Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Real-Time Visual Speech Articulation Training Aid, Neiyer S. Correal

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A real-time visual articulation training aid has been implemented. It provides instantaneous visual feedback of vowel and stop-consonant production on a computer screen. The vowel training system corresponds to an improved floating-point implementation of a previous fixed-point system developed by Beck (1992). The new implementation provides better accuracy and an approximate five-fold increase in speed. Acoustic features computed from global short-time spectral shape are used for classification of vowels. Temporal spectral trajectories timed to begin with burst onset are used for stop consonants. A neural network is used to transform measurements of auditory stimuli from the feature space to a …

Communications Connection - Vol.3, No. 5 - Spring 1996, Nova Southeastern University

Communications Connection

No abstract provided.

Nsu Program In Communications Sciences And Disorders Speech-Language Pathology Degrees M.S. And Slp.D., Audiology Degree Au.D. 1996, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Professional And Doctoral Degrees In Audiology And Speech-Language Pathology [1996], Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

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

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Nsu Lebonte Institute's Continuing Education Series Programs In Communication Sciences And Disorders 1996, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Use Of Verb Inflections In The Oral Expression Of Agrammatic Spanish-Speaking Aphasics, Jose Gregorio Centeno

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Studies on agrammatic verb errors have basically addressed the production of verb forms as whole lexical units without looking at their inflectional affixes. There has been limited research assessing the possible role of the variables encapsulated in verbal inflections in verb access and retrieval. The purpose of this investigation was to, first, address the possible factors causing a hierarchy of sparing in Spanish verb inflections, and, second, extend the explanatory factors proposed by earlier cross-linguistic investigations on verb inflectional performance by agrammatic speakers. This investigation studied the production of verb inflections by agrammatic Spanish speakers in a sentence repetition task. …

Text Independent Speaker Verification Using Binary-Pair Partitioned Neural Networks, Claude A. Norton Iii

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A method is presented for the application of binary-pair partitioned neural networks to the task of speaker verification. This technique is based on a previously developed neural network classifier for speaker identification.

The main focus of this research was the development and testing of the algorithms necessary to extend the binary-pair partitioning approach from speaker identification to speaker verification. The method is based on the development of a user profile which is obtained from discriminative data provided by the binary-pair partitioned neural networks.

Experimental results are provided which demonstrate the viability of this approach, using the TIMIT speech corpus for …

The Affects Of Vocal Fatigue On Fundamental Frequency And Frequency Range In Actresses As Opposed To Non-Actresses, Ruth Ann Jenkins

Dissertations and Theses

Differences may exist between the voice qualities of those who professionally use and train their voices and those who do not. The examination of fundamental frequency and frequency range m actresses and non-actresses is integral to determining voice quality differences in these populations. These differences, whether the result of frequent use or training of the voice, may exist relative to fatiguing conditions such as may be experienced by actresses in the course of their work. Fatigue has been shown to produce greater effects in normals than in performers, particularly in singers (Gelfer, Andrews, and Schmidt, 1991). Little research has been …

Communications Connection - Vol.2, No. 4 - Spring 1995, Nova Southeastern University

Communications Connection

No abstract provided.

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

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Nsu Master's Program In Speech-Language Pathology 1995–1996 Catalog (Includes Application And Admission Forms), Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Automatic And Controlled Information Processing In Alzheimer's Disease, Linda S. Carozza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research investigation explored the cognitive processing operations of 18 healthy elderly (HE) subjects and 12 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) subjects in the mild clinical stage of the disease in their performance on a semantic priming task involving semantic lexical activations of both automatic and controlled processing natures.

Relatively little conclusive evidence has been documented regarding the relative roles of attention and memory processing in the lexical-semantic impairment of Alzheimer's Disease. A lexical decision processing task was implemented to investigate the effects of normal aging and neuropathological damage of Alzheimer's Disease on subjects' semantic priming abilities. The research design was based …

Nsu Master's Program In Speech-Language Pathology Catalog 1994–1995 (Includes Application And Admission Forms), Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Master's Programs In Speech-Language Pathology Catalog 1994–1995 (Includes Application And Admission Forms), Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Program In Communications Sciences And Disorders Speech-Language Pathology Degrees M.S. And Slp.D., Audiology Degree Au.D. 1996, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Communications Connection - Vol.1, No. 3 - Fall 1993, Nova University

Communications Connection

No abstract provided.

Language Abilities Of Male Adolescents In A Juvenile Detention Center, Krista J. Klein

Masters Theses

This study was designed to analyze the language abilities of male adolescents with delinquent behavior. It was based on the hypothesis that male adolescents with delinquent behavior would have lower language skills during expressive language tasks. Language skills of male adolescents in a juvenile detention center were examined by comparing 12 grammatical variables, four subtest scores, and one total score from the Screening Test for Adolescent Language (STAL; Prather, Ausdal-Breecher, Stafford & Wallace, 1980). Results indicated that the adolescents with delinquent behavior omitted significantly more words, but also produced significantly more secondary verbs in a narration task. Significantly lower results …

Story Writing By Students With Hearing Impairments, Lois A. Ketchum

Masters Theses

Students with hearing impairments (N = 21) wrote a personal narrative each academic year from 1990 to 1992. These narratives were rated on maturity of the story as a whole and maturity of the language used in the story by senior undergraduate students in the education department at Western Michigan University. The method used for rating was a holistic magnitude estimation technique.

