bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Observations on Type V Bekesy Tracings
Authors: Stein Laszlo
Published: August 2014

Jerger and Herer (1961) were the first to report an apparent relationship between functional hearing loss and the Type V Bekesy pattern. Several recent studies have added substantial support to the original observation, although the number of subjects on whom these findings are based is still limited. The present study was undertaken to provide additional information on: (a) the frequency of occurrence of the Type V Bekesy tracing, (b) the manner and degree to which the interrupted tracing drops below the continuous tracing, and (c) the possible existence of additional signs of functionality in the Bekesy audiogram. Bekesy audiometry was undertaken with 100 veterans referred for audiologic examination. Thirty showed other evidence of functional hearing loss. Of these 30 subjects, 17 or 57% recorded Type V patterns and an additional nine recorded Bekesy patterns that could not be classified. In total, 26 of 30 or 87% of subjects with nonorganic hearing loss recorded Type V or unclassifiable Bekesy patterns. The remaining three subjects in this group recorded Type II or Type IV tracings. These findings suggest that the occurrence of either a Type V or unclassifiable Bekesy pattern should alert the audiologist to the possibility of functional hearing loss.
“Stuttering” in Normal Speech
Authors: Blankenship Jane
Published: August 2014

“Stuttering” in normal speech occurs more on lexical items than on function words, This and other recent general research in hesitation phenomena correlate closely with previous research in the loci of stuttering in the speech of stutterers. They all suggest the “stuttering” is closely related to grammatical factors. Current research by both descriptive linguists and by psycholinguist will be of relevance to further research in the properties of stuttered words.
Oral Language Behavior of Older Cerebral Palsied Children
Authors: Love Russell J.
Published: August 2014

A battery of six tests assessing various aspects of receptive and expressive oral language was administered to 27 cerebral palsied children and controls matched on the variables of age, intelligence, sex, race, hearing acuity, socio-economic status, and similarity of educational background. Results indicated only minimal differences between groups. Signs of deviancy in language behavior often attributed to the cerebral palsied were not observed. Although previous investigators have suggested consistent language disturbances in the cerebral palsied, evidence for a disorder of comprehension and formulation of oral symobls was not found.
The Influence of Selected Home Background Variables on the Development of Oral Communication Skills in Children
Authors: Marge Michael
Published: August 2014

One hundred forty-three preadolescent subjects and their parents took part in a study to determine the effects of certain home background variables on the development of speech and language skills. The children were evaluated on 40 speech and language measures by classroom teachers and by speech specialists. Findings indicated that (a) the children of permissive mothers achieved higher scores in language maturity; (b) parental demands were strongly related to general speaking ability as assessed by teachers; and (c) greater use of techniques of speech training in the home led to higher scores in general speaking ability as assessed by teachers.
Mitigated Echolalia of Children
Authors: Fay Warren H.
Published: August 2014

Incidence of mitigated echolalia, a subcategory of verbal echoic response first noted among adult aphasics, was tabulated from recorded conversations of 40 echolalic children. A total of 331 samples were classified according to three major types: pronominal reciprocation, echoic segment preceded or foliowed by utterance, and a third grouping of miscellaneous combinations.
A Factor Analytic Study of the Relation Between the Speed of Visual Perception and the Language Abilities of Deaf Adolescents
Authors: Olson Jack R.
Published: August 2014

Thirty-nine deaf adolescents from two state residential schools for the deaf were administered five visual perceptualtest measures (22 scores) and three language measures (10 scores) to determine whether or not the skills of visual perception were related to language acquisition. The data were converted to a correlation matrix and a factor analysis was performed. The correlation coefficients and the ten factors extracted from this matrix show the measures of visual perception and the language tasks used in this investigation to be positively related.
The Effect of Noise on Synthetic Sentence Identification
Authors: Speaks Charles , Karmen Jane L.
Published: August 2014

The effect of masking noise on identification of synthetic sentences was studied on seven listeners with normal hearing. Performance-intensity (P-I) functions were defined for speech presentation levels ranging from 20 to 70 dB SPL. Noise exerted no appreciable influence on the steepness of the functions. The shift in threshold of identification varied in direct proportion to the overall noise level for noise intensities exceeding 40 dB SPL. Results are compared with the data of Hawkins and Stevens (1950) for thresholds of intelligibility and detectability and contrasted with previously reported results using a competing speech signal.
Effect of Median Frequency Levels upon the Roughness of Jittered Stimuli
Authors: Coleman Robert F.
Published: August 2014

This study investigated the relationship between median frequency levels and roughness perception for jittered stimuli. Five median frequency levels were combined with four jitter excursions to form stimuli which were submitted to 32 listeners, who judged roughness by paired comparisons, rating scale, and magnitude estimation techniques.

