bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors in the Effectiveness of Articulation Therapy with Educable Retarded Children
Authors: Sommers Ronald K. , Leiss Robert H. , Fundrella Dolores , Manning Walter , Johnson Raymond , Oerther Patricia , Sholly Ralph , Siegel Marshall
Published: August 2014

Articulation therapy was administered to 120 retarded subjects. Subjects were examined on two articulation tasks. One task was a version of the Carter/Buck Prognostic Speech Test, and the other a picture version of McDonald’s deep test of articulation. Subjects with both poor and good prognostic scores and moderate and severe degrees of articulatory defectiveness were selected. They were randomly assigned to (a) a control group of subjects receiving no speech therapy, (b) an experimental group of 60 subjects receiving one period of group articulation therapy weekly, or (c) an experimental group of 60 subjects receiving four periods of group articulation therapy weekly. Group articulation therapy was administered by four clinicians in a school setting. Subjects who received group articulation therapy four times per week during the experimental period significantly improved their articulation as measured on a picture deep test when compared with control group subjects. Subjects receiving group articulation therapy once weekly during the experimental period were not significantly improved compared with control group subjects. Significant differences between groups were not found on an imitative sentence articulation test.
Sound Pressure in Ear Canals Modified by Surgery
Authors: Melnick William
Published: August 2014

This two-part study measured sound pressure using a probe tube microphone in normal and surgically altered ear canals. In the first study sound was generated by a TDH-39 earphone in 24 normal ears and 21 ears exposed to radical mastoidectomy and Type III or IV tympanoplasty. Considered as groups the two types of ears showed little difference in measured sound pressure. The most remarkable observation was a sharp minimum in sound pressure which occurred at the 2000–3000 Hz range in the surgically altered ears but was not seen in the normal ears. The second study measured sound pressure deep in the canal and also at the canal entrance of 20 normal ears and 20 surgical ears in a sound field. The main effect was a shift in observed maxima and minima of sound pressure to lower frequencies in the surgically altered ears indicating an increase in the effective length of the canal. Changes in sound pressure were difficult to isolate audiometrically. The effects of surgery might be expected to influence audiometric results at frequencies above 2000 Hz.
Some Dimensions of Auditory Language Comprehension in Aphasia
Authors: Goodglass Harold , Gleason Jean Berko , Hyde Mary R.
Published: August 2014

Four aspects of auditory comprehension were compared in 44 normal children ages 4 to 9, in 12 normal adults, and in 52 aphasics of 5 diagnostic classes: Broca’s, Wernicke’s, conduction, anomic, and global aphasics. The 4 aspects studied were breadth of vocabulary, auditory sequential pointing-span, comprehension of directional prepositions, and recognition of correct grammatical usage of prepositions. The aphasics' patterns of success were all different from those of the children, and the diagnostic subgroups could be distinguished from each other by a discriminant analysis. The mean pointing-span of the best aphasic group (anomics) was below the level of 6-year-olds. Broca’s aphasics had by far the poorest score. It is concluded that auditory comprehension is multidimensional, and that its pattern of disturbance is characteristic for different aphasic subgroups.
Speech Discrimination in Noise
Authors: Cooper J. C. , Cutts Betty P.
Published: August 2014

The linear portion of the articulation function in noise was investigated using 16 normal-hearing and 15 sensorineural-impaired subjects. NU Auditory Test No. 6 was presented in cafeteria noise at signal-to-noise ratios of 4, 8, and 12 dB. Although the sensorineural group had poorer means, the slopes for the two groups were not significantly different, 3.57% per dB for normals and 3.47% per dB for sensorineurals. The wide range of variability demonstrated by both groups indicates the importance of determining a patient’s discrimination potential in noise.
Imitative Altruism by Deaf Children
Authors: Schwartz Tanis , Bryan James H.
Published: August 2014

The study was designed to investigate the influence of a behavioral model upon hearing-impaired children’s behavior and judgments. Children from a residential school for the deaf witnessed a model practice either charity or greed and preach charity, greed, or normatively neutral material.

A significant effect was obtained for the practices of the model; 30 of the 32 subjects imitated the behavior of the model to whom he had been exposed. Results are discussed regarding their implication for theories of altruistic behavior and remedial programs for the deaf.
Subglottal Pressure and Airflow Measures During Vocal Fry Phonation
Authors: Murry Thomas
Published: August 2014

Simultaneous recordings of the voice signal, intertracheal air pressure, and rate of airflow were obtained from five adult male subjects during three sustained phonations of the vowels /a/ and /i/ at three regions within their vocal try range and two within their modal (mid) phonational range. The subglottal pressures produced during vocal fry were significantly greater than those produced at adjacent frequencies in the modal range. In addition, subglottal pressure increased with increases in repetition rate. No significant difference was found between /a/ and /i/ produced at any one fry condition. Rate of airflow was significantly lower in fry phonation than in modal, and no relationship between flow rate and frequency in either range was found. The aerodynamic relationships suggest that during sustained vocal fry, subglottal pressure builds to open the apparently massive vocal folds quickly, while the low flow rate may be related to the long closed phase of the vocal folds.
The Influence of the Onset of Phonation on the Frequency of Stuttering
Authors: Adams Martin R. , Reis Ronald
Published: August 2014

