Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Analyzing Spelling Errors By Linguistic Features Among Children With Learning Disabilities, Christine Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to spell fluently and accurately, phonology, orthography, and morphology must be integrated and stored into long term memory (Berninger & Richards, in press; Berninger, Nagy, Tanimoto, Thompson, Abbott, 2015). Children with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL-LD have specific deficits in linguistic processing that impede the cross-mapping of these linguistic elements. This study analyzes the frequency and nature of spelling errors produced by children with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL-LD during an academic writing task in order to determine if known deficits in linguistic processing affect the type and severity of spelling errors made by these children.

The present study analyzed …

Analysis Of Patterns In Handwritten Spelling Errors Among Students With Various Specific Learning Disabilities, Laura Ann Winkler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities struggle with spelling accuracy, but they do so for different reasons. For instance, students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral-written language learning disability (OWL-LD) have distinct areas of weakness in cognitive processing and unique difficulties with the linguistic features necessary for accurate spelling (Silliman & Berninger, 2011). This project considered the spelling errors made by such students to determine if their unique learning profiles lead to distinct misspelling patterns.

Academic summaries handwritten by 33 students diagnosed with dysgraphia (n=13), dyslexia (n=15), and OWL-LD (n=5) were analyzed for type/complexity and …

Effects Of A Novel Right Brain Intervention On Stuttering In Familiar And Structured Speech Tasks, Josalyn Elizabeth Perry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over 3 million Americans are disfluent due to developmental stuttering. Current evidence-based treatments typically consist of a rigorous schedule of intensive therapy, followed by the need for maintenance of skills, placing high demands on self-monitoring of one’s speech at all times. Relapse after treatment is very common, at 84%. The demand for further research into treatment possibilities for stuttering is on the forefront. Previous research has connected neural activations in people who stutter (PWS) and people with chronic nonfluent aphasia. The aim of this study was to determine if a novel intervention, based on a treatment for anomia, would change …

Tongue Twisters Quantified: Ultrasound Analysis Of Speech Stability And Speech Errors, Karen Reddick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates errors on speech sounds (or phonemes) produced in laboratory speech stimuli designed to generate phonological onset errors. The present study adds to the literature on phonological speech errors with an instrumental analysis of tongue posture during speech error production and an investigation of the nature of speech errors as unintended variation in articulation.

This study utilized ultrasound instrumentation to visualize speech errors made on velar and alveolar stop consonants at the point of stop closure. Two types of errors were of interest, categorical errors and gradient errors. Categorical errors are those that are heard by the listener …

Interspeech Posture In Spanish-English Bilingual Adults, Merrily Rose Shary

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interspeech posture (ISP) is a term used to define the position of a person’s articulators when they are preparing to speak. Research suggests that ISP may be representative of a speaker’s phonological knowledge in a particular language, as determined empirically with ultrasound measures of the tongue in English-French bilinguals (Wilson & Gick, 2014). It is possible, therefore, that measuring ISP could be a diagnostic tool for determining phonological knowledge in bilingual speakers. However, more information on ISP in typical adult bilingual speakers is needed before diagnostic claims can be made. For example, ISP is believed to be language specific, and …

Effects Of A Novel Right Brain Intervention On Stuttering Frequency In Unfamiliar Speech Tasks, Chelsea Beatrice Stewart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Developmental stuttering persists in approximately 1% of the United States population. Stuttering has been shown to impact overall quality of life. The present study examines the effects of a Novel Right Brain Intervention on two female participants with persistent developmental stuttering. The aim of the study was to determine whether encouraging greater activation of the right hemisphere, specifically the pre-SMA, via complex left-handed movements, prior to speech production, would lead to a reduced stuttering frequency and severity in people who stutter (PWS). It was hypothesized that each participant would reduce stuttering symptoms and behaviors following the intervention due to the …

Language-Mixing In Discourse In Bilingual Individuals With Non-Fluent Aphasia, Avanthi Paplikar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Language-mixing (LM) as defined by Chengappa (2009, p. 417) is an “intra-sentential phenomenon referred to as the mixing of various linguistic units (morphemes, words, modifiers, phrases, etc.), primarily from two participating grammatical systems”. LM is influenced by grammatical, environmental, and social constraints (e.g., Milroy & Wei, 1995; Bhat & Chengappa, 2005). Researchers have suggested that LM in patients with aphasia is a communicative strategy used to achieve successful exchanges between speakers; the effectiveness of this mixing, however, had yet to be demonstrated quantitatively.