The results showed the same trends in each of the procedures. Stimuli of lower median frequency were judged to be rougher than those of higher median frequency, for all jitter conditions. The conclusion is that the median frequency levels of jittered wavetrains do affect the perception of roughness in analog stimuli. Whether the same relationship holds for human rough voices must be experimentally verified.
Assessing Communication Attitudes Among Stutterers
Authors: Erickson Robert L.
Published: August 2014

The responses given to each of 466 Communication Inventory items by a group of 100 nonstutterers were contrasted with those given by a criterion group of 50 stutterers. A scale of communication attitudes (S-scale) was empirically derived on the basis of item responses that differentiated stutterers from nonstutterers. This scale was further refined by eliminating items that, in two additional groups of subjects, failed to demonstrate significant correlation with the dichotomy of stutterer versus nonstutterer. Observed relationships between S-scale scores and (1) self- and clinician-ratings of stuttering severity, (2) self-ratings of improvement since beginning therapy, and (3) self-ratings and self-descriptions of reactions to social conversation suggest that the S-scale does provide information about attitudes of stutterers toward interpersonal communication. The scores obtained on this scale are related to other criterion measures of interest to the speech pathologist, and the method by which the scale was derived appears to be a useful one.
Time-Out as a Punishment for Button Pushing
Authors: Martin Richard , Gaviser Judith
Published: August 2014

Three normal-speaking adults were assigned the task of speaking spontaneously for fifteen 40-minute sessions. During baserate, the subjects simultaneously performed a motor task that consisted of depressing one or the other of two buttons on signal—one button push each seven seconds. During treatment sessions, each depression of the predetermined criterion button activated a red light. The light remained on for seven seconds, after which it was extinguished automatically until the next depression of the criterion button. Prior to each treatment session the subjects were told to stop speaking immediately when the red light came on and to remain silent for as long as the light was on.

For all three subjects, arranging the circumstances such that time-out from speaking for seven seconds was made contingent on pushing the criterion button resulted in a marked decrease in the frequency of criterion button pushes.
Effects of Delay of Reinforcement on Probability Learning by Aphasic Subjects
Authors: Brookshire Robert H.
Published: August 2014

Nine aphasic and nine nonaphasic subjects participated in a probability learning problem in which they attempted to track changing reinforcement ratios on two manipulanda. During portions of the problem, delay of reinforcement was introduced, and its effect upon each subject’s performance was examined. The performance of nonaphasic subjects did not appear to be affected by introduction of 1- and 2-sec delay of reinforcement. Two aphasic subjects did not learn to track changing reinforcement ratios even under conditions of no delay. The performances of five of the seven remaining aphasic subjects were influenced by the introduction of 1- and 2-sec delay of reinforcement. The performance of the remaining two aphasic subjects did not appear to be affected by introduction of delay of reinforcement.
Individual Consistency of Hearing for Speech Across Diverse Listening Conditions
Authors: Carhart Raymond , Tillman Tom W.
Published: August 2014

Twenty speech tests each were administered twice to nine presbycuses and to nine individuals with other sensorineural hearing impairments. Ten of the 20 tests were received unaided and 10 with a hearing aid. Measures included spondee thresholds and discrimination for monosyllabic words in quiet and against competing sentences. Subjects tended to preserve their individual differences in scores on successive encounters with the same task, across the several spondee threshold tests, across the several discrimination tests and, to lesser degree, on comparisons between threshold tests and discrimination tests. Seven factors influenced performance. The weighting of these factors was partly a function of the distribution of the different tests and partly of the experimental variables. Comparison of results with factor analyses derived: from single runs of the same 20 tests administered to four pairs of groups including normals, conductives, presbycusics, and younger sensorineural, respectively, showed the total array of factors that emerged to vary somewhat with the group. Discrimination and sensitivity are two basic and relatively independent dimensions in hearing for speech as tested in this experiment. The other factors that appear against the framework of these two major dimensions depend upon the types of listener and the clusters of auditory task imposed.
Evaluation of Intraverbal Responses in Five- to Seven-Year-Old Children
Authors: Poon William , Butler Katharine G.
Published: August 2014

The development of gestural usage as a response to intraverbal stimuli was investigated in 89 five- to seven-year-old school children. A modified version of the Intraverbal Gesture subtest of the Parsons Language Sample was employed. A significant developmental pattern of intraverbal responses was obtained. Implications in terms of the Skinnerian concept of intraverbal behavior are discussed.
Behavioral and Human Evoked Response Thresholds as a Function of Frequency
Authors: Henderson Donald
Published: August 2014