To test the hypothesis that the frequency with which vocalization must be initiated in a given speech segment and the frequency of attendant disfluency are positively related, two passages were constructed. One passage was composed entirely of voiced speech sounds (all-voiced passage). The other contained both voiceless and voiced sounds (combined passage). Thus, in reading the later material, subjects had to effect more “off-on” phonatory adjustments than in the all-voiced selection. Aside from this difference, the passages were closely matched along several other linguistic and phonetic parameters. Fourteen stutterers performed five massed oral readings of each passage. Statistical analyses all showed that there was significantly less stuttering and more rapid adaptation associated with the all-voiced material.
Punishment of Expectancy Responses by Stutterers
Authors: Harris Christine M. , Martin Richard R. , Haroldson Samuel K.
Published: August 2014

Each of three adult stutterers spoke spontaneously for a number of sessions. During baserate the subjects depressed a hand switch each time they expected to stutter. During conditioning each hand-switch depression produced a 10-second “time-out from speaking.” For one subject, punishing expectancy responses markedly decreased the frequency of expectancy responses, but the percentage of words stuttered decreased very little. For a second subject, simply depressing a hand switch contingent upon each expectancy response (with no subsequent “time-out from speaking”) resulted in a reduction in both expectancy and stuttering. For a third subject, punishing expectancy responses resulted in a marked reduction in stuttering, but a much smaller decrease in expectancy responding.
Equality of Intervals on the Lewis-Sherman Scale of Stuttering Severity
Authors: Berry Richard C. , Silverman Franklin H.
Published: August 2014

Interval widths between adjacent speech segments on the Lewis-Sherman scale of stuttering severity were estimated by means of a scaling procedure. Analyses of the data indicated that the lower three intervals were less than half as wide as the others. This would suggest that the scale possesses ordinal rather than interval properties. Several implications are discussed.
Neuromuscular Control Examination (NMC) for Parkinsonism: Vowel Prolongations and Diadochokinetic and Reading Rates
Authors: Kreul E. James
Published: August 2014

Measures of sustained phonation, diadochokinesis, and reading rate were recorded and contrasted for samples from populations. The three sets of subjects were healthy young normal adults, healthy elderly adults, and patients with Parkinsonism. Results indicate that reduced ability to prolong vowels and read rapidly is associated with both advanced age and Parkinsonism. Syllable diadochokinetic rates fail to differentiate between normal subjects and subjects with Parkinsonism, while diadochokinetic rates for an interrupted vowel /i/ and a repeated vowel glide /u-i/ did differentiate between these groups. Diadochokinetic and reading rates tend to correlate with each other but do not correlate with the duration for prolonged vowels.
The Effect of Rehearsal on Frequency of Stuttering
Authors: Brenner Norman C. , Perkins William H. , Soderberg George A.
Published: August 2014

Twelve stutterers recited 10-syllable sentences from memory after conditions of silent rehearsal, lipped rehearsal, whispered rehearsal, aloud rehearsal, and no rehearsal. Frequency of stuttering was judged from tape recordings. Results showed that oral recitations following aloud rehearsal had fewer stutterings than under any other conditions.
Acoustic Stimulus Duration in Relation to Behavioral Responses of Newborn Infants
Authors: Ling Daniel
Published: August 2014

Behavioral responses of 160 newborn infants to short duration (50–1000 msec) narrow-band noise stimuli were studied. The proportion of responses obtained, particularly of the whole-body type, increased as a function of duration. Interrupted stimuli (trains of 10 50-msec pulses) proved to be much less effective than continuous stimuli of the same duration.
Temporary Threshold Shift Reduction as a Function of Contralateral Noise Level
Authors: Karlovich Raymond S. , Luterman Barry F. , Abbs Mary H.
Published: August 2014

Seven male and seven female subjects were exposed to a monaurally presented 1000-Hz continuous tone at 110 dB SPL for three minutes. During the exposure pulsed wide-band noise (one second on / one second off) was presented to the contralateral ear. Six noise levels (70, 80, 90, 100, 110, and 115 dB SPL) were used. In addition, a control condition consisting of the absence of contralateral stimulation was used. Pre- and postexposure thresholds were tracked with a Bekesy type procedure for a stimulus one-half octave above the exposure frequency. TTS was greatest for the control condition (no contralateral noise) and became progressively less as the SPL of contralateral noise was increased from 70 to 115 dB. The inverse relation between magnitude of TTS and the level of contralateral noise was attributed to stapedius muscle activity. Hence, the data provided psychophysical support for the contention that the stapedius muscle reflex is graded in response to the level of acoustic stimulation. The data also indicated an absence of significant differences in TTS magnitudes between males and females.
Oral Sensation and Perception in Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia
Authors: Rosenbek John C. , Wertz Robert T. , Darley Frederic L.
Published: August 2014

