Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Variation In How Cognitive Control Modulates Sentence Processing, Abhijeet Patra, Jeremy Kirkwood, Erica L. Middleton, Malathi Thothathiri

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Prior research suggests that cognitive control can assist the comprehension of sentences that create conflict between interpretations, at least under some circumstances. However, the mixed pattern of results suggests that cognitive control may not always be necessary for accurate comprehension. We tested whether cognitive control recruitment for language processing is systematically variable, depending on the type of sentential ambiguity or conflict, individual differences in cognitive control, and task demands. Participants completed two sessions in a web-based experiment. The first session tested conflict modulation using interleaved Stroop and sentence comprehension trials. Critical sentences contained syntax-semantics or phrase-attachment conflict. In the second …

The Effects Of Verbal Fluency Interventions: Phonemic Versus Semantic Fluency Outcomes In Parkinson’S Disease, Brian Connelly

Student Academic Conference

•Relevant Literature and Background –Verbal Fluency Tasks –Parkinson’s Disease •Practice Activity –Phonemic and Semantic Trials •Discussion of the Study –Methods –Results –Discussion

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Of The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex In Parkinson's Disease: A Longitudinal Study, Kaler Terry

Honors Theses

Understanding the role of brain network reallocation and adaptation within neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, is key in tracking disease progression and identifying potential biomarkers. In recent years, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has been applied in order to better understand the cognitive decline and overall pathophysiology in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. The present study aimed to determine the potential role of functional connectivity changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. This is a key brain region associated with cognitive skills and executive functions. Using rs-fMRI, clinical, and demographic data obtained from the Parkinson's …

Coaching Student Clinicians And Parents To Use Naturalistic Communication Techniques For Children With Signs Of Autism, Erin M. Gallegos

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

In this study, researchers implemented a short-term cascading coaching program focusing on naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) with three participant triads consisting of a graduate student clinician, a minimally verbal child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or signs of ASD, and the child’s parent. The efficacy of several short-term instruction sessions, in-session coaching, and student clinician parent coaching was evaluated using a multiple baseline across interventionists design. The primary dependent variables were clinician and parent use of elicitation techniques, including creating communication temptations and prompting, and response techniques, including reinforcing child communication and using vocal models. Following targeting coaching, all …

Iowa Conference On Communicative Disorders [Program, 2023], 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.

Speech Intelligibility Assessment: Predicting "Noncompliant" Listener Behavior, Briggs Kroff

Student Research Symposium

Purpose: When researching speech intelligibility among people with dysarthria, convenience sampling has typically been used to recruit listeners. A new alternative online crowdsourcing method, Mechanical Turk (MTurk), results in ecologically valid results, but outlier results are often removed from the analysis and considered 'noncompliant'. This study aims to examine whether or not there is a relationship between age, gender, speech/language/hearing impairment, and whether someone is 'noncompliant'.Methods: Sixteen speakers, both with and without dysarthria, were recorded while they read prewritten sentences. Research participants found through MTurk then listened to the sentences and transcribed them. They also were asked questions including their …

The Effect Of Video Narratives On Hearing Aid Wear Times In Adults: Preliminary Results, Vanessa Snow

Student Research Symposium

Despite the benefits associated with hearing aid (HA) use, only 17% of the population that needs HAs uses them (World Health Organization, 2021). HA users often have no direct experiences with hearing loss (HL) and HAs due to low incidence (World Health Organization, 2021), which we hypothesized leads to the unrealistic expectations in new HA users and minimal HA use (Bille & Parving, 2003). To test this hypothesis, we designed a between-subjects experimental study that explored the effect of video narratives on HA wear times. Before they were fit with their first HAs, 16 adults with HL and no previous …

Applying A Health-Risk Model To Climate Change Communication: The Benefits And Barriers Of The Eppm For Inciting Carbon Footprint Reductions, Mikenna Debruin