This experiment measured the correspondence between the method of adjustment quiet threshold and the human vertex response (AER) quiet threshold, when various frequency signals were used. Behavioral and AER thresholds of four subjects were measured, using tone bursts of 250, 500, 4000, or 6000 Hz. The tone bursts had a 25-msec overall duration (5-msec rise/fall time and 15-msec plateau). The signals were presented every two seconds and the AER was computed on 50 samples. The differences between the AER and behavioral thresholds were approximately 10 dB for the 250- and 500-Hz signals and 20–22 dB for the 4000- and 6000-Hz signals. The implications of these results for the clinical application of AER are discussed.
A Factor-Analytic Study of the Articulation of Selected English Consonants
Authors: Edwards Keith J. , Anderson James G.
Published: August 2014

This study obtained the results of a factor analysis of speech articulation data for a sample of elementary school children with functional articulation disorders. A principal components type factor analysis yielded 11 factorially distinct components which could be interpreted in terms of the common placement classification of Fairbanks (1960). Seven of the pretest-posttest reliabilities and five of the split-sample reliabilities for the 11 factors exceeded 0.80. There was little difference between components derived from orthogonal and oblique rotations. The findings of this study and of Schutz, Mowrer, and Baker (1964) raise important questions regarding the validity of the concept of phonetic context in articulation testing for classes of phonemes other than the stops. Moreover, the identification of 11 articulation component scores suggests that articulation research using the multivariable approach proposed would provide more accurate, detailed information concerning a student’s articulation proficiency, as well as information regarding relationships among articulation variables which are obscured when a single measure is used.
Forward Coarticulation of Velar Movement at Marked Junctural Boundaries
Authors: McClean Michael
Published: August 2014

The effects of marked junctural boundaries on the onset of forward velar coarticulation were studied using high-speed cinefluorographic techniques. Three subjects were filmed while producing a constant CVVN sequence with a variety of prosodically marked boundaries falling between the two vowels. Frame-by-frame tracings made of the velum and associated reference structures yielded plots of velar movement over the CVVN sequence. The results showed that the onset of forward coarticulation to the nasal consonant was consistently delayed in those cases where marked junctural boundaries were present. Previous data on velar coarticulation at unmarked boundaries were corroborated, and two patterns of velar movement are described.
Influence of Background Noise on the Early Components of the Averaged Electroencephalic Response to Clicks
Authors: Smith Linda Lou , Goldstein Robert
Published: August 2014

Early components of the averaged electroencephalic response (AER) were studied in 10 normal-hearing subjects. Clicks were presented monaurally at 24 dB SL in the presence of an ipsilateral white noise whose level was systematically varied. AER peak-to-peak amplitude and peak latency were measured. Response amplitude varied inversely with masker level; latency did not vary systematically. No responses were detectable when the clicks were subjectively masked by the white noise.
Short-Term Habituation of the Infant Auditory Evoked Response
Authors: Dorman Michael F. , Hoffmann Robert
Published: August 2014

Short-term habituation of the vertex auditory evoked response was studied in six infants (age 10 to 14 weeks). The infants were presented trains of four synthetic speech stimuli. The average amplitude of the evoked responses was largest to the first member of the stimulus train and then decreased rapidly. The average amplitudes to the second, third, and fourth stimuli in the train were 36, 41, and 22% of the first stimulus amplitude, respectively. The results suggest that the auditory evoked response of awake infants satisfies several of the criteria for short-term habituation.
The Effect of a Four-Week Interval on the Consistency of Stuttering
Authors: Stefankiewicz Sabina P. , Bloodstein Oliver
Published: August 2014

Our primary purpose was to test the hypothesis that the consistency normally found in the loci of stutterings in repeated readings of a passage declines if a four-week interval is interposed between readings. Nineteen stutterers read aloud two passages of equal length and difficulty. One passage was read twice in succession. The other was read twice with a four-week interval between readings. Consistency was defined as the percentage of stuttered words in the second reading that had also been stuttered in the first. We found a significant difference in consistency between the two conditions. The mean consistency was 62.6% in successive readings and 49.3% with the time interval interposed. Alternative explanations of this decrease are possible. The findings also extend a previous observation that significant consistency remains after a two-week interval and tend to confirm the view that learned responses to stimuli play a major role in the consistency effect.
The Relationship between Esophageal Speech Proficiency and Selected Measures of Auditory Function
Authors: Martin Daniel E. , Hoops H. Raymond , Shanks James C.
Published: August 2014

Twenty-one male laryngectomees enrolled in intensive esophageal speech training were given a variety of auditory tests two weeks after beginning therapy. Included in the battery was a multiple-choice discrimination test designed to assess ability to discriminate esophageal speech. After four months of therapy, subjects recorded a standard passage. Listening tapes were constructed from these recordings. Twenty unsophisticated listeners rated each subject’s overall speech proficiency on a sevenpoint scale. All auditory measures, that is, pure-tone average, speech reception threshold, speech discrimination, and esophageal speech discrimination, were significantly correlated with mean ratings of speech proficiency. Stepwise regression indicated that the measure of the ability of laryngectomees to discriminate average esophageal speech was significant at the 0.01 level and accounted for 38% of the total variance in judged esophageal speech proficiency. This finding lends support to the clinical observation that ability to understand esophageal speech may be an important variable in acquiring esophageal speech.
A Comparison of Individual Units of an Artificial Mastoid
Authors: Weatherton M. A. , Ferguson Anna G.
Published: August 2014

