Speech Pathology and Audiology Commons^™

The Audiometric Profile Of Young Adults Who Report Difficulty With Speech Perception In Noise, Michael R. Higgins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined speech perception abilities in young adults (18-24 years) who reported having difficulty perceiving speech in the presence of background noise despite clinically-normal hearing. The purpose of this study was to compare the audiometric profile of young adults with and without perceived difficulty with speech perception in noise. The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) was administered to obtain a measure of how participants rate their speech perception in noise under different listening conditions. Audiometric tests included standard audiometric thresholds (250-8000 Hz), high frequency pure tone thresholds (9000-12,500 Hz), QuickSIN, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), and …

Relationship Between Acoustic Measures And Speech Naturalness Ratings In Parkinson’S Disease: A Within-Speaker Approach, Marie I. Klopfenstein

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This study investigated the acoustic basis of across-utterance, within-speaker variation in speech naturalness for four speakers with dysarthria secondary to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Speakers read sentences and produced spontaneous speech. Acoustic measures of fundamental frequency, phrase-final syllable lengthening, intensity and speech rate were obtained. A group of listeners judged speech naturalness using a nine-point Likert scale. Relationships between judgements of speech naturalness and acoustic measures were determined for individual speakers with PD. Relationships among acoustic measures also were quantified. Despite variability between speakers, measures of mean F0, intensity range, articulation rate, average syllable duration, duration of final syllables, vocalic nucleus …

Towards An Automated Screening Tool For Pediatric Speech Delay, Roozbeh Sadeghian, Stephen A. Zahorian

Faculty Works

Speech delay is a childhood language problem that sometimes is resolved on its own but sometimes may cause more serious language difficulties later. This leads therapists to screen children for detection at early ages in order to eliminate future problems. Using the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation (GFTA) method, therapists listen to a child's pronunciation of certain phonemes and phoneme pairs in specified words and judge the child's stage of speech development. The goal of this paper is to develop an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) tool and related speech processing methods which emulate the knowledge of speech therapists. In this paper …

Advancements In Treatment For Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Implications For Rehabilitation Professionals, Shawn P. Saladin, Yasar Tasnif, Bianca Cruz, Robert B. Perez

JADARA

Rehabilitation professionals often work with individuals with sensorineural hearing loss. Sometimes the hearing loss is due to ototoxic medications that are prescribed as treatments for other conditions. An understanding of the types of ototoxic medications at the root of the sensorineural hearing loss combined with an understanding of the advancements in treatments will help the rehabilitation professional better serve consumers who fit this description.

Disordered Speech Disrupts Conversational Entrainment: A Study Of Acoustic-Prosodic Entrainment And Communicative Success In Populations With Communication Challenges, Stephanie A. Borrie, Nichola Lubold, Heather Pon-Barry

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

Conversational entrainment, a pervasive communication phenomenon in which dialogue partners adapt their behaviors to align more closely with one another, is considered essential for successful spoken interaction. While well-established in other disciplines, this phenomenon has received limited attention in the field of speech pathology and the study of communication breakdowns in clinical populations. The current study examined acoustic-prosodic entrainment, as well as a measure of communicative success, in three distinctly different dialogue groups: (i) healthy native vs. healthy native speakers (Control), (ii) healthy native vs. foreign-accented speakers (Accented), and (iii) healthy native vs. dysarthric speakers (Disordered). Dialogue group comparisons revealed …

Attitudes Towards Music Levels At Orthodox Jewish Weddings, Evan Hirschhorn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Noise induced hearing loss is a deficit in the sensorineural part of the hearing mechanism, produced by the damaging effects of overstimulation by high intensity sound levels, usually over a period of time. Much of the noise literature has focused on occupational noise; however, the noise levels measured at non occupational and recreational settings have been found to be notably high as well. Attitudes and behaviors may vary based on demographics as such hearing conservational practices may benefit by honing in on demographic information. In the Orthodox Jewish community, weddings have a central role in community life, attended by many …

Attitudes Of Normal Hearing Listeners Towards Personal Sound Amplification Products: Etymotic Bean, Jennifer Rhoades

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite the remarkable prevalence of hearing loss in the United States, only a small percentage of these individuals utilize hearing aids. Many factors have been associated with the non-adoption of hearing aids, including financial reasons and the stigma associated with hearing aid use. Personal sound amplification products (PSAP) have been recently introduced as a more discrete and less costly type of assistive listening technology. While the Food and Drug Administration does not approve these devices for individuals with hearing loss, they are advertised as being useful for boosting soft sounds and amplifying speech in the presence of background noise.

