bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Auditory Perception, Phonological Processing, and Reading Ability/Disability
Authors: Watson Betty U. , Miller Theodore K.
Published: July 2014

Auditory perception has been proposed as one source of individual variation in the phonological abilities that play a critical role in skilled reading as well as in reading disabilities. A structural equation approach (LISREL, Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1990) was used to analyze relationships among auditory perception, phonological processing, and reading in a sample of 94 college undergraduates, 24 of whom met specific criteria for a reading disability. In the mathematical model that proved to be the best fit to the data, speech perception was strongly related to three of four phonological variables including short- and long-term auditory memory and phoneme segmentation. These phonological variables in turn were strongly related to reading. Nonverbal temporal processing was not significantly related to any of the phonological variables in the structural equations. It was concluded that speech perception, which was measured with speech repetition, syllable sequence discrimination, and degraded speech tasks, may contribute significantly to individual differences in the phonological abilities necessary for skilled reading.
The Effects of Early Bilateral Otitis Media With Effusion on Language Ability
Authors: Grievink Eefje H. , Peters Sylvia A. F. , Bon Wim H. J. van , Schilder Anne G. M.
Published: July 2014

The current study, which is a follow-up on the epidemiological Nijmegen Otitis Media study, examines the relationship between early otitis media with effusion (OME) and later language ability in a group of children with systematically documented bilateral OME. In the Nijmegen Otitis Media study, children were screened using tympanometry at regular intervals of 3 months, between their second and fourth birthdays. At age 7, three groups of children participated in language testing: 82 OME-free children, 151 children with early bilateral OME, and 37 children treated with ventilation tubes at preschool age. A history of OME, even up to nine instances, did not have negative consequences for language performance at age 7. Intermittent, as opposed to more continuous, OME was not found to affect language ability negatively. The suggested benefit of treatment with ventilation tubes was not found.
Speech and Swallow Function After Tonsil/Base of Tongue Resection With Primary Closure
Authors: Logemann Jeri A. , Pauloski Barbara Roa , Rademaker Alfred W. , McConnel Fred M. S. , Heiser Mary Anne , Cardinale Salvatore , Shedd Donald , Stein David , Beery Quinter , Johnson Jonas , Baker Theresa
Published: July 2014

Speech and swallowing function was examined in 11 patients who underwent surgical resection of greater than 1 cm of tongue base, tonsil, and faucial arch with mandible resected on the side of the tumor and reconstruction by primary closure. Preoperatively and 1 and 3 months post-healing, high fidelity audio recordings were made of a 6- to 7-minute conversational speech sample, the sentence version of The Fisher Logemann Test of Articulation Competence was administered, and videofluoroscopic assessment of oropharyngeal swallow was conducted. All subjects exhibited changes in speech and swallowing function postoperatively, with little improvement during the study. Patients exhibited greatest difficulty on stop and fricative consonants and bolus propulsion. Comparison with patients who received anterior tongue and floor of mouth resections and distal flap reconstruction revealed consistently better speech performance by the tonsil/base of tongue patients, although the same phonemes were affected. Swallow function was equally affected in the two groups. Results are discussed in terms of locus of surgical resection, nature of reconstruction, and need for swallowing therapy.
Phonologic Error Distributions in the Iowa-Nebraska Articulation Norms Project
Authors: Smit Ann Bosma
Published: July 2014

The errors on word-initial consonant clusters made by children in the Iowa-Nebraska Articulation Norms Project (Smit, Hand, Freilinger, Bernthal, & Bird, 1990) were tabulated by age range and frequency. The error data show considerable support for Greenlee’s (1974) stages in the acquisition of clusters: the youngest children show cluster reduction, somewhat older children show cluster preservation but with errors on one or more of the cluster elements, and the oldest children generally show correct production. These stages extended to three-element clusters as well. Typical cluster reduction errors were (a) reduction to the obstruent in obstruent-plus-approximant clusters and (b) reduction to the second element in /s/-clusters. When clusters were preserved, but one member was in error, the error was typically the same as for the singleton consonant. Cluster errors are discussed in terms of theories of phonologic development, including open genetic programs and feature geometry. These data are expected to be useful in evaluation and treatment of disorders of phonology.
Time-Interval Measurement of Stuttering
Authors: Ingham Roger J. , Cordes Anne K. , Finn Patrick
Published: July 2014

The study reported in this paper was designed to replicate and extend the results of an earlier study (Ingham, Cordes, & Gow, 1993) that investigated time-interval judgments of stuttering. Results confirmed earlier findings that interjudge agreement is higher for these interval-recording tasks than has been previously reported for event-based analyses of stuttering judgments or for time-interval analyses of event judgments. Results also confirmed an earlier finding that judges with intrajudge agreement levels of 90% or better show higher interjudge agreement than judges with lower intrajudge agreement scores. This study failed to find differences between audiovisual and audio-only judgment conditions; between relatively experienced and relatively inexperienced student judges; and, most importantly, between the judgments made, and the agreement levels achieved, by judges from two different clinical research settings. The implications of these findings for attempts to develop a reliable measurement method for stuttering are discussed.
Temporal Factors and Speech Recognition Performance in Young and Elderly Listeners
Authors: Gordon-Salant Sandra , Fitzgibbons Peter J.
Published: July 2014