Output measurements of three bone vibrators were taken with three different units of the Beltone artificial mastoid to test for differences among units of the artificial mastoid. The effects of differences in mounting fixtures were also investigated. The results indicated that units of the Beltone artificial mastoid do not differ significantly and that the differences between mounting fixtures have an insignificant effect on output measurements.
EMG Activity within the Pharynx during Speech Production
Authors: Minifie Fred D. , Abbs James H. , Tarlow Arlene , Kwaterski Mitchell
Published: August 2014

Electromyography (EMG) of the superior and middle constrictor muscles was recorded during phonated and whispered productions of the vowels /i/ and /a/ and the stop consonants /p/ and /b/ in VCVCV trisyllables. Lower levels of EMG activity were consistently associated with production of the voiced consonant /b/ than with comparable productions of the voiceless consonant /p/. Larger amplitude EMG signals were associated with vowel production than with consonant production. No systematic differences in muscle activity were observed as a function of phonated VS whispered productions. These findings are interpreted in relation to the active role of the pharynx during speech production.
Acoustic-Reflex Response to Sustained Signals
Authors: Wiley Terry L. , Karlovich Raymond S.
Published: August 2014

Acoustic-reflex activity was observed for 10 normal-hearing young adults using three sustained activating signals: 500-Hz tone, 4000-Hz tone, and broad-band noise. Reflex activity was observed over a period of three to five minutes at activator levels of 5, 10, and 15 dB above individual acoustic-reflex thresholds. General findings were that (1) acoustic-reflex adaptation was present to some degree for all three activating signals, (2) the amount of reflex adaptation varied with the spectrum of activating signals (reflex adaptation was greatest for the 4000-Hz activator, less for the noise activator, and least for the 500-Hz activating signal), (3) the rate of reflex adaptation differed with activator spectrum (reflex-adaptation rate was relatively rapid for the 4000-Hz activator, slower for noise, and much slower for the 500-Hz activating signal), and (4) reflex adaptation did not appear to vary systematically with activating-signal level except for the 500-Hz activator, in which case reflex adaptation appeared to begin earlier in time and to be of greater magnitude as the activating-signal level was increased.
Some Masking Effects Produced by Low-Frequency Vowel Formants in Persons with Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Authors: Danaher Ellen M. , Pickett J. M.
Published: August 2014

Discrimination of second-formant (F2) transitions in synthetic vowels was measured with and without the first formant (F1) present, with F1 and F2 presented monotically vs dichotically, and with the onset of F1 delayed relative to the onset of F2. Twenty-three subjects with sensorineural loss were tested. When F2 was presented alone, discrimination thresholds were the same as those of normal-hearing subjects. In most sensorineural subjects, discrimination was reduced whenever F1 was present in the stimulus. F1 produced three types of masking that reduced the ability to discriminate F2 transitions: upward spread of masking and backward masking occurred when F1 and F2 were presented to the same ear; a type of central masking occurred when F1 and F2 were presented to opposite ears.
The Influence of Noise on Stutterers' Different Disfluency Types
Authors: Conture Edward G. , Brayton Evelyn R.
Published: August 2014

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of noise on the types of disfluencies of stutterers. Seventeen adult stutterers read prose aloud in the presence of a white noise (95 dB SPL). The frequency of types of disfluencies was determined and compared to the frequency of types of disfluencies obtained in a control condition. The presence of noise significantly reduced the total number of instances of disfluency behaviors. It significantly influenced only those disfluency types (part-word repetitions) that had a high frequency of occurrence during control. The findings indicate that the effect of noise on disfluency appears only for disfluency types that occur with a relatively high frequency in the control condition.
Comparison of Glottal Area Changes as Measured from Ultrahigh-Speed Photographs and Photoelectric Glottographs
Authors: Harden R. Joyce
Published: August 2014

To determine the relationship of information on glottal area function provided by deviations sensed by the photoelectric glottograph to that derived from a frame-by-frame analysis of ultrahigh-speed photographic film, simultaneous photographic and glottographic recordings were obtained from five subjects. From the investigation, the following results were obtained: (1) the measurements of the light deviations sensed by the photoelectric glottograph during laryngeal vibrations produced curves that approximated those developed from photographic film frame-by-frame measurements of the visual image in vocal fry, modal, and falsetto voice registers, and (2) the Fourier coefficients of the compared data indicated that there was no significant difference between the curves.
Traits Attributed to Stuttering and Normally Fluent Males
Authors: Woods C. Lee , Williams Dean E.
Published: August 2014