Student Research Symposium

Whereas over 99% of the scientific community believes in the concept of anthropogenic climate change, lay support is still lagging behind. I suggest three key factors to lagging lay support: 1) complexity, 2) manufactured scientific controversy, and 3) doom-and-gloom framing. Because of these factors, individuals are less willing believe in the prevalence of human-induced climate change, nonetheless do something about it. The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), however, presents a model to assuage eco-anxiety and counter psychological distance from the problem. The EPPM, proposed by Kim Witte in the 1990s, combines appeals to threat and appeals to efficacy to contextualize …

Examining Perception And Understanding Of Stroke And Its Risk Factors In A Rural Population, Mackenzie King, Gabrielle Scarpa, Mary Gardiner

Theses & Honors Papers

Stroke, also sometimes referred to as a brain attack, occurs when there is a blockage in blood supply to the brain or when a blood vessel bursts within the brain (CDC, 2022). Rural populations have a higher incidence of stroke and higher stroke mortality in the United States (Howard et al., 2017). Although there is a higher incidence rate of stroke in rural populations, researchers have also found that these populations appear to have limited knowledge on stroke and its risk factors. The current study employed a non-experimental descriptive design that explored stroke knowledge in adults residing in rural populations …

The Role Of The Pcc And Acc In Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Functional Connectivity Study, Claudia Gonzalez

Honors Theses

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts behavior control and social skills. Currently, ASD diagnoses are largely qualitative; thus, having more quantitative means of identification would aid in earlier diagnosis of ASD. However, more research is needed to pinpoint observable neurobiological markers of ASD. Our study focused on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) due to past evidence suggesting its involvement in ASD symptomatology. The PCC has been linked to behavioral control and executive functioning. Moreover, previous studies support executive functioning’s responsibility for the repetitive and restricted behaviors (RRB) in ASD.

Method: Our study sought to …

Exploring The Interactive, Linguistic, And Conceptual Dimensions Of Parent Input And Their Role In Children's Pragmatic Development, Nickolas T. Day

LSU Master's Theses

The development of children’s pragmatic language, which can be defined as conversational competence in social contexts, has been attributed to variation in the language they hear in their environment. When studying the impact language input has on pragmatic development, it is important for clinicians and linguists to measure both the quantity and quality of this language input. Measures of quality, however, are much more relevant when studying the development of pragmatic language, as discussed in Zhang (2020) and Hirsh-Pasek et al. (2015). Rowe and Snow (2016) discussed three dimensions of language quality: interactive, linguistic and conceptual. There is a current …

Identifying Key Language Research Priorities In Autistic Children According To Parents, Taylor Hale

LSU Master's Theses

The lack of involvement of the autistic community and its stakeholders in autism research has led to a call to action. At present, autism researchers have limited knowledge about stakeholders’ priorities for research. The current study aimed to bridge the disconnect between the extant autism research and the recent neurodiversity movement by surveying key stakeholders – parents of autistic children – on their perspectives on autism research that focuses on language. Twenty-six parents of autistic children completed an online survey on their views on autism language research with an option to participate in a follow-up interview. Six parents participated in …

Undergraduate, 1st Place: Otolaryngologist And Speech-Language Pathologist (Slp) Collaboration In Head And Neck Cancer, Abigail Moore

2023 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity - Documents

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is an aggressive, complex diagnosis that accounts for approximately five percent of all cancers diagnosed in the United States (Kawashita et al., 2020;National Cancer Institute, n.d. A). There are various types of HNC and several tumor sites inwhich HNC can potentially occur. Because routine screening for HNC does not exist, it is difficult to diagnose and often found at advanced stages (National Cancer Institute, n.d. A).

An Evaluation Of The Carl Manikin For Use In "Patient-Free" Real Ear Measurement: Consistency And Comparison To Normative Data., Paula Folkeard, Muneeb Alam, Robert Koch, Parvaneh Abbasalipour, Susan Scollie

Communication Sciences and Disorders Publications

OBJECTIVE: Simulation-based learning experiences provide low-risk opportunities for procedural training and practice in audiology. A series of real ear measurements (REM) were completed using Clinical Assistant for Research and Learning (CARL) manikins to determine expected responses and to compare to normative data.