This study investigated factors that contribute to deficits of elderly listeners in recognizing speech that is degraded by temporal waveform distortion. Young and elderly listeners with normal hearing sensitivity and with mild-to-moderate, sloping sensorineural hearing losses were evaluated. Low-predictability (LP) sentences from the Revised Speech Perception in Noise test (R-SPIN) (Bilger, Nuetzel, Rabinowitz, & Rzeczkowski, 1984) were presented to subjects in undistorted form and in three forms of distortion: time compression, reverberation, and interruption. Percent-correct recognition scores indicated that age and hearing impairment contributed independently to deficits in recognizing all forms of temporally distorted speech. In addition, subjects’ auditory temporal processing abilities were assessed on duration discrimination and gap detection tasks. Canonical correlation procedures showed that some of the suprathreshold temporal processing measures, especially gap duration discrimination, contributed to the ability to recognize reverberant speech. The overall conclusion is that age-related factors other than peripheral hearing loss contribute to diminished speech recognition performance of elderly listeners.
Monaural Envelope Correlation Perception in Listeners With Normal Hearing and Cochlear Impairment
Authors: Hall Joseph W. , Grose John H.
Published: July 2014

Monaural envelope correlation perception was investigated in listeners with normal hearing and in listeners with cochlear hearing loss. Using a three-interval forced-choice procedure, the task of the subject was to identify the one interval out of three where the noise bands had correlated envelopes. Performance was determined as a function of the spectral separation between noise bands (Δf of 250, 500, or 1000 Hz) and the number of noise bands present (two, three, or five). Although individual differences existed, the results generally indicated better performance for the listeners with normal hearing when the Δf between bands was relatively small; however, there was no significant effect of hearing loss when the frequency separation between bands was greater than 250 Hz. The listeners with normal hearing generally showed decreased performance with increasing Δf, whereas the performance of many of the listeners with hearing impairment usually did not change appreciably with variation in Δf. Both groups of listeners showed improved performance with increasing number of noise bands present for the 500-Hz Δf. Only the listeners with hearing impairment showed significantly improved performance with increasing band number for the 250-Hz Δf; neither group showed improved performance with increasing band number for the 1000-Hz Δf. With five bands present, the performance of the listeners with hearing impairment did not differ significantly from that of the listeners with normal hearing, even for the 250-Hz Δf. It is possible that the poor performance of many of the listeners with hearing impairment when Δf is small may be due to relatively poor peripheral frequency analysis. It is difficult to determine the role of within-channel versus across-channel cues in the effects obtained.
Clinical Decision Making
Authors: Records Nancy L. , Tomblin J. Bruce
Published: July 2014

The diagnostic decision-making standards used by practicing clinicians to determine language impairment were investigated. Randomly selected ASHA members who worked with children were asked to review hypothetical and real case profiles of children ages 4 to 9:11 (years: months) with language performance skills ranging from slightly above average to substantially below average. Based on the child’s age and language and intelligence test information, clinicians were asked to decide if the child was language impaired (LI) and, if so, to provide a severity rating. Results show significant interrater agreement among the 27 clinicians’ LI decisions (generalized kappa=0.14,
p
<.0001) and moderate intrarater reliability within clinician’s LI decisions (phi=.68). Most of the clinicians’ diagnostic decision-making standards could be modeled using stepwise logistic regression. These decision rules can provide guidance for those who wish to employ diagnostic standards that reflect those used in clinical practice. Also, these results provide insight into the manner in which clinicians use information for the determination of language impairment.
Subject Pronoun and Article Omissions in the Speech of Children With Specific Language Impairment
Authors: McGregor Karla K. , Leonard Laurence B.
Published: July 2014

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their MLU-matched normally developing (ND) peers imitated proper nouns, the pronouns
he
and
you
, and the article
the
in subject phrases. Although all of these word types were phonological phrase-initial syllables, the proper nouns received strong stress, but the function words received weak stress. Both groups of children showed significantly more omissions of the function words than the proper nouns. There was no significant difference amongst the imitations of the two pronouns or the article; all were omitted frequently by both groups. This suggests that the status of subject articles and pronouns as weak syllables in the initial position of phonological phrases may in some cases constitute a more important factor than the distinctive grammatical roles they play. A phonological explanation of subject article and pronoun omissions is explored.
Psychometric Functions for Children’s Detection of Tones in Noise
Authors: Allen Prudence , Wightman Frederic
Published: July 2014