To determine if a stereotype of the “typical stutterer” exists and to identify possible differences in that stereotype due to exposure to stuttering, seven groups of subjects having a wide range of possible exposure to stutterers rated four hypothetical concepts (typical eight-year-old male, typical eight-year-old male stutterer, typical adult male, and typical adult male stutterer) on 25 scales arranged in a semantic differential format. These bipolar scales were derived from words previously judged by speech clinicians as descriptive of stutterers and antonyms of those words. It was concluded that a strong stereotype of a stutterer’s personal characteristics exists, that the stereotype is predominantly unfavorable, that the stereotype is essentially unaffected by amount of exposure to actual stutterers, and that the traits attributed to boys and men who stutter are similar. Some implications of the study are discussed.
The Influence of Three Phonological Rules of Black English on the Discrimination of Minimal Word Pairs
Authors: Baran Jane , Seymour Harry N.
Published: August 2014

Minimal word pairs that are presumed to be perceptually difficult to differentiate when spoken in black English were examined relative to (1) black children’s performance in differentiating the meanings of their own word pair productions and those of other blacks and whites and (2) white children’s performance in differentiating the meanings of word pairs produced by black children. Perceptual errors were significantly greater for whites listening to word pairs produced by blacks than for blacks listening to themselves, other blacks, or whites. No significant differences were found among blacks listening to themselves, other blacks, and whites. Perceptual errors followed predictable patterns that were influenced by three phonological rules of black English. Also, the data suggest that there are phonemic cues that are imperceptible to non-black-English speakers which allow black-English speakers to differentiate word pairs.
Vowel Duration Characteristics of Esophageal Speech
Authors: Christensen John M. , Weinberg Bernd
Published: August 2014

The duration of a large number of representative vowels produced by 10 esophageal and nine normal speakers were measured. Overall vowel durations of esophageal speakers were consistently longer than those of normal speakers, indicating that esophageal speakers do not compensate for their striking diminution in air supply for speech by decreasing vowel duration. The differences in the vowel duration characteristics between normal and esophageal speakers were observed to vary systematically as a function of the voicing features of their consonant environments. Specifically, the durations of vowels of esophageal speakers spoken within voiceless consonant environments were consistently longer than those spoken in similar contexts by normal speakers. There were no significant differences between the average durations of vowels spoken by normal and esophageal speakers within voiced consonant environments. The observation that the durations of vowels produced by esophageal speakers differed significantly as a function of the voicing features of their consonant context was interpreted to support the belief that inherent, rule-governed durational features of English are retained following laryngeal amputation.
Evaluation of Syntax in Three-Year-Old Spanish-Speaking Puerto Rican Children
Authors: Linares-Orama Nicolas , Sanders Lois Joan
Published: August 2014

The performance of 30 normal and 30 language-deviant three-year-old Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican children was compared on two measures of linguistic proficiency. They are mean length of utterance, following a scoring procedure adapted for Spanish speakers by the primary investigator, and Lee’s Developmental Sentence Scoring procedure adapted for Spanish by Toronto. Results indicated that both methods of language assessment were sensitive to age and language status differences within the three-year age range. Accordingly, they can be usefully employed in research investigations to equate subjects on a linguistic basis, and in the clinical evaluation of small differences in the language maturity of preschool Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican children.
Middle Components of the AER to Tone-Pips in Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Subjects
Authors: McFarland William H. , Vivion Michael C. , Goldstein Robert
Published: August 2014

Tone-pips of 500, 1000, and 3000 Hz were presented at 0-, 10-, 20-, 35-, and 50-dB HL to 10 normal-hearing subjects and at 0-, 10-, 20-, 35-, and 50-dB SL to 10 subjects with conductive, sensorineural, or mixed hearing losses. Middle component (latencies 8–90 msec) averaged electroencephalic responses to the tone-pips were analyzed in terms of peak latencies and peak-to-peak amplitudes. Properties of the responses were generally the same for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects except that the hearing-impaired subjects showed slightly greater amplitudes overall. The small reduction in latencies with increasing stimulus frequency seen in the normal-hearing subjects was not observed in the hearing-impaired subjects.
Children’s Use of Spatial Prepositions in Two- and Three-Dimensional Tasks
Authors: Washington Dora S. , Naremore Rita C.
Published: August 2014

This study evaluates children’s performance on selected spatial prepositions and determines the age levels these prepositions are acquired in both receptive and expressive language, as revealed in tasks involving both two- and three-dimensional objects. Subjects were 80 children (40 males and 40 females), ranging in age from three years to four years and eleven months. All were native English speakers with no speech, hearing, or neurological disorders, and with normal intelligence. Results indicated a significant difference in test scores according to age (older children perform better than younger), task (comprehension scores higher than production scores), referent (three-dimensional tasks showing higher scores than two-dimensional tasks), and preposition. Children’s use of selected spatial prepositions is dependent on the semantic complexity of the preposition. Prepositions whose meanings can be described in terms of simple topological notions are understood and used with greater facility than those involving dimensional or Euclidean spatial notions. When the prepositional variable interacts with age, dimension, task, age + dimension, age + task, dimension + task, and age + dimension + task, overall differential responses are likely to occur.
Effects of Two Types of Motor Practice on Stuttering Adaptation
Authors: Bruce Melissa C. , Adams Martin R.
Published: August 2014

