Speech Pathology and Audiology Commons^™

An Interprofessional Collaborative Approach To The Development Of A Content Valid Interview Questionnaire For Persons With Hearing Loss And Their Communication Partners, Nancy A. Delich, Stephen D. Roberts

JADARA

An assessment instrument needs to be valid in order for data to be accurately interpreted and applied. Currently, few rigorous content evaluations have been conducted on hearing-related questionnaires. This study describes a multiphase approach for obtaining content validity evidence in the development of a questionnaire that explores quality of life for persons with hearing loss and their communication partners. A panel of 15 interprofessional experts evaluated 41 questionnaire items for content relevance and content clarity. Findings revealed an overall scale of .99 for content relevance and .85 for content clarity, indicating high content validity for the revised 40-item questionnaire.

Rapid Assessment Of Problem Solving For Kids (Raps-K), Hannah Perdew

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Rapid Assessment of Problem Solving (RAPS) is a clinical assessment of verbal problem solving skills created by Dr. Robert Marshall and colleagues (Marshall, 2003). The assessment, originally developed for adults, is based on the well-known twenty questions game. The clinician administering the assessment chooses a target picture and the participant asks yes or no questions to eliminate incorrect answers and, eventually, identify the target picture. Question asking efficiency, indicated by the number of choices eliminated, is considered to reflect levels of cognitive functioning, specifically problem solving. Recently, the RAPS has been utilized with typically developing children and children with …

Perspectives Of Caregiver-Survivor Dyads Following Tbi: A Case Series, Shayleen Brennan

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is trauma to the brain triggered by an external force that causes the brain to crash violently against the skull and disrupt normal functioning. Following a TBI, the survivor often faces challenges that compromise independence. These can include challenges in communication, cognition, and overall physical functioning. Resultantly, reliance upon the individual’s loved ones as both advocates and caregivers is essential to functional recovery. This qualitative study investigates the experiences reported between both survivors and their primary caregivers. Using a qualitative approach, exploration of the convergent and divergent perspectives between survivors and caregivers post-TBI were researched. …

Barriers To Change For Augmentative And Alternative Communication, Lauren E. Brown

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of counseling training on speech language pathologists’ (SLPs) perceived competency to address Attitude Barriers within the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment process as presented by Beukelman and Mirenda (2005). Counseling techniques, such as the use of the Readiness to Change© tool, are within the scope of practice for SLPs. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on how to apply these tools and techniques with individuals who use AAC .

A training seminar was conducted to educate participants in the use of the Readiness to Change© tool. Data was …

An Investigation Of Therapeutic Rapport Through Prosody In Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Carolina De Pasquale, Charlie Cullen, Brian Vaughan

Conference Papers

Therapeutic alliance, a concept closely related to rapport, is one of the most important variables in psychotherapy. High degrees of synchrony/coordination in the therapeutic session are considered to contribute to rapport, and have received attention in the psychotherapy literature. Coordinative behaviours are observable in speech, and they manifest in phenomena such as prosodic accommodation, a dynamic phenomenon closely related to conversational success. A preliminary investigation of interpersonal prosodic dynamics in psychotherapy was performed on a database obtained in collaboration with the University of Padua, consisting of 16 recordings making up the entire course of a brief psychodynamic psychotherapy intervention for …

Selective Stimulability In The Speech And Language Assessment Of Bilingual Children With Selective Mutism, Elizabeth Harbaugh , M.S., Ccc-Slp, Raul F. Prezas , Ph.D., Ccc-Slp, Robin L. Edge , Ph.D., Ccc-Slp

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

English Language Learners (ELLs) with Selective Mutism (SM) mirror their typically developing, bilingual peers who are going through the silent period. The silent period is a normal phenomenon characterized by decreased expressive language and a general lack of communication that is temporary. Understanding second language acquisition and differentiating SM from the silent period, however, is critical to reduce over- and under-identification of children for services. Whereas bilingual children with SM do not speak in either of their languages, bilingual children in the silent period are only silent in their second language. Although limited information exists regarding assessment and treatment for …

Procedural-Memory, Working-Memory, And Declarative-Memory Skills Are Each Associated With Dimensional Integration In Sound-Category Learning, Carolyn Quam, Alisa Wang, W. Todd Maddox, Kimberly Golisch

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates relationships between procedural-memory, declarative-memory, and working-memory skills and adult native English speakers’ novel sound-category learning. Participants completed a sound-categorization task that required integrating two dimensions: one native (vowel quality), one non-native (pitch). Similar information-integration category structures in the visual and auditory domains have been shown to be best learned implicitly (e.g., Maddox et al., 2006). Thus, we predicted that individuals with greater procedural-memory capacity would better learn sound categories, because procedural memory appears to support implicit learning of new information and integration of dimensions. Seventy undergraduates were tested across two experiments. Procedural memory was assessed using …

