bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Disfluency Behavior of Elementary-School Stutterers and Nonstutterers: Loci of Instances of Disfluency
Authors: Williams Dean E. , Silverman Franklin H. , Kools Joseph A.
Published: July 2014

One hundred fifty-two children from kindergarten and grades one through six, 76 stutterers and 76 nonstutterers, performed a speech task. Each of the kindergarten and first-grade children repeated 10 sentences after the experimenter, and each of the second- through sixth-grade children read a passage. All words judged to have been spoken disfluently were analyzed for the presence of each of Brown’s four word attributes—initial phoneme, grammatical function, sentence position, and word length.

Disfluencies were not randomly distributed in the speech of these children. For both stutterers and nonstutterers, disfluencies occurred most frequently on words possessing the same attributes as those reported by Brown to be troublesome for adult stutterers. The findings of this study demonstrate the essential similarity in the loci of instances of disfluency in the speech of (1) children and adults and (2) stutterers and nonstutterers.
The Effect of Test Conditions on the Early Components of the Averaged Electroencephalic Response
Authors: Mendel Maurice I. , Goldstein Robert
Published: July 2014

The effect of test conditions on the early components of the averaged electroencephalic response was examined in 12 normal hearing subjects between the ages of 21 and 43. Clicks at 50 dB SL were presented to the right ear at the rate of 9.6/sec while the subject was (1) sitting in the dark with eyes closed, (2) sitting quietly in the light with eyes open, and (3) reading. Order of presentation was counter-balanced with each condition repeated three times. 1024 clicks were used in obtaining each of the nine averaged responses. Electroencephalic activity was recorded from an electrode on the vertex referred to the left earlobe. The polyphasic response pattern was relatively consistent, characterized by a configuration with mean peak latencies of (N
o
) 7.6 msec, (P
o
) 16.5 msec, (N
a
) 26.9 msec, (P
a
) 40.6 msec, and (N
b
) 54.0 msec. No significant differences occurred in either latency or amplitude of the response with the different test conditions. Latency and amplitude of the response did not differ as a function of order, although the first response was usually larger than the mean of the remaining eight.
Test-Retest Reliability of Serial Pure-Tone Audiograms in Children at a School for the Deaf
Authors: Rapin Isabelle , Costa Louis D.
Published: July 2014

Successive air-conduction audiograms obtained between ages 1¼ and 12 years and recorded in the charts of 75 children at a school for the deaf were analyzed statistically. Approximately half of 414 audiogram pairs differed by at least 20 dB for 2 or more frequencies, and 34% of 3203 paired frequency scores differed by at least 20 dB. Conductive losses, moderate hearing losses, and perhaps mild mental retardation were associated with unreliability. Audiograms performed at the school by a nonprofessional audiologist were especially unreliable. The desirability of retesting a child until a stable threshold is obtained and of indicating the zone of uncertainty around each threshold point was stressed. When the zone of uncertainty is wide, a verbal label describing the estimated severity of the loss might be preferable to possibly invalid numerical information.
Practice Effects in Frequency Discrimination by Hearing Impaired Children
Authors: Gengel Roy W.
Published: July 2014

The difference limens for frequency (DLF) at 250 and 500 Hz of 23 deaf and 21 hard-of-hearing children were measured in three practice sessions. Conditions included both fixed amplitude, where loudness could be confounded with pitch, and variable amplitude, where loudness and pitch varied independently.

Results indicated: (1) The deaf group showed a significant decrease in size of DLF over the three test sessions. The hard-of-hearing group showed a significant decrease in size of DLF over the three test sessions for only one condition. A third group of children with normal sensitivity showed asymptotic performance on the first test session.

(2) A moderate correlation between Hearing Level and size of DLF was found at 500 Hz but not at 250 Hz.

(3) Significant differences in performance were found between the fixed- and variable-amplitude conditions.

The reliability and the validity of the results are discussed and some implications for teachers of the deaf are mentioned.
The Occlusion Effect in Unilateral Functional Hearing Loss
Authors: Thompson Gary , Denman Marie
Published: July 2014

Bone-conduction tests were administered to subjects who feigned a hearing loss in the right ear. The tests were conducted under two conditions: With and without occlusion of the non-test ear. It was anticipated that the occlusion effect, a well-known audiological principle, would operate to draw low frequency bone-conducted signals to the occluded side in a predictable manner. Results supported this expectation and are discussed in terms of their clinical implications.
A Picture Identification Test for Hearing-Impaired Children
Authors: Ross Mark , Lerman Jay
Published: July 2014

A picture identification test for measuring speech discrimination ability in hearing-impaired children was developed in two phases. In the first phase the word stimuli were evaluated to determine whether they were within the recognition vocabulary of the children and whether the pictorial representations of the words were adequate. Before the second phase, the test was revised to consist of 25 plates with 6 pictures on each plate, with only 4 of the pictures on each plate used as test stimuli. These 4 lists were given to 61 hearing-impaired children on two separate occasions. The results indicate reliability coefficients in excess of 0.87 for all four lists, with mean differences of less than 3% and correlation coefficients between lists greater than 0.84. The test appears to be a potentially valuable clinical tool in pediatric audiology. We call it the Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification test (WIPI).
Direct Measurement of the Listening of Hearing-Impaired Children
Authors: Mira Mary
Published: July 2014