The present study identifies and compares the effects of two types of motor practice on stuttering adaptation. The study was designed to determine if whispered reading practice affects stuttering adaptation, and if practice in reading aloud is superior to whispered reading in promoting adaptation. In a control condition, eight stutterers read one of two matched passages aloud five times in succession. In an experimental condition, the remaining passage was read aloud on the first and fifth trials, and was read in a whisper on Trials 2, 3, and 4. The results indicated that (1) the stutterers' adaptation in the control condition was similar to the typical course of adaptation, (2) the three intervening whispered readings in the experimental condition neither inhibited nor facilitated adaptation, and (3) practice in reading aloud was superior to whispered practice in promoting stuttering adaptation. It was concluded that whispered reading practice does not facilitate stuttering adaptation when the measurement of that process requires reading aloud. Traditionally, adaptation has been measured only during reading done aloud. Consequently, practice in reading aloud has the greatest positive influence on the adaptation process.
Laryngeal Muscle Activity During Stuttering
Authors: Freeman Frances J. , Ushijima Tatsujiro
Published: August 2014

Laryngeal muscle activity during fluent and stuttered utterances was investigated via electromyography. Analysis revealed that stuttering was accompanied by high levels of laryngeal muscle activity and disruption of normal reciprocity between abductor and adductor muscle groups. Results are interpreted as demonstrating the existence of a laryngeal component in stuttering and showing a strong correlation between abnormal laryngeal muscle activity and moments of stuttering.
Effects of Cognitive Set Upon Laboratory Induced Verbal (Freudian) Slips
Authors: Motley Michael T. , Baars Bernard J.
Published: August 2014

Subjects participated in either of three treatments of a task which elicits verbal slips. With equal chance probabilities of eliciting verbal slips related either to electricity or to sex, subjects receiving a situational cognitive set toward electric shocks made more electricity-type verbal slips than sex-type errors, while the opposite was true for a situational cognitive set toward sex, and no difference occurred for a neutral cognitive set. Results provide insight into psycholinguistic processing of both naturally occurring verbal slips and normal error-free speech.
Phone Rate and the Effective Planning Time Hypothesis of Stuttering
Authors: Perkins William H. , Bell Jody , Johnson Linda , Stocks Janice
Published: August 2014

Effects on syllable disfluency and phone rate (duration of phones spoken per minute) were compared in 19 adult stutterers under three reading rate conditions: control; slow normally-spoken-word-syllable timed (WS); and phone-prolongation (PP) matched to WS in syllable rate. Both phone rate and syllable disfluency were progressively reduced from control to WS to PP conditions. These results strongly support the discoordination hypothesis that any condition which facilitates initiation of phonation in coordination with articulation and respiration will reduce stuttering. A broader hypothesis is that effective planning time for voice onset coordinations is the common element that explains the power of retarded phone rate, reduction of phonatory complexity, and rhythm virtually to eliminate stuttering.
Chest Wall Movements Prior to Phonation
Authors: Baken R. J. , Cavallo Stephen A. , Weissman Kenneth L.
Published: August 2014

Movements of the chest wall during the interval between an acoustic stimulus and the subject’s vocal response were examined and timed in eight normal males. The reaction-time interval was divisible into two phases, a latency period with duration independent on chest wall status at the time of stimulus and an adjustment period during which the rib cage and abdomen usually moved oppositionally to achieve a prephonatory postural set. The time required for this adjustment varied significantly with lung volume, but was independent of the ventilatory phase previously in progress.
Hearing Aid Measurements Using the Revised Standard
Authors: Townsend Thomas H.
Published: August 2014

Unlike previous standards, the revised hearing aid standard, (ANSI $3.22-1976), specifies tolerance requirements for the electroaeoustic characteristics of hearing aids. It is essential, therefore, that measurements of performance be made as accurately as possible. To assess the precision with which these measures can be made in a clinical environment, five hearing aids of the same model were each tested five times using Bruel and Kjaer instrumentation. When possible, data were recorded directly from the meter of the measuring amplifier as well as from the chart paper. The variability of the results was always less when data were obtained from the meter than from the chart. The ratio of the variability (meter:chart) differed depending on the test being made. The accuracy of the test system was derived (as required by the standard) both theoretically and empirically. When its estimated tolerances were added to the tolerances permitted for the aids, all hearing aids were found to perform well within the limits of the standard except for one measurement on one aid.
Cognitive Patterns and Learning Disabilities in Cleft Palate Children with Verbal Deficits
Authors: Richman Lynn C.
Published: August 2014