In the current study we investigated whether LM is present in bilingual speakers with aphasia, and if …

Annexin A5 Is The Most Abundant Membrane-Associated Protein In Stereocilia But Is Dispensable For Hair-Bundle Development And Function, Jocelyn F. Krey, Meghan Drummond, Sarah Foster, Edward Porsov, Sarath Vijayakumar, Dongseok Choi, Karen Friderici, Sherri M. Jones, Alfred L. Nuttall, Peter G. Barr-Gillespie

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The phospholipid- and Ca²⁺-binding protein annexin A5 (ANXA5) is the most abundant membrane-associated protein of ~P23 mouse vestibular hair bundles, the inner ear’s sensory organelle. Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we estimated that ANXA5 accounts for ~15,000 copies per stereocilium, or ~2% of the total protein there. Although seven other annexin genes are expressed in mouse utricles, mass spectrometry showed that none were present at levels near ANXA5 in bundles and none were upregulated in stereocilia of Anxa5^−/− mice. Annexins have been proposed to mediate Ca²⁺-dependent repair of membrane lesions, which could be part of the …

Cultural Competence And Ethical Decision Making For Health Care Professionals, Brenda Louw

ETSU Faculty Works

Cultural competence and ethical decision making are two separate, yet intrinsically related concepts which are central to services rendered by all health care professionals. Cultural competence is based on ethical principles and informs ethical decision making. In spite of this important connection, the interrelationship of these two concepts does not receive the attention it deserves in the literature. This issue is addressed by appraising the training and assessment of cultural competence and ethical decision making in the health care professions. The integrated relationship of these two concepts is illustrated within the broader contexts of higher education, research and clinical practice. …

Reflection: Effect Of Age On Auditory Brainstem Responses In Mice With Epha4 Mutations, Erica L. Hoogerland

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss is a condition that affects approximately 40% of the population over 65 years of age (Gates & Mills, 2005). Studying the effects of EphA4 mutations (wild type, heterozygous, and homozygous) mice is fundamental in understanding the relationship between onset of age-related hearing loss, in both the mammalian population and the human population. In order to further understanding of age-related hearing loss, the researchers evaluated thirty-six mice in a preliminary study from two months to nine months of age. Following data analysis, the researchers confirmed the results by continuing a second round of testing. The hearing …

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 …

Release From Masking: Behavioral And Physiological Masking Level Differences, Sarah L. Hodgson

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Binaural hearing offers several advantages over monaural hearing and is believed to be one factor that is involved in the ability to understand speech in background noise. Binaural hearing involves analysis of interaural timing and intensity differences in signals arriving at the two ears which provides listeners with sound localization cues as well as signal in noise detection. When sounds arrive at each ear at slightly different times, there may be a release from the effects of background noise, allowing listeners to detect softer sounds in noise. Masking Level Differences (MLDs) have been widely used to evaluate behavioral binaural processing. …

Prepulse Inhibition Of The Acoustic Startle Reflex To Obtain A Psychometric Function In Mice, Robyn Browne

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The acoustic startle reflex (ASR) is an automated motor response to an unexpected and intense auditory stimulus (Ouagazzal, Reiss, & Romand, 2006). When an audible ‘prepulse’ stimulus is presented before the intense, startle-evoking stimulus (SES); the startle reflex response is reduced and this is known as prepulse inhibition (PPI). The degree of ASR inhibition serves as a measure of the behavioral salience of the prepulse (Carlson & Willott, 1996). This study aimed to obtain a psychometric function from the amount of PPI of the ASR that resulted from varying intensity levels of a prepulse stimulus (PPS).