This article reports the results of an experiment that used a two-alternative forced-choice task to measure the ability of 3- to 5-year-old children to detect 501 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 2818 Hz sinusoids in noise. Psychometric functions were fit to each individual’s data, and thresholds (signal level required for 75% correct) were interpolated from the fitted functions. Results showed that, on average, the children’s thresholds were higher and the slopes of their psychometric functions were shallower than those of the adults. However, the between-subjects variability in the children’s data was large, and the performance of many individual children was not well described by group mean performance. One-third of the children produced thresholds that were elevated by an average of 10 dB but psychometric function slopes that were adult-like. Another one-third of the children produced thresholds that were elevated relative to those of the adults by an average of 20 dB and psychometric function slopes that were very shallow. The data from a smaller group of children showed large variability in psychometric function slope and threshold, and for a very few children performance was at chance regardless of the signal level. A replication of the study several months later showed that for most listeners the individual patterns of performance persisted over time.
Physiologic Deficits in the Orofacial System Underlying Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Langmore Susan E. , Lehman Mark E.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to delineate some of the physiological deficits in the orofacial musculature of patients with dysarthria associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to relate the physiologic deficits to perceived severity of dysarthria. Strain gauge force transducers placed on the lower lip, jaw, and tongue tip were used to measure maximum strength and maximum rate of repeated contractions. Diadochokinetic rates for repeated /p/ and /t/ were also determined. Fourteen ALS patients and 15 normal subjects were tested. It was found that the ALS patients with dysarthria were impaired in all tasks compared to the normal subjects, and that some measures revealed impairment even in those ALS patients who were not yet dysarthric. Bulbar ALS patients were generally more severely affected than the corticobulbar or spinal ALS patients, and the tongue was generally the most affected structure in all ALS groups. Perceived severity of dysarthria was more highly correlated with the measures of repeated contraction rate than with the measures of strength, suggesting that more severe dysarthria may be largely due to slower movement of the orofacial structures until substantial muscle strength has been lost.
Interpreting Results of the Fluent Speech Paradigm in Stuttering Research
Authors: Armson Joy , Kalinowski Joseph
Published: July 2014

This paper examines difficulties inherent in interpreting results of studies that compare the fluent speech characteristics of stutterers and nonstutterers. The majority of these studies have reported stutterer/nonstutterer differences in temporal parameters of fluent speech production. Such differences have been interpreted as indicating that stutterers possess temporal-motor deficits that are ever-present in speech and, therefore, causal to stuttering. However, a problem for researchers studying the fluent speech of stutterers is that samples may be contaminated by the influence of stuttering. In this paper, evidence is reviewed which suggests that characteristics of the perceptually fluent speech of stutterers change as a function of a number of variables: (a) context of experimental samples, (b) treatment history of subjects, (c) stuttering severity of subjects, and (d) developmental history of stuttering. In addition, evidence is presented which can be interpreted to show that each of these variables reflect stuttering, either directly or indirectly. It is argued that because these variables are difficult to fully control, or account for, comparison of the characteristics of the perceptually fluent speech of stutterers and nonstutterers as a method of studying stuttering causation is problematic. Alternative directions for research activity are discussed.
Speech Perception Training Can Facilitate Sound Production Learning
Authors: Rvachew Susan
Published: July 2014

This study examined the role of speech perception training in the correction of phonological errors. Twenty-seven preschoolers with phonological impairment who misarticulated /∫/ were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 children listened to a variety of correctly and incorrectly produced versions of the word “shoe”; Group 2 children listened to the words “shoe” and “moo”; Group 3 children listened to the words “cat” and “Pete.” A computer game was used to provide reinforcement for correct identification of the words. All children received the same traditional sound production training program for correction of their /∫/ error, concurrently with speech perception training, during six weekly treatment sessions. On post-testing, Group 1 and 2 children demonstrated a superior ability to articulate the target sound in comparison to Group 3 children. The results are interpreted in relation to previous research on this topic.
Factors Associated With Individual Differences in Clinical Measures of Speech Recognition Among the Elderly
Authors: Humes Larry E. , Watson Betty U. , Christensen Laurel A. , Cokely Carol G. , Halling Dan C. , Lee Lidia
Published: July 2014

In the present study, the speech-recognition performance of 50 subjects aged 63 to 83 years was measured for a wide range of materials (nonsense syllables, monosyllabic words, sentences) and listening conditions (presentation levels of 70 and 90 dB SPL, both in quiet and in a noise background). In addition to complete audiologic evaluations, measures of auditory processing (the Test of Basic Auditory Capabilities [TBAC], Watson, 1987) and cognitive function (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised [WAIS-R], and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised [WMS-R], Wechsler, 1981, 1987) were obtained from all subjects. Principal component analyses were applied to each of the three sets of measures (speech-recognition, auditory, and cognitive) prior to examining associations among the sets using canonical analyses. Two principal components captured most of the systematic variation in performance sampled by the set of 20 speech-recognition measures. Hearing loss emerged as the single largest factor associated with individual differences in speech-recognition performance among the elderly, accounting for 70–75% of the total variance in speech-recognition performance, with the measures of auditory processing and cognitive function accounting for little or no additional variance.
Speaker Race Identification From Acoustic Cues in the Vocal Signal
Authors: Walton Julie H. , Orlikoff Robert F.
Published: July 2014