This study examined patterns of cognitive ability in 57 cleft lip and palate children with verbal deficit, but without general intellectual retardation. The question to be evaluated was whether the verbal disability displayed by these children was related primarily to a specific verbal expression deficit or a more general symbolic mediation problem. Two groups of children were identified on the basis of performance on cognitive tasks which require verbal mediation strategies without requiring vocal responses. The children with only a verbal expression problem performed significantly better on tasks requiring categorization and associative reasoning, although there were few apparent differences on memory items. Those children with a verbal expression deficit displayed both an underlying symbolic mediation deficiency and learning disabilities. There was a higher proportion of cleft-palate only children in the more severe group.
Use of Digitized Speech Materials in Audiological Research
Authors: Kamm Candace
Published: August 2014

An error in the figure Legend for Figure 4 (page 716) of the article "Use of Digitized Speech Materials in Audiological Research" by Candace Kamm, Ph.D., in the JSHR December 1980 issue has been found.

The second sentence of the legend, "A sampling frequency W
s
< 2w
c
gives the spectrum of (b)" should be as follows: "A sampling frequency w
s
> 2w
c
gives the spectrum of (b)."
Detection of Tones in Band-Reject Noise
Authors: Margolis Robert H. , Dubno Judy R. , Hunt Steven M. J.
Published: August 2014

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the detectability of tonal signals simultaneously presented with computer-generated, long duration (.5 sec), band-reject maskers. In Experiment 1, detectability of a tone of 500, 1000, or 2000 Hz presented at 50 dB SPL was measured as a function of the width of a spectral "notch" symmetrically placed around the tone. A narrow notch resulted in decreased detectability relative to the wide band (zero-notch width) control condition. Further increases in notch width resulted in increased detectability until subjects approached errorless performance. In Experiment 2, psychometric functions were obtained for a 1000-Hz tone presented in four notch-noise conditions. The slopes of the psychometric functions were consistently steeper in the band-reject conditions relative to the zero notch-width condition. These slope differences result in relationships between threshold and notch width that depend upon the region of the psychometric function from which the threshold estimates are obtained. In Experiment 3, the decrease in performance associated with the notch was found to increase in proportion to notch depth. The data suggest that spectral edges placed in the immediate vicinity of a tone reduce the detectability of the tonal signal. This "edge effect" is discussed in relation to two-tone inhibition that has been observed in the auditory nerve.
Children's Performance on a Binaural Fusion Task
Authors: Plakke Bruce L. , Orchik Daniel J. , Beasley Daniel S.
Published: August 2014

Binaural auditory fusion of 108 children (4, 6, and 8 years old) was studied using three lists of monosyllabic words (WIPI) presented at two sensation levels (30 and 40 dB). The words were processed to produce three bandwidth conditions (100, 300, 600 Hz) and were administered via three presentation modes (binaural fusion 1, diotic, binaural fusion 2). Results showed improved discrimination scores with increasing age, sensation level, and filter bandwidth. Diotic scores were better than binaural fusion scores for the narrower bandwidth conditions, but the diotic enhancement effect was seriously compromised in the widest bandwidth (600 Hz) condition. The results confirmed the contention that prior research results were equivocal due, in large measure, to procedural variability. Methods for reducing such variability and enhancing the clinical viability of binaural fusion tasks are suggested.
Word Duration in Early Child Speech
Authors: Kubaska Cathy A. , Keating Patricia A.
Published: August 2014

Word duration in early child speech was examined through a longitudinal study of a set of frequently occurring words for three snbjects. These samples were controlled for phonetic form, Durations were measured from wide- and narrow-band spectrograms. Results show that for some words, but not the majority, duration decreased over time; this effect does not appear to be due to increased familiarity with individual lexical items. Generally, word duration variations within the tested time ranges can be attributed to the effect of position-in-utterance. From the time a child first combines two words into a single phrase, a nonfinal word will be produced with a shorter duration than it would have in isolated or final position in an utterance.
A Fluent Backward Talker
Authors: Cowan Nelson , Leavitt Lewis A. , Massaro Dominic W. , Kent Raymond D.
Published: August 2014

This report documents the ability of a man to reverse the order of segments within words, so quickly that the simultaneous translation of forward speech into reversed speech was possible. Transcriptions of recorded backward speech and several processing tasks were used to clarify this man's profile of unusual linguistic skills. Analyses of the backward speech showed evidence of sensitivity to both phonemic and orthographic representations of the utterances.
The Effects of Temporal and Semantic Conditions on the Occurrence of the Error Response of Perseveration in Adult Aphasics
Authors: Pietro Mary Jo Santo , Rigrodsky Seymour
Published: August 2014