Listening, a significant dimension of the behavior of hearing-impaired children, may be measured directly by recording childrens' responses to obtain audio narrations programmed via a conjugate reinforcement system. Twelve hearing-impaired, school-aged children responded in varying ways to the opportunity to listen. Direct and continuous measurement of listening has relevance for evaluation of remediation methods and for discovery of variables potentially related to listening.
Spectral Noise Levels and Roughness Severity Ratings for Normal and Simulated Rough Vowels Produced by Adult Females
Authors: Lively Mary Ann , Emanuel Floyd W.
Published: July 2014

Twenty normal-speaking adult females sustained seven-second productions of the vowels /u/, /i/, /Λ/, /a/, and /æ/ first normally and then with simulated vocal roughness at one intensity. Recordings of the vowels were rated for roughness on a five-point equal-appearing intervals scale by 11 trained judges. Each production was also analyzed to produce a 3-Hz bandwidth frequency-by-amplitude acoustic spectrum in which the level of inharmonic, i.e., noise, components was measured in dB SPL. Noise levels, averaged over selected frequency ranges from 100 to 8000 Hz, for each vowel production correlated highly with the median roughness ratings for the productions. High (≥0.97) and significant multiple correlation coefficients were obtained between each vowel’s 100-Hz section noise levels from 100 to 2600 Hz and its median roughness rating.
Consistency of Judgments of Articulatory Productions
Authors: Irwin Ruth Beckey
Published: July 2014

Undergraduate majors in speech pathology were relatively consistent in their judgments of articulatory productions. Speech pathology majors were more consistent in making judgments of correct productions than in the judgments of incorrect productions; they were more consistent in making judgments of sounds in words than in phrases or trios; and they were more consistent in making judgments between the first and second tests than between the first and third tests. Special training should be given to the identification of misarticulations.
Comparison of Sentence Identification and Conventional Speech Discrimination Scores
Authors: Speaks Charles , Jerger James , Trammell Jane
Published: July 2014

Performance scores for PB word lists and for synthetic sentences were compared on sixty hearing-impaired patients. Scores on the two types of test materials showed a direct relation to audiometric contour. Patients with relatively flat losses performed similarly with words and with sentences. As the slope of the audiometric pattern increased, however, the discrepancy between the scores for words and sentences also increased. Results were consistent with previous findings on the frequency regions important for understanding the two types of test material.
Measurement of Visual Speech Comprehension
Authors: Nielsen Henning Birk
Published: July 2014

This study was designed to standardize the measurement of visual speech comprehension in order to facilitate the evaluation of a patient’s communication handicap, his basic capacity for lipreading and the benefit received through lipreading training as a clinical tool. To this end, a silent color film of four minutes' duration was used to obtain a standardized measurement of the lipreading ability of 1108 hearing-impaired subjects. The film depicts an everyday situation in which two persons, while having coffee together, speak nine sentences of varying difficulty. Item analysis reveals good consistency, and the score obtained by the individual patient corresponds well with the clinical evaluation of his lipreading ability.
Reading and Auditory-Visual Equivalences
Authors: Sidman Murray
Published: July 2014

A retarded boy, unable to read printed words orally or with comprehension, could match spoken words to pictures and could name pictures. After being taught to match spoken to printed words, he was then capable of reading comprehension (matching the printed words to pictures) and oral reading (naming the printed words aloud).
Neurophysiological Feature Detectors and Speech Perception: A Discussion of Theoretical Implications
Authors: Abbs James H. , Sussman Harvey M.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this paper is to promote consideration of a neurophysiologically oriented theory of speech perception. This theory holds that the phonological attributes of human speech are decoded by neurosensory receptive fields operating as “feature detectors” These fields are held to be innately structured to detect, and respond to, the various distinguishing physical parameters of the acoustic sound stream. Neurophysiological, psychophysical, and developmental evidence is cited to support such a position. A feature detector theory appears to provide an explanation for many phenomena revealed by speech perception research.
Experimental Studies on the Uncomfortable Loudness Level
Authors: Stephens S. D. G. , Anderson C. M. B.
Published: July 2014

A number of experimental determinations of the uncomfortable loudness level (ULL) at 1000 Hz were made on several groups of normal-hearing subjects, using various methods of stimulus presentation and applying different personality measures to the subjects. The same mean levels were found for both earphone and free-field presentations. In experienced subjects the monaural-binaural difference was between 2.5 and 4 dB in different experiments. In naive subjects this difference was 6 dB. In two groups of subjects, ULL was found to be significantly negatively correlated with their test anxiety scores, but this correlation did not hold for the other two groups tested. Naive subjects showed little difference in intersubject variance with the manual or Bekesy presentation techniques.
An Automated Therapy Program for Articulatory Correction
Authors: Leonard Laurence B. , Webb Clarence E.
Published: July 2014