One-second acoustic samples were extracted from the mid-portion of sustained /a/ vowels produced by 50 black and 50 white adult males. Each vowel sample from a black subject was randomly paired with a sample from a white subject. From the tape-recorded samples alone, both expert and naive listeners could determine the race of the speaker with 60% accuracy. The accuracy of race identification was independent of the listener’s own race, sex, or listening experience. An acoustic analysis of the samples revealed that, although within ranges reported by previous studies of normal voices, the black speakers had greater frequency perturbation, significantly greater amplitude perturbation, and a significantly lower harmonics-to-noise ratio than did the white speakers. The listeners were most successful in distinguishing voice pairs when the differences in vocal perturbation and additive noise were greatest and were least successful when such differences were minimal or absent. Because there were no significant differences in the mean fundamental frequency or formant structure of the voice samples, it is likely that the listeners relied on differences in spectral noise to discriminate the black and white speakers.
Limits to a Left Hemisphere Explanation for Specific Language Impairment
Authors: Aram Dorothy M. , Eisele Julie A.
Published: July 2014

The hypothesis of unilateral left hemisphere damage as an explanatory model for the neurological basis of specific language impairment (SLI) does not appear to be sufficient for most children with SLI. Children with unilateral brain lesions have been shown to function significantly lower than their neurologically intact peers on a variety of language measures, yet few of the deficits noted are as persistent or severe as those seen in SLI. In at least two instances, however, language symptomatology following unilateral lesions in children does parallel some types of SLI. The first occurs following subcortical damage to anterior grey and white matter structures that typically results in pronounced language and learning disorders. The second parallel lies in the similar developmental course shared by children with “delayed” language and children with known unilateral lesions, whereby language onset and development is slow in the preschool years but normalizes by school age, with minimal long-term language-learning deficits.
Facilitating Prelinguistic Communication Skills in Young Children With Developmental Delay II
Authors: Yoder Paul J. , Warren Steven F. , Kim Kyoungran , Gazdag Gail E.
Published: July 2014

Four children with mental retardation were studied in the context of a multiple baseline across subjects design. Staff members used a modified version of the milieu teaching method to facilitate intentional requesting. The results replicated the finding that a modified version of milieu teaching was effective in facilitating the use of intentional requesting by children with developmental delays in an intervention context (Warren, Yoder, Gazdag, Kim, & Jones, 1993). This study also extended the Warren et al. (1993) work by (a) documenting that increased intentional requesting generalized to sessions with the children’s mothers, (b) demonstrating that mothers who were naive to the purposes of the study were more likely to linguistically map their children’s prelinguistic communication after the intervention than before the treatment, and (c) that mothers and teachers who were naive to the purposes of the study linguistically mapped the children’s intentional communication more than the children’s preintentional communication. We discuss implications of these results for early intervention, the transactional theory of development, and the importance of the distinction between intentional versus preintentional communication.
Pharyngeal Effects of Bolus Volume, Viscosity, and Temperature in Patients With Dysphagia Resulting From Neurologic Impairment and in Normal Subjects
Authors: Bisch Elizabeth M. , Logemann Jeri A. , Rademaker Alfred W. , Kahrilas Peter J. , Lazarus Cathy L.
Published: July 2014

The oropharyngeal swallow of 10 patients with mild dysphagia at 3 weeks after a cerebrovascular accident (stroke), 10 normal subjects, and 8 neurologically impaired patients with moderate to severe dysphagia was studied videofluorographically to examine the effects of 2 bolus temperatures (room temperature and 33°F), 2 volumes, and 2 viscosities on the durations of pharyngeal stage swallow events and the frequency and nature of oropharyngeal swallowing problems and bolus transit. Normal subjects exhibited significantly longer pharyngeal response times and longer laryngeal elevation only for 1 ml cold liquid. The stroke patients and the 8 significantly dysphagic neurologically impaired patients exhibited very few significant effects of temperature on swallowing disorders or swallow measures. Increases in bolus volume and viscosity decreased pharyngeal delay times in both neurologically impaired patient groups. Stroke patients exhibited significantly longer pharyngeal delay times but shorter pharyngeal response times, laryngeal closure, cricopharyngeal opening, and laryngeal elevation than normal subjects on some bolus volumes and viscosities. Results are discussed in terms of the potentially therapeutic effects of bolus volume and viscosity.
Intelligibility and Nonspeech Orofacial Strength and Force Control Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: McHenry Monica A. , Minton John T. , Wilson Robin L. , Post Yolanda V.
Published: July 2014