This study sought to determine whether the incidence of perseveration in the responses of adult aphasics could be affected by altering stimulus factors such as semantic difficulty and the rate of presentation of stimuli. Thirty-one aphasic men supplied 1-word responses within three randomly arranged language tasks: sentence completion, picture naming, and word reading. Within each task subjects received stimuli from two 20-word lists of words contrasted for their frequency of occurrence in the language. Each list was presented once with 1-sec intervals between subjects' responses and subsequent stimuli, and once with 10-sec intervals. Results indicated that when semantic difficulty as measured by the frequency of occurrence of the single-word responses was reduced, the mean number of perseverations decreased significantly. When time intervals were increased from 1 to 10 seconds, perseverations decreased significantly. Sentence completion and picture naming elicited significantly more perseverations than word reading. Perseveration and other verbal errors were similarly affected by the variable of semantic difficulty, but only perseverative errors were significantly reduced when time intervals were increased. Word length, presentation order of tasks and conditions, and time postonset of aphasia appeared to have little relationship to perseveration.
Cued Speech and the Reception of Spoken Language
Authors: Nicholls Gaye H. , Mcgill Daniel Ling
Published: August 2014

This study was designed to investigate the effect of Cued Speech on the speech reception abilities of profoundly hearing-impaired children under seven conditions of presentation: audition; lipreading: audition and lipreading; cues; audition and cues; lipreading and cues; and audition, lipreading, and cues. The 18 subjects had been taught through the use of Cued Speech for at least 4 years. The subjects were presented with specially designed speech tests (syllables and key words in sentences) which had been recorded on color videotape, and they responded in writing. Speech reception scores of over 95% with the key word in sentence materials and over 80% with the syllables were obtained with lipreading plus cues, and with audition, lipreading plus cues. Equally high levels of accuracy in speech reception by such children have not previously been reported. The subjects also demonstrated the ability: to use audition with the sentence materials, both in combination with lipreading and with cues, though there were large individual differences under these conditions. Speech reception abilities in the lipreading-plus-audition condition were highly correlated with scores for speech production, whereas language attainments were correlated with reception through Cued Speech. The implications of these findings to the field of aural rehabilitation are discussed.
The Annoyance of Tinnitus and the Noise Required to Mask It
Authors: Penner M. J.
Published: August 2014

For 11 patients with tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss, the intensity of bilateral broad-band noise required to mask the tinnitus increased by as much as 41 dB over a 30-minute period. A significant correlation was obtained between the rate of change in the noise over time and reported annoyance of the tinnitus as measured on a 5-point rating scale. The total change in the noise level and the initial noise level required to mask the tinnitus were not significantly correlated with the annoyance of the tinnitus.
"Compensatory Articulation" Under Conditions of Reduced Afferent Information
Authors: Kelso J. A. Scott , Tuller Betty
Published: August 2014

A well-established feature of speech production is that talkers, faced with either anticipated or unanticipated perturbations. can spontaneously adjust the movement patterns of articulators such that the acoustic output remains relatively undistorted. Less clear is the nature of the underlying processes involved. In this study we, examined five subjects' productions of the point Vowels /i, o, u / i n isolation and of the same vowels embedded in a dynamic speech context under normal conditions and under a combined condition, in which (a) the mandible was fixed by means of a bite block; (b) proprioceptive information was reduced through bilateral anesthetization of the temporomandibular joint; (c) tactile information from the oral mucosa was reduced by application of a topical anesthetic; and (d) auditory information was masked by white noise. Minimal distortion of the formant patterns was found in the combined condition. These findings are unfavorable for central (e.g., predictive simulation) or peripheral oral closed-loop models, both of which require reliable peripheral information; they are more in line with recent work suggesting that movement goals may be achieved by muscle collectives that behave in a way that is qualitatively similar to a nonlinear vibratory system.
Direct Magnitude Estimation and Interval Scaling of Stuttering Severity
Authors: Schiavetti Nicholas , Sacco Pat Richard , Metz Dale Evan , Sitler Ronald W.
Published: August 2014

The appropriateness of direct magnitude estimation and interval scaling for assessing stuttering severity was investigated by determining whether the continuum of the stutterers' judged severity was prothetic or metathetic. As operationally defined by Stevens, prothetic continua show a curvilinear relation between magnitude estimates and interval scale values of the same set of stimuli, whereas metathetic continua show a linear relation between these scale values. The stuttering severity of 20 stutterers was scaled by three groups of 15 listeners who used interval scaling, direct magnitude estimation with standard/modulus, and direct magnitude estimation without standard/modulus. The results indicated that the two sets of direct magnitude estimation scale values were related to the interval scale values in the curvilinear fashion that is typical of prothetic continua. These findings suggest that direct magnitude estimation is preferable to interval scaling for measuring stuttering severity.