An automated therapy program, which consisted of 10 half-hour sessions, was designed to establish appropriate production of the /ɝ/, /ɚ/, /
i
r/, /ar/, /+r/, /ɔr/, and /ur/ sounds in isolation and in words. The apparatus employed utilized tape-recorded material for stimuli and immediate playback to the child of his own correct response, made possible by integrating a delayed feedback (4 sec) device into the system, for reinforcement. A highly significant improvement occurred between the initial and final testing of the eight children who participated in the study. It was also found that there was significant carry-over of correct productions of the sounds taught into words not practiced, although performance on the actual practice words was significantly higher still.
The Effects on Stuttering Frequency of Pairing Punishment (Response Cost) with Reinforcement
Authors: Halvorson Jerome A.
Published: July 2014

Three adult male stutterers spoke spontaneously during five experimental segments. In Segment I (baserate) stuttering frequency was counted; no response-produced stimuli were delivered. In Segment II (punishment 1) an add-subtract counter was activated; each stuttering response produced subtraction of one point. During Segment III (pairing) each stuttering response produced subtraction of one point; and if the first word following was fluent, then 10 points were added. In Segment IV (extinction) subtraction and addition of points were withheld. During Segment V (punishment 2) one point was again subtracted for each stuttering.

Response cost (punishment) decreased stuttering below the baserate frequency for all three subjects; but when reintroduced after pairing with reinforcement, the rate of stuttering did not immediately decrease for one subject. These data indicate that response cost may be used as a punisher of stuttering behavior, and suggest that punishment for stuttering may acquire discriminative attributes after systematic pairing with a reinforcing stimulus.
Short-Term Memory Recognition Search in Aphasics
Authors: Swinney David A. , Taylor Orlando L.
Published: July 2014

A nonverbal short-term memory (STM) recognition task was administered to eight matched pairs of normal and aphasic subjects. Computer-controlled apparatus presented a stimulus list of two, four, and six digits, followed by a single digit, and recorded the amount of time required for subjects to indicate whether the single digit was In or Out of the stimulus list. Response latencies were significantly slower for aphasic than for control subjects. Analysis of response latencies as a function of list length revealed that both groups displayed linear increases, suggesting a serial search process in STM. Control subjects displayed parallel increases for both In and Out functions, while aphasic subjects displayed slopes for Out functions twice the magnitude of those for In functions. This finding indicated an exhaustive search in control subjects and a self-terminating search in aphasic subjects. These qualitative and quantitative differences in STM have potential correlates with differences in language comprehension between these populations.
A Study of Buccal Speech
Authors: Weinberg Bernd , Westerhouse Jan
Published: July 2014

An intensive study of a normal-speaking subject, proficient in the use of buccal speech, was conducted. With respect to voice fundamental frequency variability, phonation time, and speaking rate his buccal speech characteristics compared favorably with those reported for excellent esophageal speakers. However, the reduced intelligibility of his buccal speech on rhyme-test words, the high average fundamental frequency of his buccal voice, and his conspicuous buccal gestures during speech represent distinct vocal liabilities.
Multidimensional Scoring in Aphasia Testing
Authors: Porch Bruce E.
Published: July 2014

To overcome the limitations of aphasia tests employed in the past, this study attempted to develop a scoring method which would consider the five dimensions of response and would sensitively quantify levels of behavior in a clinically practical manner. A multidimensional binary-choice scoring system was designed to quantify 16 levels of response involving varying degrees of accuracy, responsiveness, completeness, promptness, and efficiency. After 40 hours of training in the use of the method, three scorers scored each of 30 patients representing a heterogeneous sample of aphasic patients. The multidimensional scoring method was found to be clinically satisfactory in that it yielded high interscorer reliability as well as quantified descriptions of behavior.
Speech Perception Under Conditions of Spectral Transformation: I. Phonetic Characteristics
Authors: Blesser Barry
Published: July 2014

Subjects learned to converse with each other when their speech had been spectrally rotated, such that high-frequency energy became low-frequency and vice versa. This transformation destroyed the intelligibility initially, but some subjects learned to comprehend transformed speech. The perceptual basis of the transformation is discussed with a particular emphasis placed on phonemes and phonetic features. Learning to understand spectrally transformed speech cannot be explained on the basis of phoneme behavior.
Effects of Practice on SISI Scores with Normal-Hearing Subjects
Authors: Fulton Robert T. , Spradlin Joseph E.
Published: July 2014

A series of experiments investigated practice effects on 1.25-dB SISI scores with three groups of normal-hearing subjects. All tests were administered at 20-dB SL. The experiments investigated the effects of practice, performance retention, frequency, and feedback. SISI scores increased with practice, and increased SISI scores persisted after three weeks of no practice. Increased SISI scores were not a function of frequency; however, the rate of increase tended to be greater for 4000 Hz than for 1000 Hz. Results indicated that increased SISI scores may be enhanced by, but are not dependent upon, feedback. In summary, SISI scores are subject to practice effects.
On the Perception of Coarticulation Effects in English VCV Syllables
Authors: Lehiste Ilse , Shockey Linda
Published: July 2014