Thirty patients with apraxia of speech, 10 patients with aphasia and no apraxia of speech, and 30 normal subjects were tested by three oral sensory-perceptual measurements: oral form identification, two-point discrimination, and mandibular kinesthesia. The apraxia-of-speech group was significantly inferior to the aphasic and normal groups on all three oral sensory-perceptual tests. The normal and aphasic groups did not differ significantly from each other. Apraxia of speech and oral sensory-perceptual deficit were related in that the more severe the apraxia of speech, the more profound the oral sensory-perceptual deficit. Not all patients with apraxia of speech demonstrated impaired oral sensation and perception; however, higher cortical sensory dysfunction frequently accompanied apraxia of speech.
Some Correlates of Speech Coding in the Short-Term Memory of the Deaf
Authors: Conrad R.
Published: August 2014

A short-term memory test for visually presented letter sequences was given to 43 deaf students and 46 hearing housewives. Alternately the sequences were phonologically similar or dissimilar. All hearing subjects except one had worse recall with phonologically similar sequences; about half the deaf subjects found them easier. The difference, for the deaf, was examined relative to IQ, pure-tone hearing, speech hearing, and speech quality. In particular, IQ seemed not to be related to degree of verbal mediation, and the discussion considers whether training the deaf in overt speech necessarily leads to the use of covert speech.
A Program for the Initial Stages of Fluency Therapy
Authors: Culatta Richard A. , Rubin Herbert
Published: August 2014

An orientation program which was cognitive in nature and based on the philosophy of, responsibility for, and control of one’s own speech behavior was administered to six stutterers. The program consisted of 11 discrete steps, culminating in a demonstration of fluent speech. The first seven steps are philosophically based and orient the subjects to talk positively in terms of fluency. The last four steps are performance centered. A pre- and postorientation questionnaire was administered to assess attitude change during the program. Results indicate significant reduction in stuttering for all six subjects. In addition, several variations of the program were examined, including altering its length and sequencing the steps within it.
Perception of the Duration of a Silent Interval in Nonspeech Stimuli: A Test of the Motor Theory of Speech Perception
Authors: Baumrin Judith Marti
Published: August 2014

The categorical perception of synthetically produced speech stimuli varying along a single dimension (duration of silent interval) has been used as evidence for a motor theory of speech perception. The suggestion has been made that before language learning, discrimination along the silent-interval-duration continuum is comparable to discrimination along any unidimensional continuum, that is, 2.3 bits of information transmitted. To test this hypothesis, two groups of four subjects each listened to 1200 presentations of a set of 10 stimuli consisting of silent intervals of from 10 to 100 msec bounded by noise bursts. The subjects rated the stimuli on a 10-point scale of stimulus duration. Group I was instructed to make a judgment of long or short before rating. Group II was not instructed to make this categorical judgment. An informational analysis of the resulting confusion matrixes resulted in less than one bit of information transmitted for both groups. It is concluded that discrimination of nonspeech stimuli varying along the continuum of silent interval results in fewer (rather than more) discriminated categories than does the discrimination of speech stimuli varying along the same continuum.
Effects of Age and Word Frequency on Object Recognition and Naming in Children
Authors: Milianti Franklin J. , Cullinan Walter L.
Published: August 2014

Visual duration threshold, matching-response latencies, and object-naming latencies were obtained for 30 nine-year-old and 15 six-year-old, normal-speaking male children. Stimuli were drawings of objects whose names represent a wide range of frequency of occurrence in the language according to the Thorndike-Lorge word count. The nine-year-old children had significantly shorter visual-duration thresholds, matching-response latencies and object-naming latencies than the nine-year-old children. The latency for object naming was negatively and significantly correlated with the logarithm of frequency of occurrence of the names, but neither visual duration threshold nor latency for matching correlated significantly with frequency of occurrence. The results support the hypothesis that the major source of variance in object-naming latencies for common and rare words is not attributable to the perceptual identification of the objects.
Expectancy as Basically a Short-Term Process
Authors: Wingate M. E.
Published: August 2014

Expectancy in stuttering is investigated under conditions that approximate more closely than in previous work the circumstances and mode in which expectancy is purported to operate. The results indicate that the currently accepted explanation of the expectancy phenomenon is inadequate and misleading. An alternative explanation more consistent with existent data is offered.
The Relationship between Discrimination and Articulation Training in Children with Misarticulations
Authors: Williams Gail C. , McReynolds Leija V.
Published: August 2014

In the context of a training study, the functional relationship between discrimination and production was investigated. Four subjects were selected for study. For two subjects, Condition I consisted of production training followed by a discrimination probe and Condition II consisted of discrimination training followed by a production probe. For the other two subjects, the conditions were reversed. In production training, the subjects were trained to correctly articulate three consonant-vowel (CV) syllables in response to nonsense pictures. In discrimination training the subjects were trained to find nonsense pictures in response to three CV syllables. Probe measures were administered to determine if changes occurred in one modality after training the other modality. Results indicated that production training was effective in changing both articulation and discrimination; however, discrimination training was effective in changing only discrimination.
The “Heart” of Categorical Speech Discrimination in Young Infants
Authors: Miller Cynthia L. , Morse Philip A.
Published: August 2014