Objective measures of nonspeech orofacial strength and force control were obtained for 20 individuals with traumatic brain injury. The dynamic and static force generating abilities of the upper lip, lower lip, tongue, and jaw were assessed. Based on sentence intelligibility scores, the subjects were divided into two groups, more and less intelligible. Force measures included reaction time, slope, derivative, peak overshoot, and first- and second-half mean hold and standard deviation. Groups differed only in the ability to sustain the 2 N force level with the tongue. Other potential contributors to the differences in intelligibility are discussed.
A 28-Year Follow-Up of Adults With a History of Moderate Phonological Disorder
Authors: Felsenfeld Susan , Broen Patricia A. , McGue Matt
Published: July 2014

The present investigation is a follow-up to a longitudinal study involving approximately 400 normally developing children begun in 1960. From this large database, two groups of subjects (now aged 32–34) were asked to participate in the present project: (a) a group of 24 adults with a documented history of a moderate phonological/language disorder that persisted through at least the end of first grade (probands), and (b) a group of 28 adults from the same birth cohort and schools who were known to have had at least average articulation skills over the same period (controls). As part of a larger project, these adults were interviewed about their educational and occupational accomplishments and those of their siblings. Results revealed that, in comparison to control subjects, the proband adults reported that they had received lower grades in high school, required more remedial academic services throughout their school careers, and completed fewer years of formal education. Occupationally, although the groups did not differ in employment status, the proband subjects tended to occupy jobs considered semiskilled or unskilled with a much greater frequency than both the control subjects and their gender-matched siblings. When asked to indicate general satisfaction with educational and occupational outcomes, however, subjects in both groups tended to rate themselves as either “very” or “fairly” satisfied.
"No Shoes; They Walked Away?": Effects of Enhancements on Learning and Using Blissymbols by Normal 3-Year-Old Children
Authors: Raghavendra Parimala , Fristoe Macalyne
Published: July 2014

The present investigation studied the effects of enhancements on the learning, retention, transfer to the unlearned form, and use of Blissymbols in 40 normal 3-year-old children. The subjects, seen individually, learned either 12 standard Blissymbols (SBS) or the same 12 symbols in the enhanced form (EBS). The symbols were introduced with short explanations. The number of trials taken to reach >90% correct identification, the number of symbols selected appropriately to complete a communicative act, the number of symbols correctly identified a week after the acquisition phase was completed, and the number of symbols correctly identified in the untrained form of Blissymbols were determined. The results demonstrated that the subjects learned EBS faster than SBS, remembered more EBS than SBS in the retention task, did not differ in the communicative use of SBS and EBS, and were affected more negatively when presented with SBS than EBS in a task where the untrained form was presented. The results are discussed in terms of how very young children might benefit more from an illustration system such as EBS than from an orthographic system such as SBS.
Evaluation of a Wide Range of AmplitudeFrequency Responses for the Hearing Impaired
Authors: Buuren Ronald A. van , Festen Joost M. , Plomp Reinier
Published: July 2014

The long-term average frequency spectrum of speech was modified to 25 target frequency spectra in order to determine the effect of each of these spectra on speech intelligibility in noise and on sound quality. Speech intelligibility was evaluated using the test as developed by Plomp and Mimpen (1979), whereas sound quality was examined through judgments of loudness, sharpness, clearness, and pleasantness of speech fragments. Subjects had different degrees of sensorineural hearing loss and sloping audiograms, but not all of them were hearing aid users. The 25 frequency spectra were defined such that the entire dynamic range of each listener, from dB above threshold to 5 dB below UCL, was covered. Frequency shaping of the speech was carried out on-line by means of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters. The tests on speech reception in noise indicated that the Speech-Reception Thresholds (SRTs) did not differ significantly for the majority of spectra. Spectra with high levels, especially at low frequencies (probably causing significant upward spread of masking), and also those with steep negative slopes resulted in significantly higher SRTs. Sound quality judgments led to conclusions virtually identical to those from the SRT data: frequency spectra with an unacceptably low sound quality were in most of the cases significantly worse on the SRT test as well. Because the SRT did not vary significantly among the majority of frequency spectra, it was concluded that a wide range of spectra between the threshold and UCL levels of listeners with hearing losses is suitable for the presentation of speech energy. This is very useful in everyday listening, where the frequency spectrum of speech may vary considerably.
Speech Recognition in Amplitude-Modulated Noise of Listeners With Normal and Listeners With Impaired Hearing
Authors: Eisenberg Laurie S. , Dirks Donald D. , Bell Theodore S.
Published: July 2014