Assessment For Mild Cognitive Impairment: Striving For Best Practice, Julie Leigh Dalmasso

Dissertations

This dissertation is a series of three studies aimed at determining the best assessment practices for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that can employed by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The first study was non-experimental and descriptive examining whether three commonly used assessment instruments yielded similar categorical results. The data were analyzed to determine whether the Eight-Item Interview to Differentiate Aging and Dementia (AD8), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Cognitive-Linguistic Quick Test (CLQT) identified the same participants from a neurotypical sample as having cognitive deficits. Very little agreement was found amongst the three tools.

Study two was modified to include two …

Graduate Bulletin, 2018-2019, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Social Disconnectedness And Perceived Isolation In Deaf/Hard Of Hearing Women And Hearing Women, Mellissa Perry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research has concluded that hearing loss is related to psychological risk factors in a person that could potentially increase feelings of disconnect or isolation. However, the gap in literature and lack of knowledge regarding social disconnectedness and perceived isolation specifically for deaf/hard of hearing women makes it difficult for clinicians to develop appropriate programs to assist this population. The purpose of this study was to contribute information regarding the effects of hearing loss on social disconnectedness and perceived isolation to help clinicians create proper treatment plans to better assist the deaf/hard of hearing with negative feelings (e.g., loneliness, depression) …

An Internationally Adopted Child's Transition: A Family Story, Holly C. Heckmann

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this study was to contribute to the literature on international adoption by conducting a case study with one adoptive family. Data was collected using a semi-structured, in-depth interview that was audio recorded and transcribed word-for-word. The interview questions asked about family configuration, language background and use, adoptive family decisions about cultural inclusiveness, and the transition from home to school. The analysis was member-checked following coding for the themes that emerged. Results indicated that lingering differences from reduced exposure to language in the first year of life took the form of subtle language differences that continued through the …

Signing To Maintain Joint Attention With Children With Down Syndrome, Rachel Dauer Burns

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the role of two different methods of sign presentation on signed and spoken language acquisition of toddlers aged two to four years with Down syndrome (DS). The aim of this study was to determine if a method commonly used by native signers/Deaf mothers (referred to in this study as signing to maintain joint attention (SMJA)) was more effective than the method commonly used by hearing mothers and speech-language pathologists (referred to in this study as the triangular method of signing). Both methods were compared in a within-subject design for effects on the participants’ total number of …

Perceived Stress, Self-Compassion, And Emotional Variance In Parents Of Children With Communication Disorders: A Family Approach To Service Delivery In Speech-Language Pathology, Olivia Marie Arnos

Theses and Dissertations

The amount of children born with developmental disorders in the United States is on the rise, increasing from 12.8% in 1998 to 15.04% in 2008 (Huang, Chang, Chi & Lai, 2013). Children with developmental disabilities often have chronic conditions that require additional support across their lifetime, ranging in deficits of attention, physical abilities, visual impairments, hearing impairments, learning disabilities, and communication disorders. Research has shown as dependency of a child on caretakers increases, there is an increase in parental stress and a decrease in perceived well-being. Hall and Graff (2011) found parents of children with developmental disorders are less likely …

Communicative Behaviors Elicited By Leisure Activities In Memory Care Units, Tarynn Clune

Honors Projects

A wide variety of leisure activities used in reminiscence care have been studied for their merits in terms of preventing cognitive decline, and increasing quality of life; however, little is known about what different types have to offer in terms of communicative opportunities. Communication with peers is imperative for quality of life, and is crucial for maintenance of relationships between the person with dementia (PWD) and their loved ones. As a result of this importance, an exploration of communication elicited by different activities facilitated in a unit was conducted. The communication explored in this study was solely vocal, and included …

Graduate Bulletin, 2017-2018, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Home Visiting Programs For Families Of Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing: A Systematic Review, Nannette Nicholson, Patti Martin, Abby Smith, Sheila Thomas, Ahmad A. Alanazi M.Aud.