Ohman’s 1966 investigation of the acoustic correlates of coarticulation in VCV sequences indicates that terminal formant frequency transition values are strongly influenced by the nature of the transconsonantal vowel. This experiment was designed to explore the perceptual correlates of Ohman’s spectrographic findings. We discovered that when a VCV sequence (where C is a voiceless plosive) is cut in two during the period of consonantal closure, there are not enough remaining cues in either the resulting VC or CV sequences to allow for identification of the deleted segment or of its articulatory features. However, it appears that coarticulation effects may hinder recognition of nonfinal allophones placed artificially in final position. Consonants in VC sequences spliced from original VCV utterances are more difficult to identify than unreleased final consonants of the same quality.
Temporary Threshold Shifts from Prolonged Exposure to Noise
Authors: Carder Henry M. , Miller James D.
Published: July 2014

Eight monaural chinchillas were trained to respond to tones, and their auditory thresholds were measured behaviorally. The animals were then exposed to octaveband noise centered at either 0.5 or 4.0 k Hz for periods of two to 21 days. Octaveband levels (OBL) between 65 and 105 dB SPL were used. The growth of temporary threshold shift (TTS) was measured during brief interruptions in the exposure. TTS increased for the first 24 to 48 hours of an exposure and then reached an asymptote and remained constant for as long as the exposure continued. At asymptote the relation between the TTS and the level of the octave band centered at 0.5 k Hz was TTS
4
∞ = 1.6 (OBL-65), where TTS
4
∞ was measured with a test tone of 0.715 k Hz at four minutes after an interruption of the noise. Decay of TTS after termination of the exposure was slow and approximately exponential with a time constant of about 29 hours. Empirically, the time for TTS to decay to near-zero values ranged from three to six days. The course of decay of TTS was independent of the duration of the exposure once asymptote had been reached.
Phonational Range in the Modal and Falsetto Registers
Authors: Colton Raymond H. , Hollien Harry
Published: July 2014

The phonational range of the modal and falsetto registers was determined for 35 nonsingers and eight singers. Each subject phonated the vowel /a/ at different frequencies by matching the pitch of sinusoids presented at tone and semitone levels of the equal-tempered musical scale. When the upper and lower frequency limits of each register were reached, they were recorded on tape and analyzed to determine the actual frequency. The results showed that the nonsingers produced an average phonational range of 18 semitones FL in both the modal and falsetto registers, the singers, a 23-semitone range in the modal register and a 21-semitone range in falsetto. Estimates of the phonational range in each register obtained on three separate occasions for five subjects from each group demonstrated that the ranges were stable and consistent. Singers did produce a greater number of identical frequencies within the overlap between the modal and falsetto registers than did individuals who had not received vocal training.
Disfluent Speech Behavior of Preschool Children, High School Seniors, and Geriatric Persons
Authors: Yairi Ehud , Clifton Noel F.
Published: July 2014

This investigation ascertained the types and frequency of disfluencies exhibited in the spontaneous speech of three groups of 15 nonstuttering subjects: preschool children, high school seniors, and geriatric persons. Occurrences of types of disfluencies were identified from tape recordings of subjects' responses to CAT cards. The results indicated not only that geriatric and preschool subjects exhibited similar disfluency patterns, but that frequency of occurrence of disfluencies was significantly greater in these two groups than in the high school group.
Relationship of Lingual and Intraoral Air Pressures during Syllable Production
Authors: Brown W. S. , McGlone Robert E. , Proffit William R.
Published: July 2014

The production of many consonant sounds requires a buildup of air pressure within die oral cavity. This buildup often results from resistance to air flow created in the vocal tract by tongue movements. This study investigated the relationship of tongue pressure to intraoral air pressure. Four male speakers repeated VCV syllables containing /t/, /d/, and /n/ combined with /i/, /α/, and /u/. Each combination was repeated at a constant rate at three intensity levels. Air-pressure variations associated with the consonants were recorded from the oral-pharyngeal region while tongue pressures were recorded from behind the maxillary central incisors and above the left and right maxillary molars. The results show that for stop-consonant production, air pressures and lateral tongue pressures vary in parallel manner, whereas tongue tip pressures appear to act independently of both air and side tongue pressures. Vocal intensity changes are an exception to this in that both intraoral air and tongue pressures increased as intensity increased, the greatest change occurring for tongue tip pressures.
Computer-Assisted Measurement System for X-Ray Films of the Vocal Tract
Authors: Mermelstein Paul , Maclean D. J.
Published: July 2014