The effect of amplitude-modulated (AM) noise on speech recognition in listeners with normal and impaired hearing was investigated in two experiments. In the first experiment, nonsense syllables were presented in high-pass steady-state or AM noise to determine whether the release from masking in AM noise relative to steady-state noise was significantly different between normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects when the two groups listened under equivalent masker conditions. The normal-hearing subjects were tested in the experimental noise under two conditions: (a) in a spectrally shaped broadband noise that produced pure tone thresholds equivalent to those of the hearing-impaired subjects, and (b) without the spectrally shaped broadband noise. The release from masking in AM noise was significantly greater for the normal-hearing group than for either the hearing-impaired or masked normal-hearing groups. In the second experiment, normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects identified nonsense syllables in isolation and target words in sentences in steady-state or AM noise adjusted to approximate the spectral shape and gain of a hearing aid prescription. The release from masking was significantly less for the subjects with impaired hearing. These data suggest that hearingimpaired listeners obtain less release from masking in AM noise than do normal-hearing listeners even when both the speech and noise are presented at levels that are above threshold over much of the speech frequency range.
Comparing Reliability of Perceptual Ratings of Roughness and Acoustic Measures of Jitter
Authors: Rabinov C. Rose , Kreiman Jody , Gerratt Bruce R. , Bielamowicz Steven
Published: July 2014

Acoustic analysis is often favored over perceptual evaluation of voice because it is considered objective, and thus reliable. However, recent studies suggest this traditional bias is unwarranted. This study examined the relative reliability of human listeners and automatic systems for measuring perturbation in the evaluation of pathologic voices. Ten experienced listeners rated the roughness of 50 voice samples (ranging from normal to severely disordered) on a 75 mm visual analog scale. Rating reliability within and across listeners was compared to the reliability of jitter measures produced by several voice analysis systems (CSpeech, SoundScope, CSL, and an interactive hand-marking system). Results showed that overall listeners agreed as well or better than “objective” algorithms. Further, listeners disagreed in predictable ways, whereas automatic algorithms differed in seemingly random fashions. Finally, listener reliability increased with severity of pathology; objective methods quickly broke down as severity increased. These findings suggest that listeners and analysis packages differ greatly in their measurement characteristics. Acoustic measures may have advantages over perceptual measures for discriminating among essentially normal voices; however, reliability is not a good reason for preferring acoustic measures of perturbation to perceptual measures.
Speechreading Supplemented by Single-Channel and Multichannel Tactile Displays of Voice Fundamental Frequency
Authors: Waldstein Robin S. , Boothroyd Arthur
Published: July 2014

The benefits of two tactile codes of voice fundamental frequency (Fo) were evaluated as supplements to the speechreading of sentences in two short-term training studies, each using 12 adults with normal hearing. In Experiment 1, a multichannel spatiotemporal display of Fo, known as Portapitch, was used to stimulate the index finger. In an attempt to improve on past performance with this display, the coding scheme was modified to better cover the Forange of the talker in the training materials. For Experiment 2, to engage kinesthetic/proprioceptive pathways, a novel single-channel positional display was built, in which Fowas coded as the vertical displacement of a small finger-rest. Input to both displays consisted of synthesized replicas of the Focontours of the sentences, prepared and perfected off-line. Training with the two tactile Fodisplays included auditory presentation of the synthesized Focontours in conjunction with the tactile patterns on alternate trials. Speechreading enhancement by the two tactile Fodisplays was compared to the enhancement provided when auditory Foinformation was available in conjunction with the tactile patterns, by auditory presentation of a sinusoidal indication of the presence or absence of voicing, and by a single-channel tactile display of the speech waveform presented to the index finger. Despite the modified coding strategy, the multichannel Portapitch provided a mean tactile speechreading enhancement of 7 percentage points, which was no greater than that found in previous studies. The novel positional Fodisplay provided only a 4 percentage point enhancement. Neither Fodisplay was better than the simple single-channel tactile transform of the full speech waveform, which gave a 7 percentage point enhancement effect. Auditory speechreading enhancement effects were 17 percentage points with the voicing indicator and approximately 35 percentage points when the auditory Focontour was provided in conjunction with the tactile displays. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that subjects were not taking full advantage of the Fovariation information available in the outputs of the two experimental tactile displays.
Pathologic Voice Type and the Acoustic Prediction of Severity
Authors: Martin David , Fitch James , Wolfe Virginia
Published: July 2014

