Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Assessing Cortical Electrophysiologic And Behavioral Activity In Individuals With Aphasia And Participants With No Brain Damage Responding To Spoken Sentence Length Messages, Patricia Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this study, six individuals with aphasia and twelve participants with no brain damage responded to spoken sentence length messages using a modified version of the Revised Token Test (McNeil & Prescott, 1978) while cortical activation was recorded using event related potentials (ERP). ERP is a non-invasive imaging procedure that measures cortical activation reflected in the electrical activity that is produced at the level of the cortex in response to internal or external stimulus.

Participants were presented with a visual display that provided eight different token arrangements per trial that were displayed on the computer screen. Spoken messages that increased …

Phonological Memory Associations Of Language Impairment In Bilingual Children, Marcela Susa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Knowledge-based assessments of language impairments have been found to contain bias for assessing performance in bilingual children from diverse cultural backgrounds. As an alternative, measures related to performance of phonological working memory are becoming more popular for bilingual children. The purpose of the current study was to investigate how bilingual children with language impairment (BILI) would perform on nonword repetition and sentence repetition when compared to typically developing peers (BITD). Also, the current study investigated the extent to which the nonword repetition task and sentence repetition task were associated with each other in bilingual (English-Spanish) children. Results demonstrated that typically …

The Impact Of Literacy Through Movement In A 3rd Grade Hispanic Classroom, Daniel Peregrino

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This case study examines the effects of a kinesthetic literacy-training program on the complexity of narrative production and performance on the Garfield Motivation to Read Survey in a group of four 3rd grade elementary students. The 3rd grade teacher attended a Literacy Through Movement workshop to learn a range of movement-based literacy activities and methods for the classroom. The LITMO program was then implemented as part of a language arts poetry module for 3 weeks in her classroom. Changes in four students' performance on the Garfield Survey and narrative samples were measured before and after the LITMO intervention. Results suggest …

Endoscopic And Stroboscopic Presentation Of The Larynx In Male-To-Female Transsexual Persons, Derek Palmer, Angela M. Dietsch, Jeff Searl

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background. Male-to-female transsexual (MFT) persons often attempt to produce a female-sounding voice as part of the transition process. Endoscopic and stroboscopic data about how they accomplish this with an anatomically male larynx are lacking.

Objectives. To describe vocal fold activity in MFT persons producing their feminine voice and identify signs of vocal misuse or hyperfunction in MFT speakers, if any.

Study Design. Prospective, nonrandomized, descriptive study of a convenience sample of MFT persons.

Methods. All MFT persons had endoscopic and stroboscopic procedures completed. Images were rated on a range of parameters by two experienced voice therapists …

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 …

The Association Between Reading Comprehension And Prerequisite Skills For Children In Poverty, Hyo Jin Yoon

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension and the prerequisite skills typically assessed by a school based speech pathologist with a focus on children raised in poverty. Based upon previous studies, three hypotheses were developed. First, children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds would not perform as well as children from the standardization sample on norm referenced language tests although the language tests would predict reading comprehension. Second, decoding would not be as good a predictor of reading comprehension for children from low SES backgrounds as it is in typically developing children from middle …

Graduate Student Research Projects: A Path For Productive Research, Kerry Proctor-Williams, Jessica Fitzpatrick, Nicole Vaughn, Jessica Qualls, Angelica Wiggins

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Development Of A Neonatal Communication Intervention Tool, Esedra Strasheim, Alta Kritzinger, Brenda Louw

ETSU Faculty Works

Neonatal communication intervention is important in South Africa, which has an increased prevalence of infants born with risks for disabilities and where the majority of infants live in poverty. Local literature showed a dearth of information on the current service delivery and roles of speech-language therapists (SLTs) and audiologists in neonatal nurseries in the South African context. SLTs have the opportunity to provide the earliest intervention, provided that intervention is well-timed in the neonatal nursery context. The aim of the research was to compile a locally relevant neonatal communication intervention instrument/tool for use by SLTs in neonatal nurseries of public …

Effects Of Degree And Configuration Of Hearing Loss On The Contribution Of High- And Low-Frequency Speech Information To Bilateral Speech Understanding, Benjamin W. Y. Hornsby, Earl E. Johnson, Erin Picou

ETSU Faculty Works

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of degree and configuration of hearing loss on the use of, and benefit from, information in amplified high- and low-frequency speech presented in background noise.

Design: Sixty-two adults with a wide range of high- and low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (5 to 115+ dB HL) participated in the study. To examine the contribution of speech information in different frequency regions, speech understanding in noise was assessed in multiple low- and high-pass filter conditions, as well as a band-pass (713 to 3534 Hz) and wideband (143 to 8976 Hz) condition. To …

Grammatical Morphology In School-Age Children With And Without Language Impairment: A Discriminant Function Analysis, Maura Jones Moyle, Susan Ellis Weismer, Brenda K. Gorman

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test Bedore and Leonard's (1998) proposal that a verb morpheme composite may hold promise as a clinical marker for specific language impairment (SLI) in English speakers and serve as an accurate basis for the classification of children with and without SLI beyond the preschool level.