The …

Age, Cognition, And Listening Effort, Sapna Mehta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Older adults are reported to have more difficulty understanding degraded speech than younger adults. This may be due to greater recruitment of cognitive resources in adverse listening conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between listening effort as measured by a dual task paradigm and cognitive abilities, specifically, working memory and selective attention, in normal-hearing older and younger adults in various background noise conditions. Results revealed that speech recognition scores were poorer for older adults, and speech recognition scores declined with decreasing signal-to-noise ratio. Stroop test scores suggested better selective attention ability in the younger participants, …

Hearing Conservation Attitudes And Behaviors At Orthodox Jewish Weddings, Audrey Margulies

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Previous research has shown that prolonged exposure to noise can cause permanent hearing loss. Noise levels at Orthodox Jewish weddings can reach extremely high and damaging levels, yet the hearing conservation attitudes and behaviors of the attendees are unknown. The objective of this study is to identify the attitudes and behaviors of Orthodox Jewish wedding attendees toward hearing conservation. The major questions are: 1. What are the sound exposure levels at Orthodox Jewish weddings? 2. Do attendees hold positive attitudes toward the need for hearing conservation at Orthodox Jewish weddings? 3. What hearing conservation is being practiced at weddings among …

Cochlear Implantation As A Treatment Option For Adults With Post-Lingual Single Sided Deafness: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Elvera Bader

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Adults with post lingual single sided deafness experience a myriad of issues as a result of their condition. Speech perception in noise and localization are well documented as being compromised in this population due to the loss of binaural auditory input. Cochlear implantation was introduced in the 2000s as an experimental treatment option for suppression/abatement of tinnitus in individuals with SSD, with consistent demonstration in reduction of tinnitus severity. Most recently, the focus has shifted to the potential reintroduction of binaural effects, and subsequently, improvements in speech in noise and localization performance through this treatment modality. The present systematic review …

Attitudes Of Normal Hearing Listeners Towards Personal Sound Amplification Products: Sound World Solutions Cs50, Marisa Viets

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over 23 million individuals in the United States have some degree of hearing loss but do not own hearing aids. Individuals may choose not to adopt hearing aid technology for an assortment of reasons, including the stigma associated with hearing aids, cost of the devices, or denying the effects of hearing loss. Prevalence of hearing aid usage remains low despite research indicating that untreated hearing loss is correlated with decreased quality of life and accelerated cognitive decline. In recent years, personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) have entered the market as simple, low cost, discreet devices in attempt to reach non-users …

Discerning Between Types Of Otitis Media And Their Evidence Based Treatments: A Review For The Audiologist, Hadassah Norowitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Otitis media is an inflammatory pathology of the middle ear and middle ear mucosa which accounts for the majority of cases of childhood hearing loss diagnosed by audiologists. However, considerable confusion exists regarding the distinction between otitis media with effusion, also known as middle ear effusion or “glue ear”, and acute otitis media, the quintessential ear infection. Since many children are referred for audiological evaluation in the process of determining the course of treatment and outcomes of treatment, audiologists must be knowledgeable of the evidence of efficacy for various treatment options as they field questions from parents with incomplete information …

Mouth Asymmetries During Infant Babbling: A Brain Lateralization Study, Cecilia Breazile

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Although babbling is both prevalent and important in the process of language development, it could be argued that we still do not understand the basic nature of babbling. To further our understanding of the nature of babbling we attempted to find evidence for brain lateralization typical of adult speech acts during early babbling. This study examined infant mouth asymmetries during babbling sequences in search of evidence that babbling is an inherently linguistic act as indicated by the lateralization of the brain. Previously recorded videos of 12 infants, all 9 months of age, were examined, 29 images were captured, and a …

Evidence-Based Practices In Selecting Standardized Assessments Of Child Language, Darielle Cooper