Measurements on sagittal X rays of the vocal tract may be made directly in terms of the variables of an articulatory model by superimposing a computer-generated vocal-tract outline onto the x-ray image. Previous methods require an operator to trace a pen or pointer coupled to a recording device along the outlines or the projected image. The new system uses two video signals, one derived from a television camera scanning the projected x-ray image, the second from data in a computer display buffer. The computer display is modified through adjustment of control potentiometers assigned to the model variables. Convergence to a match between the two images is found to be a substantially quicker and easier task than manually tracing the image outline.
The Development of Semantic Associations in Profoundly Deaf Children
Authors: Tweney Ryan D. , Hoemann Harry W.
Published: July 2014

Studies of the development of associations in profoundly deaf children using English words and English associations have not presented clear evidence of a syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift. This study used stimulus words in and allowed responses in American Sign Language. Forty-Six profoundly deaf children (CA 9–CA 13) were tested and compared to 30 hearing children (CA 7, CA 9, CA 13) given the same word list in English. Both groups manifested a clear syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift, though the level of paradigmatic responding was lower for deaf children, suggesting quantitative but not qualitative differences. The results provide clear evidence for a syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift in deaf children’s American Sign Language lexical items, in contrast to previous reports using English lexical items. The results further suggest that evaluation of a deaf child’s psycholinguistic functioning may be more appropriate when conducted in the child’s aominant language system, whether sign language or English.
Spread-of-Masking Effects on Pure Tones and Several Speech Stimuli
Authors: Wilson Richard H. , Stream Richard W. , Dirks Donald D.
Published: July 2014

A series of experiments was performed to study the upward-spread-of-masking phenomena as it pertains to pure-tone and speech stimuli. In the initial two experiments, three maskers were employed over a 40–60-dB intensity range. They included a wide band (50–5500 Hz), a speech spectrum (50–1000 Hz), and a narrow-band (50–950 Hz) noise. All filter slopes were 48 dB/octave, except for the upper slope of the speech-spectrum noise that was 6 dB/octave. In the first experiment, pure-tone thresholds obtained by a tracking procedure revealed no spread of masking when the wide-band and speech-spectrum maskers were used. Substantial spread-of-masking effects, characterized by nonlinear threshold increments outside the spectrum of the masker, were observed with the narrow-band masker. The second experiment included three types of speech stimuli (PBs, spondees, and synthetic sentences) under the same mask conditions used with the pure tones. Threshold shifts observed for the wide- and speech-spectrum maskers were linear with the masking intensity level. However, increased shifts, attributable to spread of masking, were observed with the narrow band and progressed nonlinearly as a function of the masking level. Finally, two additional experiments, performed with two different narrow-band maskers and spondee words, provided insightful information regarding the effects of the spread of masking on speech stimuli.
Acoustic Cue Discrimination in Adult Aphasia
Authors: Carpenter Robert L. , Rutherford David R.
Published: July 2014

Discrimination ability of 15 aphasic, 10 normal, and 10 brain-damaged nonaphasic adults was assessed using a specially constructed discrimination test designed to assess ability to discriminate important acoustic cues for distinctive features of phonemes. A single acoustic cue, such as stopgap duration, spectrum of a consonantal burst peak, or direction and extent of a second-formant transition, created the only difference in minimal pairs which were otherwise acoustically identical. Three of the subtests utilized a spectral cue and three a temporal cue. All subtests used human rather than synthesized speech, and each was altered by a variety of dubbing, filtering, and splicing procedures. Of the 15 aphasic subjects studied, seven failed both the discrimination test and a comprehension test, suggesting that their comprehension disturbances may arise from reduced ability to discriminate acoustic cues for speech sounds. In contrast, both the normal and brain-damaged nonaphasic groups were successful on the discrimination test, suggesting that failure on these discrimination tasks was not simply a function of age or brain damage per se. Moreover, discrimination failure by the aphasics was not evenly distributed. Rather, the aphasic subjects experienced significantly more failures on the temporal cues and were generally successful on the subtests involving cues of a spectral nature.
Five Years of Experience with Electric Response Audiometry
Authors: Russ Frederica M. , Simmons F. Blair
Published: July 2014

The results from electric response audiometry (ERA) tests of 83 persons, including experimental subjects (those whose hearing thresholds were known) and clinical subjects between the ages of one month and 70 years, and of 40 newborns, were reviewed and scored for thresholds by three independent and sophisticated readers. Test stimuli were delivered in 10-dB steps. In the first group, the readers agreed on only 36%, and two readers agreed 43% of the time on the same 10-dB interval. When two agreed and the third did not, the average disagreement was 30 dB. When all three readers diverged, the average spread was 43 dB. There appeared to be no difFerence in three-reader accuracy between known normals and clinical cases. ERA agreement with audiograms obtained later was 56% (within ± 15 dB). In the newborns, three-reader agreement was much worse, and only 20% of the subjects yielded thresholds at or below 70 dB. It would appear, therefore, that ERA is not as reliable a tool, at least in our experience, as had been supposed. ERA should be considered as only part of diagnostic audiometry, and clinical judgments made solely on the basis of ERA should be strictly avoided.
Pure-Tone Octave Masking in Normal-Hearing Listeners
Authors: Nelson David A. , Bilger Robert C.
Published: July 2014