Twelve mice were used …

Effect Of Epha4 Signaling Mutations On Auditory Function, Michelle R. Gerringer

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Neural pathways underlie the ability of the auditory system to perceive sound. Organization of neural pathways into functional auditory circuitry is accomplished in part by Eph and ephrin signaling proteins. One of these signaling proteins, the EphA4 receptor tyrosine kinase protein, acts as an axon-guidance molecule to aid in target selection and to maintain tonotopicity in the auditory brainstem and midbrain. Genetic mutations of the EphA4 protein have been shown to affect structural auditory development, but there is limited research which shows the functional effects of these mutations. The goal of the present study was to determine the functional effects …

Creating Therapy Materials To Improve Communication Of Young Children, Allison J. Corey

Senior Honors Projects

Once children start preschool, they should be able to speak in simple sentences and use basic syntax. When they complete preschool and begin kindergarten, they should be using complete, complex sentences, have an extensive vocabulary, and use correct grammar. However, sometimes a child’s language doesn’t develop as expected resulting in speech delays or impairments. This problem could arise for a multitude of reasons, for example, the child may be on the autism spectrum, he/she may have a specific language delay, or it may be due to an articulation/phonology problem. The role of a speech language pathologist (SLP) in a school …

A Case Study Of Cochlear Implants And Complications, Carly E. Amurao

Senior Honors Projects

A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear, allowing the individual access to sound. In recent years, there has been tremendous progress in developing technology in the area of cochlear implants to aid those with severe/profound hearing loss. Specifically, there has been a movement towards bilateral implantation. Each cochlear implant candidate has a unique hearing loss, and must reach required bench marks in order to be considered a viable candidate for a cochlear implant. This process includes: meeting the required level of hearing loss, a required trial with hearing aids that …

The Effect Music Has In Speech Therapy, Emily K. Nester

Honors Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the use of music in speech therapy. A survey was sent via email to Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSHA) certified speech-language pathologists to acquire knowledge on the use of music in their therapy sessions. The author used the source, SurveyMonkey, to collect and analyze the data. The data was used to determine the prevalence of music in speech therapy. In addition, when music was used, the data portrayed how music was incorporated into therapy and the particular gender, genre, and/or disorder preferred.

Variability In Clinically Measured Wideband Acoustic Immittance Over Time In Young And Old Adults, Allison G. Mcgrath

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) measures of the middle ear have the potential to increase our ability to detect changes in the middle ear transfer function not seen using traditional tympanometry. In order to use this new tool diagnostically we must first understand its normal clinical variability. The present study aimed to investigate the variability that occurs when wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) is measured clinically within subjects as a function of subject age, as a function of time, and as a function of pressure. A total of thirty-six ears from eighteen subjects were studied (n=18 young adults ears, n=18 older adult …

Effects Of Vocal Fold Nodules On Glottal Cycle Measurements Derived From High-Speed Videoendoscopy In Children, Rita R. Patel, Harikrishnan Unnikrishnan, Kevin D. Donohue

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The goal of this study is to quantify the effects of vocal fold nodules on vibratory motion in children using high-speed videoendoscopy. Differences in vibratory motion were evaluated in 20 children with vocal fold nodules (5–11 years) and 20 age and gender matched typically developing children (5–11 years) during sustained phonation at typical pitch and loudness. Normalized kinematic features of vocal fold displacements from the mid-membranous vocal fold point were extracted from the steady-state high-speed video. A total of 12 kinematic features representing spatial and temporal characteristics of vibratory motion were calculated. Average values and standard deviations (cycle-to-cycle variability) of …

Verification And Quantification Of Surface Electromyographic (Emg) Activity Of The Masseter Muscle, Kelsey Bowles

Honors Theses

Purpose: The goal of the present study is to develop and evaluate an automated technique for measuring biting and chewing related surface electromyographic (EMG) activity of the masseter muscle.

Methods: Data from 28 neurologically healthy participants between the ages of 18-40 were selected for this study. The procedure for collecting the bite/chew data consisted of the participant biting down and chewing three small breath mints while an EMG sensor recorded the masseter muscle activity. A five-step Matlab-based algorithm was created to accurately identify onsets and offsets of each bite and chew event.

Results: Compared to manual measurements using standard …