Method: The language transcripts of 50 school-age children with SLI (M_age = 7;9 [years;months]) and 50 age-matched typically developing peers (M_age = 7;9) were analyzed. Following the Bedore and Leonard (1998) procedure, 3 variables were measured: a finite verb morpheme composite, a noun …

Quantifying Articulatory Distinctiveness Of Vowels, Jun Wang, Jordan R. Green, Ashok Samal, David B. Marx

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The articulatory distinctiveness among vowels has been frequently characterized descriptively based on tongue height and front-back position; however, very few empirical methods have been proposed to characterize vowels based on time-varying articulatory characteristics. Such information is not only needed to improve knowledge about the articulation of vowels but also to determine the contribution of articulatory imprecision to poor speech intelligibility. In this paper, a novel statistical shape analysis was used to derive a vowel space that depicted the quantified articulatory distinctiveness among vowels based on tongue and lip movements. The effectiveness of the approach was supported by vowel classification accuracy …

Speaking Rate Effects On Normal Aspects Of Articulation: Outcomes And Issues, Jeffrey J. Berry

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

The articulatory effects of speaking rate have been a point of focus for a substantial literature in speech science. The normal aspects of speaking rate variation have influenced theories and models of speech production and perception in the literature pertaining to both normal and disordered speech. While the body of literature pertaining to the articulatory effects of speaking rate change is reasonably large, few speaker-general outcomes have emerged. The purpose of this paper is to review outcomes of the existing literature and address problems related to the study of speaking rate that may be germane to the recurring theme that …

“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 …

Effect Of Occlusion, Directionality And Age On Horizontal Localization, Lynzee Nicole Alworth

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Localization acuity of a given listener is dependent upon the ability discriminate between interaural time and level disparities. Interaural time differences are encoded by low frequency information whereas interaural level differences are encoded by high frequency information. Much research has examined effects of hearing aid microphone technologies and occlusion separately and prior studies have not evaluated age as a factor in localization acuity. Open-fit hearing instruments provide new earmold technologies and varying microphone capabilities; however, these instruments have yet to be evaluated with regard to horizontal localization acuity.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of …

Temporal And Aerodynamic Aspects Of Velopharyngeal Coarticulation: Effects Of Age, Gender And Vowel Height, Fadwa Khwaileh

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Previous studies on the normal patterns of velopharyngeal coarticulation did not provide a multidimensional description of the phenomenon. The primary objective of this study was to determine the effects of age, gender and vowel height on the temporal and aerodynamic aspects of nasal airflow segments related to velar coarticulation in the normal speech of children and adults. A secondary objective was to determine the within speaker variability of the segments.

Speakers consisted of 20 children between the ages of 5 and 7 years, 20 children between 9 and 11 years and 20 adult speakers 18 years or older. Nasal and …

Creative And Stylistic Devices Employed By Children During A Storybook Narrative Task: A Cross-Cultural Study, Brenda K. Gorman, Christine Fiestas, Elizabeth Peña, Maya Reynolds Clark

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of culture on the creative and stylistic features children employ when producing narratives based on wordless picture books.

Method: Participants included 60 first- and second-grade African American, Latino American, and Caucasian children. A subset of narratives based on wordless picture books collected as part of a larger study was coded and analyzed for the following creative and stylistic conventions: organizational style (topic centered, linear, cyclical), dialogue (direct, indirect), reference to character relationships (nature, naming, conduct), embellishment (fantasy, suspense, conflict), and paralinguistic devices (expressive sounds, exclamatory utterances).

Results …

Augmented Control Of A Hands-Free Electrolarynx, Brian Madden, James Condron, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

During voiced speech, the larynx acts as the sound source, providing a quasi-periodic excitation of the vocal tract. Following a total laryngectomy, some people speak using an electrolarynx which employs an electromechanical actuator to perform the excitatory function of the absent larynx. Drawbacks of conventional electrolarynx designs include the monotonic sound emitted, the need for a free-hand to operate the device, and the difficulty experienced by many laryngectomees in adapting to its use. One improvement to the electrolarynx, which clinicians and users frequently suggest, is the provision of a convenient hands-free control facility. This would allow more natural use of …

Utilizing Music In Speech And Language Therapy For Preschool Children And Children With Autism: A Systematic Review, Joelle Kay Johanson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis was conducted as a systematic review. A systematic review is an assessment and evaluation of current research that attempts to answer a clinical question. The purpose of this systematic review was to attempt to answer the following clinical question: Are there high-quality studies that document the effectiveness of using music in speech and language therapy with preschool aged children and children with autism? This review also attempted to identify future research implications and needs. Nine studies were reviewed and critiqued; six preschool based studies and three autism based studies. Results indicated a general positive change in speech and …

Augmentative And Alternative Communication Systems In The Classroom, Helen Angela Mezzomo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Augmentative-alternative communication (AAC) systems are used to give voice to individuals who are nonverbal. As AAC systems become more complex and prevalent in the classroom expectations of school-based professionals expand. However, the roles of those expected to support AAC systems, primarily teachers and speech-language pathologists (SLPs), are not clearly defined. Without clearly defined roles, professionals may not provide needed support to students who use AAC. Dewey's theory of community suggests that role confusion leads to insufficient and ineffective services. The purpose of this cross-sectional quantitative study was to determine how teachers and SLPs view their roles in supporting AAC. The …

/Intɛli/ A Bilingual Computer Software Treatment Program For Apraxia Of Speech, Esnire Abigail Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Apraxia of Speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder characterized as difficulty planning and producing precise and refined movements of the articulators for intelligible speech (CASANA). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the success of /Inteli/, an experimental computer program that incorporates melodic intonation therapy (MIT), modified eight step continuum, visual and auditory cues, and voice recordings for instant feedback to increase speech intelligibility. Method: A single subject multiple-baseline design was used to examine the effects of /Inteli/ on the speech intelligibility of a child diagnosed with severe AOS. Treatment was applied to 30 multisyllabic words in …