selected linguistic tasks in persons with aphasia secondary to left frontal lesions.

A group of 15 persons with aphasia (PWA) completed three communication board tasks of varying levels of complexity and structure. The subject's functional use of the picture/word communication board was tested during a Story Retelling task. In addition, the PWA's executive function skills were examined using six nonverbal tests. The PWA group performance scores were compared to that of the neurologically healthy control group.

Results demonstrated that the control group performed significantly …

A Toddler's Development: Analyzing "One Who Walks Unsteadily", Valerie Sharie Davis

XULAneXUS

On April 19, 2009, for exactly two hours, I observed a twenty-four month old toddler at her home, with parents' consent, to fulfill an assignment for a Normal Language Development course. The assignment was to observe a child ranging between the infancy stages to three years old. After observing the child, students were instructed to complete a language analysis sample on every word or phrase that the child produced. This sample was conducted by writing down what the child said and comparing it to what linguistic and motor development researchers expected from a child at the approximate age level observed. …

Do Auditory Simulations Of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Change Young Adults' Attitudes Towards Noise Exposure?, Claire Roockley

Theses : Honours

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), or hearing damage from regular exposure to loud noise, can profoundly affect a person's hearing capabilities and overall well-being. Many individuals continue to expose themselves to hazardous levels of noise, and, in turn, put themselves at risk of developing a NIHL. This review critically examines the existing literature presented on NIHL. Emphasis is placed on the increasing prevalence of NIHL in young adults from exposure to loud recreational noise. The effectiveness of current educational strategies that have been employed to reduce or prevent the occurrence of NIHL in this cohort is also examined. Research indicates that …

Graduate Bulletin, 2006-2007 (2006), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

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 …

Graduate Bulletin, 2004-2006 (2004), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 2002-2004 (2002), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 2000-2002 (2000), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 1998-2000 (1998), Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Abusing Deaf Immigrants And Hearing No Evil, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the on-going abuse of deaf immigrants.

Graduate Bulletin, 1996-1998 (1996), Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 1995-1996 (1995), Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 1993-1995, Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 1991-1993, Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 1985-1987 (1985), Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Toward A Behavioral Analysis Of Attentiveness As A Style Of Communication, Ray Alan Coker

Dissertations and Theses

Attentiveness, a variable of communication, primarily serves a stylistic function in the communicative process by providing behavioral evidence that an individual is actively involved in message reception. Past research suggests that while both verbal and nonverbal behaviors signal attentiveness, nonverbal cues are more closely associated with this construct. Among the many nonverbal behaviors of individuals in interactions, postural positions have been deemed highly indicative of attentiveness. At present however, most of the empirical evidence attesting to this notion has been established through the use of self-report measures. As a result of the felt need by this author to improve upon …

One-Third Octave Band Augmented Speech Discrimination Testing For Cochlear Impaired Listeners, Dianne Heath

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 500 Hz and 3,150 Hz one-third octave band augmentation on the speech discrimination ability of listeners with cochlear hearing impairments. The results were analyzed both within the experimental group of subjects included in the present study and in comparison with data collected on a control group of normal hearing subjects reported earlier.

Graduate Bulletin, 1982-1984 (1982), Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

One-Third Octave Band Augmented Speech Discrimination Testing For Normal Hearing Listeners, Nancy Marie Bowen

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 500 Hz and 3150 Hz one-third octave band augmentation on the speech discrimination ability of normal hearing listeners and whether such effects vary with signal presentation level. The augmented portion of monosyllabic words was systematically varied from 5-55dB above the intensity level of the unfiltered version of the words and presented simultaneously to one ear.

Perspectives On Speechlessness : A Case Study, Michelle Alexander Carlson

Dissertations and Theses

This study addresses a problem of speech disruption as an individual abruptly and without explanation stops speaking to those around her. The matter for investigation involves the meaning this event has for those who are closely involved with this individual either in a practical day to day way or in a continuing relationship.

Speech Intelligibility As A Function Of The Propositionality Of Background Noise, Gail Swanstrom

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to measure the ability of young normal hearing listeners to perceive speech in the presence of a background noise which varies in the relative intensity of its semantic content. The Speech Perception in Noise test was mixed with a two-component competing noise complex in which the narrative-to- speech noise ratio varied in 2 dB increments from -2 dB Na/SpN to +8 dB Na/SpN. These stimuli were presented at an overall +8 dB signal-to-noise ratio to thirty young normal hearing adults through the soundfield system. The differences between the mean error scores and standard deviations …

The Effect Of Labeling Disfluencies As 'Stuttering' And Contingent And Yoked "Wrong" On The Disfluencies Of Normal Speakers, Dennis Ray Staines

Dissertations and Theses

A labeling variable suggested by Wendell Johnson's "diagnosogenic" theory of the onset of stuttering was included in this study of the disfluencies of normal speaking college students in order to explore further the hypothetical relationship between normal disfluency and the onset of stuttering. A total of 60 Ss were randomly assigned to the following groups, each containing 10 Ss: I. Labeling Chastisement plus Contingent "wrong;" II. Labeling Chastisement plus Yoked (non-contingent) "wrong;" III. Labeling Chastisement - No "wrong;" IV. No Labeling Chastisement Contingent "wrong;" V. No Labeling Chastisement - Yoked "wrong;" VI. No Labeling Chastisement - No "wrong" …

A Study Of Reaction To Frustration In Stutterers, Leroi Madison

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

It was the purpose of this study to compare the responses of a group of stutterers on the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study with the norms established for that study to determine whether, as a group, they show any significant differences in (1) the direction of aggression, and (2) the type of reaction to frustration.