Octave masking was investigated at four different frequencies (250, 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz) as a function of intensity of the masker and phase of the test signal. Slopes of phase-locked octave masking were found to increase with masking signal frequency, from 0.80 dB/dB at 250 Hz to 3.0 dB/dB at 2000 Hz. The monaural octave-masking phase effect was considerably larger for masking signals at low frequencies than at high frequencies, and the phase effect decreased or disappeared entirely for high-level masking signals. Interpretations are considered which take recent neurophysiological and physiological data into account, and which describe the octave-masking phase effects in terms of temporal pattern discrimination. Those interpretations adequately account for the frequency dependencies found in octave-masking phase effects.
Performance of Young Hearing-Impaired Children on a Test of Basic Concepts
Authors: Davis Julia
Published: July 2014

The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts was administered to 24 hard-of-hearing children and 24 normally hearing children, who ranged in age from six to eight years. The hearing-impaired children were enrolled at least part time in regular public school classrooms. Their responses were analyzed according to age level and degree of hearing loss and compared to norms for normal-hearing children. Results indicate significant differences in knowledge of the concepts tested between children with milder losses and those with moderately severe losses, but no significant differences between younger and older hearing-impaired children. Percentile rankings of raw scores revealed that 75% of the hard-of-hearing children scored at or below the 10th percentile when compared to norms for hearing children their age or younger. Item analysis of the responses indicated poorest performance on time concepts, followed by quantity, miscellaneous, and space concepts, in that order.
Threshold Measurement Procedures in Brief-Tone Audiometry
Authors: Richards Alan M. , Dunn Jan
Published: July 2014

Two methods for determining brief-tone audiometric thresholds (at 1000 Hz) were investigated to assess the test-retest reliability and variability of each method. The results indicated that both methods (Bekesy-type tracking with either 1 or 2 dB/sec attenuation rates or the method of adjustment) yielded equivalent thresholds, variability, and reliability data. However, practical considerations dictated that the 2 dB/sec rate was best suited for future clinical application. Individual temporal integration functions for 20 normal-hearing subjects were presented and discussed in relation to their variability and to functions produced by hearing-impaired listeners.
Velar Movement and Timing: Evaluation of a Model for Binary Control
Authors: Kent Raymond D. , Carney Patrick J. , Severeid Larry R.
Published: July 2014

Cinefluorographic analyses of the articulatory movements of two speakers were used to evaluate a binary model of velar control. To obtain precise timing data for movements of the tongue and velum, radiopaque markers were attached to these structures and then tracked by cinefluorography. It is argued that the binary control model does not survive rigorous empirical test because (1) it makes some predictions that are inappropriate for American English, and (2) the confirmation criteria used in previous reports were applied inconsistently. We suggest that if binary control models are to be used in making predictions about the timing of articulations, then the binary feature values should be interpreted by means of a systematic phonetics or an elaborated speech production model. We further suggest that sequences of articulatory movements may be organized in a hierarchical fashion, such that neuromotor instructions from the motor command system often are issued simultaneously for the tongue, velum, lips, and jaw, even though the commands may not always apply to the same phonetic segment.
Auditory and Visual Contributions to the Perception of Consonants
Authors: Binnie Carl A. , Montgomery Allen A. , Jackson Pamela L.
Published: July 2014

Perceptual confusions of 16 consonant-vowel (CV) syllables were studied with normal-hearing adults under conditions of auditory-visual presentation at various signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios, as well as under auditory-only and visual-only conditions in quiet. An articulatory feature classification system was used to analyze responses with regard to percentage correct intelligibility and relative information transmission. In the auditory conditions, features of voicing and nasality were least affected by noise, while place of articulation showed the greatest reduction in intelligibility. The auditory-visual confusions indicated that the visual channel in bisensory presentations reduced errors when phonemes differed by place of articulation, with the greatest visual complement occurring at the poorer S/N ratios. Responses from the visual-only condition indicated that the subjects were able to categorize the phonemes into discrete homophenous groups. Part-whole reliability for the visual-only condition was high, indicating that a short form of the test could be used for screening aural-rehabilitation clients. Finally, since the subjects' ability to visually recognize five places of articulation was nearly perfect, it was suggested that emphasis in aural rehabilitation be placed on auditory training or use of contextual cues, rather than on lipreading.
Some Effects of Noise on the Speaking Behavior of Stutterers
Authors: Conture Edward G.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of the present research was to determine the influence of the loudness and spectrum of noise stimuli on stuttering frequency, reading rate, and vocal level. During each of six noise conditions and one non-noise condition, nine stutterers continuously read aloud prose passages during four successive five-minute periods. Low-pass (500-Hz cutoff frequency), high-pass (500-Hz cutoff frequency), and broad-band noise, psychophysically equated for loudness at two different levels, was presented during the third period of the six noise conditions. Stuttering frequency, reading rate, and vocal level were measured for the second and third periods of all conditions. The stutterers increased their vocal level while decreasing their stuttering frequency as a result of the loudness rather than the frequency spectrum of the noise. Reading rate was not significantly influenced by changes in the loudness or frequency spectrum of the noise. These results do not support the findings of others that low-pass noise decreases stuttering more than does high-pass noise.
Acoustic Redundancy and the Perception of Time-Compressed Speech
Authors: Wingfield Arthur
Published: July 2014