Categorical discrimination of place of articulation in the stimuli [dae] and [gae] was investigated in three- to four-month-old infants using a 20/20 cardiac orienting response paradigm. In this procedure infants were presented with 20 tokens of one syllable followed immediately by 20 tokens of a change stimulus. Each infant received a between-category shift, a within-category shift, and a no-shift control condition, with the order of conditions completely counterbalanced across subjects. Discrimination was indexed by an orienting response to the onset of the second 20 stimuli. The data were analyzed for evidence of categorical discrimination both within subjects (each condition pooled across orders of presentation) and between subjects, as is typical of infant-categorical discrimination studies. Both sets of results revealed that infants discriminate the cues for place of articulation categorically. These findings demonstrate the generality of the infant categorical discrimination observed with the nonnutritive operant sucking paradigm and indicate the usefulness of the heart rate paradigm employed in the present study for the collection of within-subject speech discrimination data across a wide range of subject populations.
Laryngeal Behavior During Stuttering
Authors: Conture Edward G. , McCall Gerald N. , Brewer David W.
Published: August 2014

Laryngeal behavior associated with 101 stutterings (part-word repetitions, sound prolongations, and broken words) produced by a group of 10 stutterers was observed by means of a flexible fiberoptic naso-laryngoscope. Results indicated that 60% of part-word repetitions were different from fluent productions of the same speech segment in terms of laryngeal behavior, and 72% of sound prolongations were similar to fluent productions of the same speech segment. Findings indicate that there are differences in laryngeal behavior among the various types of stutterings.
Acoustic-Reflex Dynamics for Pulsed Signals
Authors: Wiley Terry L. , Karlovich Raymond S.
Published: August 2014

Contralateral acoustic-reflex measurements were taken for 10 normal-hearing subjects using a pulsed broadband noise as the reflex-activating signal. Acoustic impedance was measured at selected times during the on (response maximum) and off (response minimum) portions of the pulsed activator over a 2-min interval as a function of activator period and duty cycle. Major findings were that response maxima increased as a function of time for longer duty cycles and that response minima increased as a function of time for all duty cycles. It is hypothesized that these findings are attributable to the recovery characteristics of the stapedius muscle. An explanation of portions of the results from previous temporary threshold shift experiments on the basis of acoustic-reflex dynamics is proposed.
The Emergence of Vowels in an Infant
Authors: Buhr Robert D.
Published: August 2014

Recordings of vocal production of an infant (age 16–64 weeks) were subjected to perceptual and acoustic analysis. Sounds resembling the vowel sounds of English were identified, and formant frequency measurements were made from spectrograms. Significant longitudinal trends for individual vowel sounds were not apparent during this period, although formant relationships for some vowels after 38 weeks were consistent with the notion of restructuring of the infant's vocal tract. However, analysis of F
1
/F
2
plots over time revealed the emergence of a well-developed vowel triangle, resembling that of older children and adults. The acute axis of this triangle seems to develop before the grave axis. Implications for anatomical, neuromuscular, and linguistic development are discussed.
Application of a Probability Model Based on the Binomial Distribution to Speech-Discrimination Scores
Authors: Raffin Michael J.M. , Schafer Debra
Published: August 2014

The performance of 3426 subjects on 100-word lists from Northwestern University Auditory Test #6 was analyzed to determine the application of a binomial model previously suggested by Thornton and Raffin (1978). It was found that the critical differences based on this model can be used to describe accurately the variability associated with speech-discrimination scores.
Delayed Auditory Feedback with Children
Authors: Siegel Gerald M. , Fehst Christine A. , Garber Sharon R. , Pick Herbert L.
Published: August 2014

There is a controversy in the literature concerning the effects of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) on the speech of subjects of varying ages, In the current experiment the subjects were five-year-olds, eight-year-olds and adult speakers who performed a sentence repetition task under: 0-delay, 250, 375, 500, and 625 msec of amplified delayed auditory feedback. All subjects performed the task under normal rate instructions and under instructions to speak as rapidly as possible. A developmental pattern emerged, with the youngest children significantly more affected by the DAF than the older children or the adults. There was only weak evidence for a critical delay interval that varied according to age of the subjects. Rate instructions had essentially no effect on the DAF or age patterns.
Three Studies of Deficits in Pantomimic Expression and Pantomimic Recognition in Aphasia
Authors: Duffy Robert J. , Duffy Joseph R.
Published: August 2014

Studies were conducted to investigate aphasic deficits in pantomimic behaviors. Three groups of subjects were used: 47 aphasics; 27 right-hemisphere-damaged; and 11 controls.