We hypothesized that acoustic measures would predict dysphonic severity with differential results for pathological voice types. An instructional program based upon synthesized voice signals was developed to facilitate an awareness of prototypical voice types. Eighty phonatory samples representing normal subjects as well as patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis, vocal nodules, and functional dysphonia were analyzed acoustically on the basis of four measures: average fundamental frequency (F
0
), jitter, shimmer, and harmonic/noise ratio (H/N ratio). Following training, 29 listeners classified 62% of the phonatory samples on the basis of breathy, hoarse, rough, and normal. Dysphonic severity of rough voices was predicted more successfully by H/N ratio (
r
2
=.73) than by shimmer (
r
2
=.43). Dysphonic severity of breathy voices was predicted only by the combined features of less jitter, more shimmer, and lower H/N ratio (
r
2
=.74). No combination of acoustic variables was successful in the prediction of the hoarse voice type.
Variations Across Time in Acoustic and Electroglottographic Measures of Phonatory Function in Women With and Without Vocal Nodules
Authors: Hall Kelly Dailey
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this investigation was to identify variations over time in phonatory function of women with and without vocal nodules using acoustic and electroglottographic measures. Subjects were 10 women with vocal nodules (mean age=22.1, range=19–25) and 10 women with healthy larynges (mean age=25.0, range=18–32). Electroglottographic and audio recordings of speech were obtained for each subject over 3 consecutive days at three target times: morning, afternoon, and evening. Estimates of fundamental frequency (Hz), jitter (msec), shimmer (dB), and signal-to-noise ratio (dB) were made from a 1000 msec midportion of the vowel /α/ produced in a carrier phrase. In addition, a closed-to-open ratio was derived from the EGG duty cycle of the same 1000 msec segment and used to estimate timing characteristics of vocal fold vibration. The results showed no significant differences between the groups regarding a pattern of change in the acoustic or the EGG measures across times throughout the day. Furthermore, the experimental group demonstrated significantly lower closed-to-open ratios than the control group. With this exception, no other statistically significant differences between the groups were found.
Using Regions and Indices in EPG Data Reduction
Authors: Byrd Dani , Flemming Edward , Mueller Carl Andrew , Tan Cheng Cheng
Published: July 2014

This note describes how dynamic electropalatography (EPG) can be used for the acquisition and analysis of articulatory data. Various data reduction procedures developed to analyze the electropalatographic data are reported. Specifically, these procedures concern two interesting areas in EPG data analysis—first, the novel use of speaker-specific articulatory regions and second, the development of arithmetic indices to quantify time-varying articulatory behavior and reflect reduction and coarticulation.
The Influence of Speaking Rate on Vowel Space and Speech Intelligibility for Individuals With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Turner Greg S. , Tjaden Kris , Weismer Gary
Published: July 2014

The relationship between speaking rate, vowel space area, and speech intelligibility was studied in a group of 9 subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 9 age- and gender-matched controls. Subjects read a standard passage (the Farm Passage) at three speaking rates, including HABITUAL, FAST, and SLOW. Vowel segment durations and target formant frequencies were measured at each speaking rate from select words containing the vowels /i/, /æ/, /a/, and /u/. To quantify changes in vowel space area across speaking rate, the area of the vowel quadrilateral was calculated for each speaker at each speaking rate. In addition, intelligibility estimates at each speaking rate were obtained for the dysarthric speakers. Results revealed that dysarthric speakers exhibited smaller vowel space areas and less systematic changes in vowel space as a function of speaking rate, when compared to the neurologically intact speakers. In an examination of the relationship between vowel space area and speech intelligibility, vowel space was found to account for 45% of the variance in speech intelligibility. This result suggests that vowel space area is an important component of global estimates of speech intelligibility.
Familial Aggregation of Phonological Disorders: Results From a 28-Year Follow-Up
Authors: Felsenfeld Susan , McGue Matt , Broen Patricia A.
Published: July 2014

This investigation is a follow-up to a longitudinal speech and educational outcome study involving approximately 400 normally developing children that was initiated in 1960. From this database, two groups of subjects (now aged 32–34), their spouses, and all of their offspring over the age of 3:0 (years:months) completed a battery of cognitive-linguistic and interview measures. One group (probands) consisted of 24 adults with a documented history of a moderate phonological-language disorder that persisted through at least the end of the first grade. The other group (controls) consisted of 28 adults who were known to have had normal articulation abilities as children. Results of this study demonstrated that, in comparison to the children of controls, the children of the proband subjects performed significantly more poorly on all tests of articulation and expressive language functioning and were significantly more likely to have received articulation treatment. There was, however, no evidence that specific misarticulations or phonological processes traveled within proband families. These results are in agreement with those of most previous family studies that have demonstrated an increased rate of occurrence of speech-language disorders of unknown origin in families including a first-degree relative who is similarly affected.
The Articulatory Basis of Babbling
Authors: Davis Barbara L. , MacNeilage Peter F.
Published: July 2014

This article evaluates the “Frames, then Content” hypothesis for speech acquisition, which states that much of the patterning of babbling is a direct result of production of syllabic “Frames” by means of rhythmic mandibular oscillation, with relatively little of the intrasyllabic and intersyllabic “Content” of the syllable-like cycles under mandible-independent control. Analysis was based on a phonetically transcribed corpus of 6,659 utterances of 6 normally developing infants obtained from one-hour weekly audio-recordings over a 4–6 month period. Intrasyllabic predictions were that front vowels would preferentially co-occur with front (alveolar) consonants, back vowels with back (velar) consonants, and central vowels with labial consonants, with the latter effect presumably resulting from mandibular oscillation alone. Intersyllabic predictions were for more variegation in tongue height for vowels than in front-back tongue movement, and for consonant manner changes to predominate over place changes (related primarily to mandibular oscillation). All 30 individual predictions from both hypotheses were confirmed, leading to a conception of the articulatory basis of babbling as “Frame Dominance.”
Comparisons Among Aerodynamic, Electroglottographic, and Acoustic Spectral Measures of Female Voice
Authors: Holmberg Eva B. , Hillman Robert E. , Perkell Joseph S. , Guiod Peter C. , Goldman Susan L.
Published: July 2014