DESIGN: (1) Real-ear Unaided Response (REUR) curves were measured with one CARL and each of three ear styles. (2) Test/retest reliability was evaluated by repeating each REUR. (3) Real ear to coupler difference (RECD) values for foam-tip and custom earmolds were calculated. (4) The reliability across copies of the CARL heads was evaluated by comparing REUR measurement from …

Cultural Competency In Practicing Audiologists Serving Lgbtqia+ Clients, Stella Omilian

Honors Projects

The primary objective of this project is to cultivate a better understanding of clinicians' cultural attitudes and behaviors within the field of audiology concerning LGBTQIA+ clients. The study describes the attitudes and behaviors of clinical audiologists serving individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community. It also explores a few barriers to healthcare needs for these clients, including hearing habilitation and rehabilitation. An anonymous survey was used to collect data from the clinicians in the United States on their current knowledge of LGBTQIA+ related terminology and language, affirmative attitudes and behaviors, and cultural sensitivity to these clients receiving audiological services. Analysis of the …

Students' Understanding Of Self-Management In Aphasia Treatment, Maryse Azer

Honors College Theses

Aphasia is a neurogenic language disorder caused by damage to the language areas of the brain in the left hemisphere, resulting in speech and language impairments. People with aphasia (PWA) often receive services from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who provide screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment to address communication deficits. Aphasia is a chronic condition and PWA experience symptoms throughout their lives. Healthcare costs related to aphasia account for $46 billion annually. Provider shortages, lack of transportation, insurance constraints, and travel expenses can leave PWA without adequate care. One possible solution to the costs and access issues is the implementation of self-management …

Perceptual And Acoustical Assessment Of Voice In Children With Cleft Lip And Palate, Indu Thammaiah, Meenakshi S, Raghunath N, Ramith Ramu

International Journal of Health and Allied Sciences

BACKGROUND: The speech of individuals with cleft lip and palate is primarily characterized by nasality of oral speech because of cleft and or velopharyngeal dysfunction. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to investigate the acoustical assessment and perceptual rating measurements in cleft lip and palate children. METHODS: The study participants included 30 children with cleft lip and palate in the age range of 4 to 12 years. Prior parental consent was obtained for the inclusion of their children in the study. Speech samples of all the l the participants were recorded. Prerecorded speech samples of the individuals of …

Graduate Student Transcription Of Accented Speech, Emily Covington

Theses & Honors Papers

There are many speech sound differences between Standard American English and English spoken by an individual from a different language background, who speaks with an accent. The purpose of this study is to research graduate students' preparedness and ability to transcribe speech from varying cultural backgrounds. A transcription assessment was administered to current speech-language pathology graduate students with results compared to professionals in the field who completed the transcription based on both listening and spectrogram images. Graduate students were also surveyed regarding their phonetics education experiences. Overall, students were able to transcribe accented speech with 64.2% accuracy. Participants’ transcription of …

The Relationship Between Recent Csd Graduates' Comfort And Training With Aac And Their Knowledge Of Aac, Delanie Amend, B.S.

Theses & Honors Papers

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perspectives of recent Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) graduate students regarding their comfort and training around Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and examine the Dunning-Kruger effect between recent CSD graduates’ knowledge with AAC versus their perceived expertise of AAC. The researcher distributed an online survey via email, social media, American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA) Special Interest Groups to individuals who graduated from a CAA- accredited Speech-Language Pathology master’s program with a graduation year of 2018-2022 who now currently hold either their Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC-SLP) or their Clinical Fellowship license …

Access To Gender-Affirming Voice Services Among Emerging Adults In The Gender-Expansive Community, Erin O. Wind

Theses & Honors Papers

Emerging adulthood, occurring between the ages of 18 to 25, is a time of significant identity exploration. This age group has the highest prevalence of individuals who are transgender or nonbinary; however, there is minimal current research on access to gender-affirming voice services among this demographic. This study utilized a healthcare access framework by Levesque et al. (2013) to analyze organizational barriers to care including approachability, acceptability, availability, affordability, and appropriateness for this population.

The researchers collected data from 104 participants with an electronic survey. Survey data showed most participants (64%) are aware of and desire gender-affirming voice services. Of …