Study I replicates a previous study of pantomimic recognition deficits (Duffy, Duffy, & Pearson, 1975) and essentially duplicates the previous findings of significant deficits of pantomimic recognition in aphasic subjects that are highly correlated with their verbal deficits.

Study II examines the relationship between deficits in pantomimic recognition and expression; and the relationships between these two nonverbal behaviors mad aphasic verbal deficits. Zero order correlations, partial correlations, and multiple regression analyses are presented. The results show that aphasics exhibit significant deficits in both pantomimic expression and recognition; and, that both of these are highly correlated with aphasic verbal deficits.

Study III is an investigation of tour causal theories of aphasic deficits in pantomimic expression. Zero order correlations, partial correlations, and multiple regression analyses are presented. It is concluded that aphasic pantomimic expressive deficits are not caused by general intellectual deficit or limb apraxia; but, they are associated with a central symbolic disorder or a verbal mediation deficit.

The implications of these studies for an understanding of the nature of aphasia as a syndrome which includes both verbal and nonverbal impairments are discussed.
A Study of the Frequency Reading Fundamental Vocal of Young Black Adults
Authors: Hudson Amelia I. , Holbrook Anthony
Published: August 2014

This study investigated the measures of central tendency (mean mode) and dispersion (standard deviations and ranges) of the reading fundamental vocal frequency in young black adults. The subjects were 200 (100 males/100 females college student volunteers whose ages ranged from 18 to 29 years, A fundamental frequency analyzer (FLORIDA I) was used to measure the fundamental vocal frequency. The mean modal fundamental vocal frequency for males was 110.15 Hz, with a mean range from 81.95 Hz to 158.50 Hz. The mean modal fundamental vocal frequency for females was 193.10 Hz, with a mean range from 139,05 Hz to 266.10 Hz, The males showed a slightly greater range expressed in tones than did the females, Compared to a similar white population studied by Fitch & Holbrook (1970), the black population had lower mean modal fundamental vocal frequencies and greater mean frequency ranges, Fitch's white subjects showed a greater range below the mean mode than above it. This behavior was reversed for the black subjects of the present study. Such patterns of vocal behavior may be important clues which alert the listener to the speaker's racial identity.
Procedures for Verification of Electrode Placement in EMG Studies of Orofacial and Mandibular Muscles
Authors: O'Dwyer Nicolas J. , Quinn Peter T. , Guitar Barry E. , Andrews Gavin , Neilson Peter D.
Published: August 2014

Many muscles used in speech are small and intimately interconnected. There is a need for anatomical and physiological data which would allow identification of the particular muscle fibers being recorded in electromyographic (EMG) investigations.

EMG recordings were taken from eighteen orofacial and mandibular muscles while gestures believed to be specific to each muscle were performed. The anatomic criteria for the placement of the electrodes, the quality of the EMG spikes and interference patterns obtained, and the degree of differentiation of the temporal sequence of activity from that in neighboring muscles were used to decide on the degree of certainty that a particular muscle was being recorded. The appropriateness of each gesture as a stimulus to any muscle was determined on the basis of the level of activation occurring with the gesture relative to other muscles and its degree of variability between subjects.
The Role of New and Old Information in the Verbal Expression of Language-Disordered Children
Authors: Skarakis Elizabeth , Greenfield Patricia M.
Published: August 2014

The present study used an experimental method to investigate the marking of new mad old information in the verbal expression of language-disordered children beyond the one-word stage. The results showed that language-disordered children selectively mark new information in verbal communication, just as normal children do. Language-disordered and normal children, furthermore, manifest the same developmental sequence of strategies for deemphasizing old information—children at an MLU level of 3 tend to omit it, whereas children at an MLU level of 5 tend to pronominalize it. Although both normal and language-disordered children demonstrated the same verbal strategies, a subgroup of language-disordered subjects (over halt) pro-nominalized old information more frequently than norlnal subjects. These language-disordered subjects demonstrated a proportionately different combination of language features than would be expected at their MLU level.
Coarticulation Effects in Lipreading
Authors: Benguerel Andre-Pierre , Pichora-Fuller Margaret Kathleen
Published: August 2014

Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects with good lipreading skills lipread videotaped material under visual-only conditions. V
1
CV
2
utterances were used where V could he /i/, /æ/ or/u/ and C could be /p/, /t/, /k/, /t∫/, /f/, /Θ/, /s/, /∫/ or/w/.Coarticulatory effects were present in these stimuli. The influence of phonetic context on lipreading scores for each V and C was analyzed in an effort to explain some of the variability in the visual perception of phonemes which was suggested by existing literature. Transmission of information for four phonetic features was also analyzed. Lipreading performance was nearly perfect for/p/,/f7,/w/,/Θ/and/u/. Lipreading performance on/t/,/k/,/t∫/,/∫/,/s/,/i/and/æ/depended on context. The features labial, rounded, and alveolar or palatal place of articulation were found to transmit more information to lipreaders than did the feature continuant. Variability in articulatory parameters resulting from coarticulatory effects appears to increase overall lipreading difficulty.
The Influence of Stress, Position, and Utterance Length on the Pressure Characteristics of English /p/ and /b/
Authors: Flege James Emil
Published: August 2014