An experiment is reported in which time-compressed sentences were heard spoken either in normal intonation or in intonation patterns that conflicted with their underlying syntactic structure. Although there was an overall decrement in intelligibility with increasing compression, sentences heard in normal intonation were significantly better able to withstand the debilitating effects of compression than those with anomalous intonation. An error analysis of subject responses suggests that intonation normally operates to supply supplemental cues for determining syntactic structure as a step in the perceptual coding of heard speech.
Static and Dynamic Acoustic Impedance Measurements in Infant Ears
Authors: Margolis Robert H. , Popelka Gerald R.
Published: July 2014

Tympanometry and acoustic reflex threshold data are reported for a series of presumably normal infants ranging in age from 55 to 132 days. In general, tympanograms displayed single peaks between ±50 mm H
2
O. Susceptance tympanograms with a 660-Hz probe frequency were sometimes characterized by monotonically increasing susceptance as ear canal pressure was changed from −200 to +200 mm H
2
O. Static values of acoustic conductance, susceptance, admittance, resistance, reactance, impedance, and phase angle were computed from tympanograms using the values of ambient and +200 mm H
2
O (0/+200 procedure) and the maximum and minimum tympanometric values (MAX/MIN procedure). Comparison of the data from the two computational procedures suggested that the MAX/MIN procedure produces means and standard deviations of static values which are more manageable for establishing confidence limits with which to evaluate potentially pathological subjects. The MAX/MIN procedure resulted in lower mean values of conductance and susceptance for infant subjects relative to previously reported adult data using a similar computational procedure. Acoustic reflex thresholds were clearly present in all testable infants at coupler sound pressure levels similar to adult data, suggesting that the relations between reflex thresholds and hearing sensitivity demonstrated in adult subjects are similarly applicable to infant subjects. Mild sedation to induce sleep without altering the reflex would make acoustic reflex threshold measurement a useful procedure for screening large numbers of infants.
Punishment and Negative Reinforcement of Stuttering Using Electric Shock
Authors: Martin Richard , St. Louis Kenneth , Haroldson Samuel , Hasbrouck Jon
Published: July 2014

Five adult male stutterers were subjected to electric shock under three conditions. After stuttering frequency was stable in base rate, three subjects were (1) presented electric shock continuously, but the shock was terminated for five seconds contingent on each stuttering (escape); (2) not presented electric shock continuously, but were given a burst of shock contingent on each stuttering (punish); and (3) allowed to choose the shock condition they preferred. Two other subjects followed the same procedure, except that the order of the escape and punish conditions was reversed. The five subjects behaved differently in the various experimental conditions. For three subjects, the percentage of words stuttered changed very little in the escape condition, whereas two subjects' stuttering increased in escape. In the punish condition, the percentage of words stuttered changed very little for one subject, increased for two subjects and decreased for two subjects. Little change in stuttering behavior occurred in the preferred choice condition.
A Reconceptualization and Revised Scoring Procedure for the ITPA Based on Multivariate Analysis of the Original Normative Data
Authors: Cronkhite Gary , Penner Kandace
Published: July 2014

This research was conducted to (1) determine whether a factor analysis of the original normative ITPA data would support the dimensions of Osgood’s psycholinguistic model which provides its theoretical base, (2) investigate the need for constructing psycholinguistic profiles based upon this empirical factor structure rather than upon a priori theoretical “facet structure”, and (3) devise a weighted multiple regression formula for estimating psycholinguistic age based on subtest correlations with chronological age for the original normative group. Whereas five factors were anticipated, one of these split into two components. The factors represented the (1) perceptual process at the representation level, accounting for 8% of the variance; (2) perceptual process at the integration level, 6.5%; (3) organizing process at the representation level, 25%; and (4) expressive process at the integration level, 11%. The expected integration-organizing factor split into (5) auditory memory, 9%, and (6) visual memory, 9%. As anticipated, no emergent factor represented the expressive process at the representation level. The emergent factor structure strongly suggests that the use of factor profiles would be more meaningful than the use of subtest profiles. A multiple regression formula is presented for computing psycholinguistic age equivalents.
Children’s Acquisition of Idioms in the English Language
Authors: Lodge Donna Nemeth , Leach Edwin A.
Published: July 2014