This study examines measures of the glottal airflow waveform, the electroglottographic signal (EGG), amplitude differences between peaks in the acoustic spectrum, and observations of the spectral energy content of the third formant (F3), in terms of how they relate to one another. Twenty females with normal voices served as subjects. Both group and individual data were studied. Measurements were made for the vowel in two speech tasks: strings of the syllable /pæ/ and sustained phonation of /æ/, which were produced at two levels of vocal effort: comfortable and loud voice. The main results were:

1. Significant differences in parameter values between /pæ/ and /æ/ were related to significant differences in the sound pressure level (SPL).

2. An “adduction quotient,” measured from the glottal waveform at a 30% criterion, was sensitive enough to differentiate between waveforms reflecting abrupt versus gradual vocal fold closing movements.

3. DC flow showed weak or nonsignificant relationships with acoustic measures.

4. The spectral content in the third formant (F3) in comfortable loudness typically consisted of a mix of noise and harmonic energy. In loud voice, the F3 spectral content typically consisted of harmonic energy.

5. Significant differences were found in all measures between tokens with F3 harmonic energy and tokens with F3 noise, independent of loudness condition.

6. Strong relationships between flow- and EGG-adduction quotients suggested that these signals can be used to complement each other.

7. The amplitude difference between spectral peaks of the first and third formant (F1-F3) was found to add information about abruptness of airflow decrease (flow declination) that may be lost in the glottal waveform signal due to low-pass filtering.

The results are discussed in terms of how an integrated use of these measures can contribute to a better understanding of the normal vocal mechanism and help to improve methods for evaluating vocal function.
Interjudge Agreement in Videofluoroscopic Studies of Swallowing
Authors: Wilcox Felicia , Liss Julie M. , Siegel Gerald M.
Published: July 2014

Videofluoroscopic swallowing examinations of 3 patients with dysphagia were reviewed independently by 10 speech-language pathologists. Prior to viewing each video, clinicians were provided with information about the patient's history, the results of a bedside swallow examination, and oral-facial and oral motor control examinations. Clinicians completed a swallowing observation protocol as they viewed each video. They then recommended, from a list of treatment strategies, intervention techniques that would be most appropriate for each patient. Interjudge agreement was calculated by determining how many clinicians observed a given swallowing event or deficit, and how many recommended a given treatment strategy. Results suggest that the level of interjudge agreement for videofluoroscopic evaluations is not encouragingly high.
Mother Child Synchrony and Communicative Reciprocity in Late-Talking Toddlers
Authors: Rescorla Leslie , Fechnay Terri
Published: July 2014

Eighteen mother-child dyads that included 24- to 31-month-old boys who were late talkers were compared in terms of social cues and dyadic synchrony with dyads including normally developing boys matched with the other boys in terms of SES and nonverbal ability. Mothers of late talkers did not differ from comparison group mothers in degree of synchrony with their children nor in their use of social cues. Similarly, late talkers did not differ from comparison children in play synchrony, compliance, or overall communicativeness, although they made significantly fewer clear verbalizations, produced significantly more unintelligible utterances, and relied more heavily on gestural and nonverbal communicative cues. Dyads with late talkers manifested stronger patterns of relationship between the variables studied than comparison dyads, with highly controlling mothers tending to be low in synchrony and to have children who were low in both compliance and synchrony.
Noise Exposure Associated With Hearing Aid Use in Industry
Authors: Dolan Thomas G. , Maurer James F.
Published: July 2014

Although noise may be innocuous in many vocational environments, there is a growing concern in industry that it can reach hazardous levels when amplified by hearing aids. This study examined the daily noise exposures associated with hearing aid use in industry. This was done by both laboratory and site measurements in which hearing aids were coupled to the microphone of an integrating sound level meter or dosimeter. The former method involved the use of recorded railroad and manufacturing noise and a Bruel and Kjaer 4128 Head and Torso simulator. In the latter procedure, a worker wore one of three hearing aids coupled to a dosimeter during 8-hour shifts in a manufacturing plant. Both methods demonstrated that even when amplified by mild-gain hearing aids, noise exposures rose from time-weighted averages near 80 dBA to well above the OSHA maximum of 90 dBA. The OSHA maximum was also exceeded when moderate and high gain instruments were worn in non-occupational listening environments. The results suggest that current OSHA regulations that limit noise exposure in sound field are inappropriate for hearing aid users.