This study examines pressure characteristics of /p/ and /b/ as a function of position with regard to stress and position within the utterance. Eight female talkers produced utterances which varied in length from one to five disyllables ([páp] or [báb]). Results demonstrate the importance of utterance position for the magnitude of supraglottal pressure in stops. Except in voiceless stops found in the first words of utterances, pressure was greater in the prestressed than in the poststressed position. The pressure difference distinguishing /p/ and /b/ was reduced considerably when these stops occurred in absolute utterance-initial position. A post hoc analysis revealed that pressure increased much more slowly in initial than in noninitial stops and that /p/ and /b/ were not distinguished by the rate at which supraglottal pressure increased when these stops occurred in utterance-initial position. Finally, it was found that the pressure of stops in the first words of utterances increased as a function of utterance length, suggesting preplanning for sentence production at the respiratory level.
Relation Between Finger Reaction Time and Voice Reaction Time in Stuttering and Nonstuttering Children and Adults
Authors: Cross Douglas E. , Luper Harold L.
Published: August 2014

Nine stutterers and nine nonstutterers at each of three age levels (5 years, 9 years, and 18 years and above) responded to the onset of 21 1-kHz tones by depressing the index finger of their preferred hand on a response key. Finger reaction times (FRTs) were measured to the nearest millisecond and compared to the voice reaction times (VRTs) obtained from the same subjects. Increased speed and stability of the finger reaction times were observed as an inverse function of age for both groups. The stutterers, as a group, exhibited mean FRTs which were significantly longer and more variable than those of the nonstutterers at each of the three age levels. High correlations also were found between the finger and voice reaction scores for both the stutterers and the nonstutterers. Results support the inference that some stutterers may exhibit difficulty in the consistent execution of motor control strategies common to both speech and nonspeech movements.
The Irradiated Larynx and Voice
Authors: Stoicheff Margaret L. , Ciampi Antonio , Passi Jean E. , Fredrickson John M.
Published: August 2014

The voices of patients with laryngeal cancer following a specific radiotherapy regimen were subjected to perceptual evaluation. Interval scaling of the severity of perceived dysphonia was completed for the voices of male patients sampled before and 1 year following radiation therapy and for a set of male controls. Eight listeners did this quantitative rating and also specified the predominant quality in each voice. The results indicated that the degree of dysphonia in the pretreatment group was highest. Radiotherapy decreased this dysphonia but not to the point that posttreatment voices were indistinguishable from those of normal subjects. Also, the voice qualities of laryngeal cancer patients shifted toward those of the control group following radiotherapy with over one half of the irradiated patients judged to have rough or normal qualities.
Physiologic Stages of Vocal Reaction Time
Authors: Shipp Thomas , Izdebski Krzysztof , Morrissey Philip
Published: August 2014

A simple vocal reaction time (RT) task was performed by 10 male subjects while measures from intrinsic laryngeal muscles and subglottal air pressure were obtained simultaneously. Based only on each subject's fastest time among 15 trials, RT values were similar to the latencies previously observed in normal subjects. The mean of the subjects' fastest trials was 185 ms (range: 160–250ms). Shortest latency values obtained for each measure were interarytenoid muscle, 50 ms; thyroarytenoid muscle, 60 ms; posterior cricoarytenoid muscle, 80 ms; subglottal air pressure rise, 125 ms. From these data estimates were made of 115 ms for the shortest respiratory system latency and 25 ms for the minimal central processing time. These data suggest that fastest vocal RTs are determined principally by the temporal constraints involved in activating pulmonary rather than laryngeal structures.
Formant-Frequency Differences Between Isolated Whispered and Phonated Vowel Samples Produced by Adult Female Subjects
Authors: Kallail Ken J. , Emanuel Floyd W.
Published: August 2014

This study was designed to investigate the formant frequencies of phonated and whispered productions of five test vowels (/i/,/u/, /æ/, /Δ/, and //). Each test vowel was sustained twice in isolation—once phonated, once whispered—by 20 adult female subjects. The phoneme represented by each recorded production was identified independently by 11 listeners. Only those samples identified by 6 or more of the listeners as the vowel intended were retained for a further (acoustic) analysis. An acoustic spectrum of each retained sample was obtained to permit formant measurements. To provide the clearest formant delineation possible in our lab, the phonated samples were analyzed by broadband spectrography and the whispered samples by very narrowband spectrography. This report presents the formant frequencies (F
I
-F
3
) of the test productions as measured from the acoustic vowel spectra and the formant-freqneney differences between the pbonated and whispered productions. In general, the results showed a trend for whispered vowel formants to be higher in frequency than phonated vowel formants, but that trend was only strongly evident for F
1
.
Influence of Lung Volume on the Airflow-Intensity Relationship
Authors: Schneider Phillip , Baken R. J.
Published: August 2014