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

From the results of a survey given to 1,399 speech-language pathologists, 11 frequently used language assessment tools for preschool and school age children were selected to undergo a systematic review. The examiner’s manual of each assessment was examined to determine whether the test reported adequate psychometric properties and acceptable levels of diagnostic accuracy. Results indicated that all reviewed assessments met at least 60% of McCauley and Swisher’s (1984) psychometric criteria for evaluating norm-referenced tests. Six of the 11 assessments provided information on diagnostic accuracy in the examiner’s manual or in the literature. Four tests published acceptable levels of diagnostic accuracy, …

Does Vestibular Sensory Stimulation, In The Form Of Slow, Linear Swinging, Change The Modes Of Communication Among Children With Autism?, Katherine A. Gallaher

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this study was to determine if children with autism receiving vestibular sensory stimulation (VSS) in the form of slow, linear swinging, had any change or progression in their modes of communication when compared to children with autism who received a free-play period (nVSS) during speech-language (SL) therapy. Over the course of therapy, each child’s response mode was recorded as a gesture, vocalization, gesture + vocalization, or an utterance, and each mode was a dependent variable (DV) in this study. Participants who received VSS treatment were expected to have a greater improvement on the progression of modes, such …

Quality Of Life Indices In Brain Injury: A Pilot Investigation, Lauren Kristine Maher

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This IRB approved study explores the scope of acquired brain injury (ABI) as it affects an individual’s perceived quality of life and how measurement informs clinical decisions. Quality of life is an important consideration for persons with ABI, since research indicates acquired brain injury can lead to personality changes such as depression, anxiety, and aggression not previously exhibited (Greve et al., 2001). When treating persons with ABI, healthcare professionals must be able to reliably measure and track their client’s perceived quality of life. This pilot study included 35 clients receiving community-based intervention at Crossroads to Brain Injury Recovery, Inc. (Crossroads) …

Pre-Pulse Inhibition Assessment Of Sound Localization In Mice, Kathryn C. Brooks

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of my Honors Research Project was to assist Dr. Megan

Klingenberg in completing part of the research in her final dissertation project. Dr.

Klingenberg’s project was based off of a study done by Allen and Ison in 2010.

This study tested the auditory spatial acuity of mice using pre-pulse inhibition of

the startle reflex as the response for detecting the sound stimulus. The goal of

Dr. Klingenberg’s AuD project was “to explore the methodological, functional, and

genetic influences on sound localization using pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic

startle response in mice”. Dr. Klingenberg’s project was broken into three …

Binaural Listening In Young And Middle-Aged Adults: Interaural Phase Differences And Speech-In-Noise Measures, Caitlin Cotter

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Difficulty understanding speech in the presence of noise is a common complaint of middle-aged and older adults with and without hearing loss. There is an incomplete picture of what contributes to difficulties understanding speech-in-noise in adults who have normal audiograms. As humans we listen binaurally, so declines in binaural processing may contribute to speech-in-noise difficulties. We examined the effects of age on the upper frequency limit of interaural phase difference (IPD) detection and IPD detection at fixed frequencies. We also examined a speech-in-noise measure of spatial separation across young and middle-aged, normal-hearing individuals.

Participants were young (n=12) and middle-aged (n=8) …

Speech Function In Persons With Parkinson's Disease: Effects Of Environment, Task And Treatment, Carrie E. Rountrey

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disease affecting aspects of movement, including speech. Persons with PD are reported to have better speech functioning in the clinical setting than in the home setting, but this has not been quantified. New methodologies in ambulatory measures of speech are emerging that allow investigation of non-clinical settings.

The following questions are addressed: Is speech different between environments in PD and in healthy controls? Can clinical tasks predict speech behaviors in the home? Is treatment proven effective by measures in the home? What can we glean from methods of measurement of speech function in …

Hyolaryngeal Kinematics And Swallow Patterning In Normal And Disordered Swallowing, Seng Mun Wong

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Hyoid and laryngeal movements contribute to laryngeal vestibule closure and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) opening for safe swallowing. However, the extent of movement required for achieving these goals, and the interaction between hyoid and laryngeal movements during swallowing are unknown. Despite impairment in vestibule closure and UES opening, patients with dysphagia may exhibit reduced, increased or similar hyolaryngeal displacements as healthy individuals. This limits the delineation between normal and disordered swallowing. We investigated whether anatomical differences in hyolaryngeal positions and the extent of laryngeal vestibule opening at rest would better predict hyolaryngeal displacements and the extent of vestibule closure during …