Idiomatic comprehension was studied in four groups of 20 subjects each, ages six, nine, and 12 years, and adult. Each subject was read 10 sentences which could be interpreted literally or idiomatically. Following each sentence, the subject chose the two pictures that were closest in meaning to the sentence heard. This procedure generated 800 pairs of selections for analysis. The results indicated a (1) significant difference between literal and idiomatic choices regardless of the subject’s age or the voice of the sentence, (2) significant difference between literal and idiomatic choices as a function of age regardless of the voice of the sentence, and (3) significant voice-by-choice interaction indicating that voice affected the choice of literal or idiomatic picture representations.
Verbal Coding Strategies Used by Hearing-Impaired Individuals
Authors: Moulton Robert D. , Beasley Daniel S.
Published: July 2014

A paired-associate verbal learning task was used to determine the type of perceptual coding strategies hearing-impaired persons use in auditory perceptual processing of language. Four lists of word pairs were devised, whereby the word pairs in each list were characterized as sharing either similar sign-similar meaning, dissimilar sign-similar meaning, similar sign-dissimilar meaning, or dissimilar sign-dissimilar meaning. Severely hearing-impaired subjects were required to replace the missing word associated with the word pairs. The results showed that, while the subjects were able to code the verbal material on both a sign basis and a semantic basis, the semantic coding strategy appeared to be more efficient than the sign coding strategy. The findings are related to earlier investigations and are explained according to a theoretical model of perception.
Use of Low-Pass Noise in Word-Recognition Testing
Authors: Cohen Ronald L. , Keith Robert W.
Published: July 2014

This study attempted to determine whether word-recognition scores obtained in noise were more sensitive to the presence of a hearing loss than recognition scores obtained in quiet. Subjects with normal hearing, high-frequency cochlear hearing loss, and flat cochlear hearing loss were tested in quiet and in the presence of a 500-Hz low-pass noise. Two signal-to-noise conditions were employed, −4 dB and −12 dB. Words were presented at 40 dB SL in one experiment and at 96 dB SPL for normal-hearing subjects in a second experiment. The results indicated that, while the word-recognition scores of groups were similar in quiet, the more negative the signal-to-noise ratio, the greater the separation of group scores, with hearing-impaired subjects having poorer recognition scores than normal-hearing subjects. When the speech and noise were presented at high SPLs, however, the normal-hearing subjects had poorer word recognition than those with flat cochlear losses. The results are interpreted as indicating greater spread of masking in normal-hearing than hearing-impaired subjects at high sound pressure levels.
Time-Intensity Trading Functions for Selected Pure Tones
Authors: Young Lamar L.
Published: July 2014

A substantial number of investigations have examined the ability of the auditory system to trade time for intensity on a lateralization task. Most of these investigations, however, have employed clicks and noise bursts as stimuli with interaural disparities between onset times. Consequently, there is a lack of quantitative data for time-intensity trades where pure tones that had identical onset times but disparate phase were employed as signals. For this reason we employed sinusoids ranging from 200 to 2000 Hz and determined the extent to which the intensity of one signal must be decreased to achieve a midline image when interaural phase disparities of 0° to 360° were imposed between the binaural signals in 30° increments. The time-intensity trading functions yielded in this experiment demonstrate that (1) not unexpectedly, the largest time-intensity trades were accomplished for the lower frequencies; (2) the maximum time-intensity trade for each frequency occurred at interaural phase disparities of 90° and 270°; and (3) when the low-frequency tones were 180° out of phase, essentially the same interaural intensity relationship was required to achieve midline as was needed for the 0° interaural phase condition.
Damage Risk: An Evaluation of the Effects of Exposure to 85 versus 90 dBA of Noise
Authors: Yates James T. , Ramsey Jerry D. , Holland Jay W.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to compare the damage risk of 85 and 90 dBA of white noise for equivalent full-day exposures. The damage risk of the two noise levels was determined by comparing the temporary threshold shift (TTS) of 12 subjects exposed to either 85 or 90 dBA of white noise for equivalent half- and full-day exposures. TTS was determined by comparing the pre- and postexposure binaural audiograms of each subject at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz. It was concluded that the potential damage risk, that is, hazardous effect, of 90 dBA is greater than 85 dBA of noise for equivalent full-day exposures. The statistical difference between the overall effects of equivalent exposures to 85 dBA as compared to 90 dBA of noise could not be traced to any one frequency. The damage risk of a full-day exposure to 85 dBA is equivalent to that of a half-day exposure to 90 dBA of noise. Within the limits of this study, TTS
t
was as effective as TTS
2
for estimating the damage risk of noise exposure.
An Examination of the Semantic Relations Reflected in the Language Usage of Normal and Language-Disordered Children
Authors: Leonard Laurence B. , Bolders Jacqueline G. , Miller Judith A.
Published: July 2014

Language samples were obtained from 40 children in order to examine semantic relations reflected in language usage as a function of chronological age (three and five years) and linguistic status (normal and language disordered). Normal-disordered comparisons were made under both matched utterance length and matched age conditions. Results are interpreted as supporting the notion that the disordered-language usage reflected semantic relations consistent with an earlier level of development.