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Prelingual hearing loss greatly restricts a child’s language development, hindering his or her behavioral, cognitive and social functioning. Although technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants are an option for providing access to sound, they fail to teach the child how to listen or attend, how to process language (whether visual or spoken), or how to produce language and communicate. Home visiting is widely recognized as a cost-effective intervention service delivery model. Home visiting programs for promoting language development in children who are diagnosed as deaf or hard of hearing have been in existence for over 50 years, yet …

Build-Up Effect Of Auditory Stream Segregation Using Amplitude-Modulated Narrowband Noise, Harley J. Wheeler

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Recent psychoacoustic experiments (Böckmann-Barthel et al., 2014; Deike et al., 2012) have re-examined research regarding stream segregation and the build-up effect. Stream segregation is the ability to discern auditory objects within a stream of information, such as distinguishing one voice amongst background noise or an instrument within an orchestra. Initial works examining this topic proposed that auditory information is not immediately distinguished as various streams, but rather that differences accumulate over time, allowing listeners to segregate information following a period of build-up (i.e., the build-up effect); whereas more current findings indicate a build-up period is unnecessary for segregation. This experiment’s …

Inter-Professional Collaboration: The Impact Of Serial Versus Merged Treatment On The Behavior Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Robyn Starry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Interdisciplinary collaboration is an innovative, resourceful approach to healthcare intended to positively affect patient outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to determine the efficacy of the serial exposure to three treatments, Applied Behavior Analysis, Speech Language Pathology, and Occupational Therapy, in comparison with an exposure to a merge of these treatments on child outcomes. During the serial treatment phases of intervention, three licensed professionals implemented core techniques from their respective disciplines. During merged treatment phases, a graduate clinician combined and implemented techniques from all three fields: differential attention, request sequences, sensory exposure, verbal/tactile cueing for postural alignment/control and …

Effects Of Talker Variability On Spectral Contrast Effects., Asim Mohiuddin

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Spectral contrast effects are context-dependent effects that influence the way we perceive certain sounds. Evidence of these effects can be seen in experiments where a precursor sound (e.g. a sentence) is followed by a target vowel sound (like /ɪ/ as in "bit" or /ɛ/ as in "bet"). If the precursor's frequency was emphasized in areas more consistent with the frequency of /ɛ/, listeners tend to perceive the target sound to be the opposite i.e. /ɪ/. A recent study shows using sentence precursors from 200 different talkers diminishes these effects questioning previous claims that talker variability has no influence on spectral …

Graduate Bulletin, 2016-2017 (2016), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

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 …

Graduate Bulletin, 2015-2016, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

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 …

Perceptual Compensation In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Elizabeth Anne Langston

Open Access Theses

Compensation for coarticulation is the extent in which an individual perceives the contextual variations of speech. When presented with an ambiguous consonant-vowel segment (e.g., a consonant halfway between /sa/ and /∫a/) research illustrates that a listener is likely to compensate for coarticulation with the following vowel. Therefore, a listener will be more likely to report an ambiguous speech sound as /s/ when it occurs before [u] than before [a]. Previous results have suggested that, within neurotypical individuals, the degree to which individuals compensate for coarticulation may be related to their Autism Quotient (AQ; Yu, 2010). However, this research did not …

Neurophysiological Bases Of Frequency Discrimination In Children With Auditory Processing Disorder Or Specific Language Impairment, Christine Rota-Donahue

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if 10-12 year old children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) or Specific Language Impairment (SLI) could discriminate three different frequency changes behaviorally and electrophysiologically. Behavioral frequency discrimination and event-related potentials were examined using a 1000Hz pure tone base frequency. Typically developing children and children with APD or SLI differed in in their detection of frequency changes: behavioral results were below chance level and the MMN amplitude was smaller in the impaired population. Slight differences between children with APD and children with SLI were also found that might shed light on the controversy …

Graduate Bulletin, 2014-2015 (2014), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Bulletin, 2013-2014, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Self-Modeling As An Intervention For Stuttering In Elementary Students, Jason Northrup

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Stuttering is a disorder involving disruptions and disfluencies in speech that impacts overall communication and affects approximately 1% of the population. In addition to speech disfluency, stuttering is often related to physical tension, embarrassment, fear, anxiety, and other negative social-emotional problems, especially for children and adolescents. Fortunately, research indicates that stuttering can be alleviated before becoming more advanced and complex as individuals enter adolescence and adulthood. Self-modeling, an intervention that involves individuals watching themselves engage in exemplary behavior, appears to be particularly effective for individuals who stutter and can be implemented in a school setting. The purpose of this study …

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes: Vocal Production In Infant Siblings Of Children With Asd, Rhea Paul, Yael Fuerst, Gordon Ramsay, Kasia Chawarska, Ami Klin

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Background: Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at higher risk for acquiring these disorders than the general population. Language development is usually delayed in children with ASD. The present study examines the development of pre-speech vocal behavior in infants at risk for ASD due to the presence of an older sibling with the disorder. Methods: Infants at high risk (HR) for ASD and those at low risk, without a diagnosed sibling (LR), were seen at 6, 9, and 12 months as part of a larger prospective study of risk for ASD in infant siblings. Standard clinical …