This study reports airflow-intensity relationships observed in crescendo and decrescendo phonations produced at three fundamental frequency levels by l0 men. The purpose of the investigation was to study the possible influence of lung volume on airflow-intensity relationships. Of the 30 decrescendo phonations, 26 showed statistically significant correlation coefficients and none showed significant negative correlations. The crescendo phonations, however, showed greater inter- and intrasubject variability. Of the 30 crescendo phonations, 16 showed statistically significant positive correlation coefficients and 6 showed significant negative correlations. Because lung inflation varied directly with intensity in the decrescendo task and indirectly in the crescendo task, it was concluded that lung volume does influence the consistency and strength of relationship between airflow and intensity. The findings are discussed in terms of the influence of lung volume on the relative contributions of glottal resistance and expiratory force to the regulation of subglottal pressure.
Sidetone Amplification, Noise, and Stuttering
Authors: Martin Richard R. , Siegel Gerald M. , Johnson Linda J. , Haroldson Samuel K.
Published: August 2014

In the present study, 24 stutterers and 24 matched nonstutterers spoke spontaneously under conditions of quiet, noise (60, 80, 100 dB SPL re .0002 dynes/cm
2
), and amplified sidetone (0, + 10, + 20 dB SPL re .0002 dynes/cm
2
). All 24 stutterers and 23 of the 24 nonstutterers experienced a decrease in vocal intensity from quiet to 20 dB amplified sidetone. All the nonstutterers and 23 of the stutterers experienced an increase in vocal intensity, from quiet to 100 dB noise. As a group, the stutterers experienced a significant decrease in stuttering in the noise conditions; however, with regard to the amplified sidetone conditions, only those stutterers who experienced noise first showed a significant reduction in stuttering during amplified sidetone.
Rhythm in Thai Esophageal Speech
Authors: Gandour Jack , Weinberg Bernd , Petty Soranee Holasuit , Dardarananda Rochana
Published: August 2014

Duration measurements associated with rhythmic aspects of speech produced by one Thai esophageal speaker were compared to previously published identical measures for normal Thai speakers. Measures of central tendency and variability were taken of the duration of syllables, pauses, phrases, and interstress intervals. Despite a slower-than-normal overall speaking rate and a shorter-than-normal phrase length, the esophageal speaker was able to maintain normal relative temporal relations among syllables within phrases. Although his speech was dysrhythmic at the overall discourse level, it was rhythmic at the phrase level. Findings are interpreted to highlight the importance of differentiating features of alaryngeal speech that are common across languages from those that are specific to particular languages.
Binaural Loudness Summation in the Hearing Impaired
Authors: Hawkins David B. , Prosek Robert A. , Walden Brian E. , Montgomery Allen A.
Published: August 2014

Binaural loudness summation was measured using three different paradigms with 10 normally hearing and 20 bilaterally symmetrical high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss subjects. An adaptive paradigm and a loudness matching procedure measured summation at the lower and upper level of comfortable loudness and the loudness discomfort level (LDL). Monaural and binaural LDLs also were obtained with a clinical procedure designed to select maximum output of hearing aids. Stimuli for all three tasks consisted of 500- and 4000-Hz pure tones and a speech spectrum noise. Binaural summation increased with presentation level using the loudness matching procedure, with values in the 6–10 dB range. Summation decreased with level using the adaptive paradigm, and no summation was present with the clinical LDL task. The hearing-impaired subjects demonstrated binaural summation that was not significantly different from the normally hearing subjects. The results suggest that a bilaterally symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss does not affect binaural loudness summation. The monaural and binaural dynamic range widths were similar, and the LDL results suggest that binaural loudness summation may not be an important factor in selecting maximum output of hearing aids.
Syntactic Preservation in Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Kempler Daniel , Curtiss Susan , Jackson Catherine
Published: August 2014

Language ability of 20 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) was evaluated. Analysis of spontaneous speech revealed a normal range and frequency of syntactic constructions but poor lexical use. A writing task showed a similar divergence, with the ability to use syntactic cues significantly more intact than the ability to use semantic cues. The results are taken to indicate that syntactic ability is selectively preserved in AD. These findings are consistent with a modular theory of grammar and of mental functions more generally. A tentative explanation of these phenomena is proposed in which the overlearned and automatic nature of syntactic ability helps account for its resilience to cognitive dissolution and cortical degeneration.
Frequency Resolution in Children
Authors: Allen Prudence , Wightman Frederic , Kistler Doris , Dolan Terrence
Published: August 2014