Significant change over time was found for story scores, but not language scores. Grade level was found to have no significant effect on change from first to last ratings for either story scores or language scores. Degree of …

Graduate Bulletin, 1993-1995, Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Nova University Master's Program In Speech-Language Pathology 1993-1994 Catalog, Nova University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

The Intelligibility Of Japanese Speakers Of English To Native Speakers Of English, Manabu Aoki

All Master's Theses

This research was conducted to identify the most important English speech sounds which determine non-native English speakers' intelligibility to native speakers of English. The researcher focused on variation of pronunciation by Japanese English speakers of differing levels of proficiency and examined the correlation between their pronunciation and intelligibility to native speakers. The results provided some keys to intelligible English speech and some implications for developing comprehensible speech in teaching English as a second language or English as a foreign language.

Efficacy Of A Cycling Approach For The Treatment Of Developmental Verbal Dyspraxic Preschoolers, Janet Rose Lambert

Dissertations and Theses

Two preschool males who presented with the characteristics of developmental verbal dyspraxia were enrolled in a phonological cycles intervention approach. Initially, each child's deviant phonological processes were analyzed by the CAPD and target patterns and words selected for remediation. A continuous speech sample was obtained and analyzed to measure intelligibility by percentage and rating on a seven point scale. A time-space probe was developed based on targeted and non-targeted phonemes and administered prior to the first intervention session. Using the selected targeted patterns and words, an individualized remediation plan was developed, and the phonological process cycling approach used. Each subject …

Effects Of Task Difficulty On Naming Performance Of Aphasic Subjects, Susan Kay Kucera

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation examined the effects of task difficulty on aphasic individuals' naming performance. Subjects were presented lists of easy-to-name and difficult-to-name items. In the high success condition, difficult lists were interspersed among a larger number of easy lists. In the low success condition, easy lists were interspersed among a larger number of difficult lists. Percentages of correct responses for administration of each list were calculated for each subject. Group means for each list were derived by averaging the individual scores. Group means in the high success and the low success conditions were compared with baseline measures to determine experimental effects. …

A Comparison Of Grammatical Morpheme Usage By Four Year Olds With Normal, Impaired, And Late Developing Language, Sally Alforde

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether language-disordered four-year-old children and those with a history of language delay but currently normal functioning would have acquired a significantly lower percentage of 13 grammatical morphemes than children of the same age with normal language skills. Research has shown that there is a consistency of order in which these morphemes are acquired in children with normal language ability. Studies have also shown that while language disordered children acquire these grammatical morphemes in a similar order, the process is slowed down. Language disordered children have difficulty with grammatical morpheme development. Not found …

Formant Estimation From Dctc's Using A Feedforward Neural Network, Shubhangi U. Kelkar

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Formants are the natural frequencies of the human vocal tract. Existing methods for estimating formants from speech signals are computationally complex and subject to errors for certain type of speech sounds. This thesis describes a method for estimating vowel formant frequencies from Discrete Cosine Transform Coefficients (DCTC's), a form of cepstral coefficients, using a feedforward neural network with back-propagation training. Experimental results are based on a large multispeaker data base. The results are obtained for both a linear transformation and a feedforward neural network with a nonlinear hidden layer. In general, the neural network transformation is superior to the linear …

Word Retrieval Behaviors Of Aphasic Adults In Conversational Speech : A Preliminary Study, Priscilla Jane Blake

Dissertations and Theses

Word retrieval difficulties are experienced by almost all aphasic adults. Consequently, these problems receive a substantial amount of attention in aphasia treatment. Because of the methodological difficulties, few studies have examined WRBs in conversational speech, focusing instead on confrontational naming tasks in which the client is asked to retrieve a specific word. These studies have left unanswered questions about the WRB processes.

The purposes of this study were to: (1) develop profiles of WRB for moderately impaired aphasic adult clients and examine these profiles for evidence that reflects the level of breakdown in the word retrieval process, and (2) determine …

A Study Of The Association Among The Diagnosis Of Speech-Language Impairments And The Diagnoses Of Learning Disabilities And/Or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Pamela E. Cogswell

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if an association exists among the diagnosis of speech-language impairments (SLI) and the diagnoses of learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a school-aged population of children referred to a Learning Disorders Clinic (LDC) because of academic underachievement and/or behavior problems. The two research questions asked in this study are: (a) What percentage of students diagnosed with SLI have a concomitant diagnosis of LD and/or ADHD? and (b) Is there an association among the diagnosis of SLI and the diagnoses of LD and/or ADHD?

A sample of 94 subjects …

The Percentage Consonants Correct And Intelligibility Of Normal, Language Delayed, And History Of Language Delayed Children, Randi Jartun

Dissertations and Theses

Highly unintelligible children may mistakenly be assumed to have difficulty only with the misarticulation of consonants. Expressive language concerns may be ignored while the primary focus of intervention becomes the correction of misarticulated speech. Questions have arisen regarding the possibility of both speech and expressive language difficulties contributing to unintelligibility. Shriberg and Kwiatkowski (1982) developed an ordinal means of rating severity of involvement. One of the constructs of the severity scale was intelligibility. The metric percentage consonants correct (PCC) was developed to identify severity of involvement of disorders of phonology.

A Study Of The Narrative Skills In Kindergarten Children With Normal, Impaired, And Late Developing Language Development, Lisa L. Mcfarland

Dissertations and Theses

Children's narrative language plays a critical role in guiding the transition between oral language and literacy (Roth & Spekman, 1989; Westby, 1989). Narrative comprehension and production by normally achieving and language delayed school-aged children have been studied. Many of these studies have involved story retellings. Few have studied how spontaneously produced narratives are organized especially by young children.