The auditory frequency resolving ability of preschool children, school-aged children, and adults was assessed in a standard forced-choice masking experiment. Thresholds for pure-tone signals at 500 Hz, 2000 Hz, and 4000 Hz were obtained in two masking conditions. In one condition, the masker was a 4000-Hz-wide band of noise centered at the signal frequency; in the other, there was a notch in the noise spectrum, approximately one-half octave wide and 50 dB deep, centered at the signal frequency. Frequency resolving ability was inferred from the difference in signal threshold between the two masking conditions. The adaptive forced-choice psychophysical procedure was embedded in a video game in order to obtain rigorous pyschophysical data within the attentional limits of young children. This procedure produced data from children as young as 3 years old that were qualitatively indistinguishable from adult data. However, the threshold estimates from the children were more variable from run to run than were the estimates obtained from adults. The mean data from this experiment suggest that frequency resolving ability improves at all frequencies with increasing age.
The Automatic Extraction of Pitch Perturbation Using Microcomputers
Authors: Deem Jodelle F. , Manning Walter H. , Knack Joseph V. , Matesich Joseph S.
Published: August 2014

A program for the automatic extraction of jitter (PAEJ) was developed for the clinical measurement of pitch perturbations using a microcomputer. The program currently includes 12 implementations of an algorithm for marking the boundary criteria for a fundamental period of vocal fold vibration. The relative sensitivity of these extraction procedures for identifying the pitch period was compared using sine waves. Data obtained to date provide information for each procedure concerning the effects of waveform peakedness and slope, sample duration in cycles, noise level of the analysis system with both direct and tape recorded input, and the influence of interpolation. Zero crossing extraction procedures provided lower jitter values regardless of sine wave frequency or sample duration. The procedures making use of positive- or negative-going zero crossings with interpolation provided the lowest measures of jitter with the sine wave stimuli. Pilot data obtained with normal-speaking adults indicated that jitter measures varied as a function of the speaker, vowel, and sample duration.
Some Constraints on Functionally Disordered Phonologies
Authors: Dinnsen Daniel A. , Chin Steven B. , Elbert Mary , Powell Thomas W.
Published: August 2014

The phonological systems of 40 functional misarticulators, ages 40 to 80 months were examined in terms of the nature and variation of phonetic inventories and phonotactic constraints. It was found that these properties of disordered systems were governed by severe constraints that yielded a typological characterization of such systems along with associated implicational laws. The principles governing disordered systems were also found to parallel closely the principles governing normal first language acquisition. The evidence suggests that at least these properties of disordered systems represent delays in the normal acquisition process and are not otherwise deviant. The assessment and treatment of functional disorders along with the projection of learning patterns can thus appeal to principles governing such phonological systems.
Statistical Comparison of Movement Amplitudes from Groupings of Normal Geriatric Speakers
Authors: Forrest Karen , Weismer Gary , Adams Scott
Published: August 2014

An implicit assumption of many studies of articulatory kinematics is that all normal speakers are equivalent, at least in a statistical sense. The present report investigated this assumption by performing
post hoc
analyses on random groups of 8 normal, geriatric males. Results of these analyses suggest that, at least for the geriatric population, small numbers of subjects may not represent the parent population adequately, especially when the unit of statistical analysis is the individual trial. These findings have implications for the types of generalizations that can be made from studies with small samples and suggest the need for more comprehensive investigations of speech kinematics.
Acoustical Durations of Speech Segments During Stuttering Adaptation
Authors: Prins David , Hubbard Carol P.
Published: August 2014

Acoustical durations of stutter- and disfluency-free speech segments from Readings #1 and #5 in an adaptation series were measured in 4 adapting, 4 nonadapting, and 4 nonstuttering subjects. The segment durations measured were intervocalic interval, stop-gap, voice onset time, and vowel duration. No clear trends in the change of acoustical durations from Reading #1 to Reading #5 distinguished the adapting, nonadapting, or nonstuttering subjects. Moreover, on the basis of speech naturalness judgments, listeners did not differentiate the Reading #1 and #5 phrase segments of subjects with high adaptation versus those with low adaptation scores. From these findings and related literature, adaptation of stuttering, as well as other fluency-inducing conditions, are viewed as circumstances that reduce demands upon central motor-linguistic processes.
Distortion-Product Otoacoustic Emissions in Humans with High Frequency Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Authors: Harris F. P.
Published: August 2014

Distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and pure-tone behavioral thresholds were compared in 20 ears with normal hearing and in 20 ears with high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose was to determine if DPOAE amplitude is associated with pure-tone behavioral threshold. Comparison of results from the two groups of ears indicated that DPOAEs were reduced in amplitude or were absent in ears with high-frequency hearing loss. The differences occurred at frequencies above 1,500 Hz. Comparing results from 750 to 8,000 Hz within the same ear revealed a frequency-related correspondence of elevated behavioral threshold to reduced DPOAE amplitude. When behavioral thresholds were better than 20 dB HL, DPOAE amplitude was within the range (±2
SD
s) determined for the ears with normal hearing. When pure-tone threshold was greater than 50 dB HL, DPOAEs were absent or were significantly attenuated in 16/17 subjects (94%). The association of emission level with behavioral threshold level was variable when threshold was between these two extremes. Results imply that the measurement of DPOAEs has clinical potential as a means of detecting hearing loss by frequency.