bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tone-Glide Discrimination
Authors: Collins M. Jane
Published: July 2014

Speech sounds vary rapidly in frequency, and the status of the auditory system might be expected to influence the processing of time-varying signals. Two experiments were undertaken to determine the effect of sensorineural hearing loss on the discrimination of frequency-varying sinusoids which are analogous to second formant transitions and contiguous steady-state portions of consonant-vowel and vowel-consonant syllables. A transformed up-down procedure was used to estimate the difference limen of the glide (transition) portions of the stimuli. In Experiment 1, it was found that three of the four normal hearers exhibited larger difference limens for stimuli with glides preceding fixed-frequency (steady state) portions than for comparable glide-following conditions. Subjects with sensorineural hearing loss did not show this effect consistently. In Experiment 2, the possibility of temporal masking of the glide segment by the fixed-frequency segment was explored. Large individual differences in temporal masking effects were observed for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. Temporal masking could account for some, but not all of the differences in discriminability of glide-preceding and glide-following conditions. It appears hat audiometrically similar sensorineural hearing losses can differentially affect temporal masking and discrimination of the tone glides.
Partner Age as a Variable in the Conversational Performance of Specifically Language-Impaired and Normal-Language Children
Authors: Fey Marc E. , Leonard Laurence B.
Published: July 2014

The language used by a group of 4 ½–6-year-old specifically language-impaired (SLI) children, a group of same-aged normal-language (NL) children, and a group of younger NL children were observed in three dyadic contexts: with an adult female, with a peer, and with a toddler. Ten measures were selected to analyze the children's performance across partner contexts. The results revealed that the SLI children were as assertive in the conversations as were the children in the same-aged NL group. Further, the SLI children modified their language in the same manner and to the same extent as the same-aged NL children on all but three measures: use of internal state questions, mean length of utterance, and mean preverb length. Their ability to adapt their speech based on the age-related characteristics of the partner appeared at times to be greater than that of the younger NL children.
Anticipatory Imagery Ability in Normal and Language-Disabled Children
Authors: Savich Patricia A.
Published: July 2014

The literature on cognitive functioning of language-disabled children suggests that they exhibit specific disabilities in nonlinguistic as well as linguistic domains. These disabilities have been hypothesized to be related to deficits in cognitive representational ability. Anticipatory imagery and spatial representation have been reported as two nonlinguistic representational areas in which language-disordered children are deficient. The present study compared normal and language-disabled children on spatial representation tasks involving anticipatory imagery. Five spatial tasks were administered to two groups of 7 ½–9 ½- year-old children matched on sex, age, native language, and racial background. One group included 18 language-disabled children and the other group 18 children with normal language development. The language-disabled were less accurate than the normal children on all tasks which involved anticipation or prediction of mental rotations, movements, or other transformations. The results of this study suggest difficulty with dynamic cognitive representation in the linguistic and nonlinguistic deficits demonstrated by language-disabled children.
Acoustic Differentiation of Laryngeal, Esophageal, and Tracheoesophageal Speech
Authors: Robbins Joanne
Published: July 2014

This investigation was designed to determine if a multivariate acoustic classifier could effectively discriminate group membership for 15 tracheoesophageal, esophageal, and laryngeal speakers. Seven intensity, 10 frequency, and 13 duration measures were quantified from recorded voice samples. Using principal components analysis, a subset of the 13 least redundant acoustic and temporal measures was systematically selected from the 30 original measures and analyzed singly and jointly in terms of its ability to discriminate among the three speaker groups. Discriminant function analysis revealed perfect categorization of the 45 subjects, indicating that the three methods of speech production are acoustically and temporally distinct from one another. The relative importance of the selected variables which, in combination, significantly differentiated the three groups is discussed in relation to physiologic differences among groups and clinical application for postlaryngectomy vocal rehabilitation.
Frequency Selectivity and Consonant Intelligibility in Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Authors: Preminger Jill , Wiley Terry L.
Published: July 2014

The relations between frequency selectivity and consonant intelligibility were investigated in subjects with sensorineura] hearing loss in an attempt to derive predictive indices. Three matched pairs of subjects with similar audiometric configurations (high-frequency, fiat or low-frequency hearing loss) but significantly different word-intelligibility scores were tested. Characteristics of psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) for high- and low-frequency probes were compared with speech-intelligibility performance for high- and low-frequency consonant-vowel syllables. Frequency-specific relations between PTC characteristics and consonant-intelligibility performance were observed in the subject pairs with high-frequency and fiat sensorineural hearing loss. Corresponding results for the subject pair with low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss were equivocal.
Role of Inversion in Children's Question Development
Authors: Klee Thomas
Published: July 2014

Current developmental descriptions of children's Wh-question production are contradictory. One account posits a stage in which the auxiliary verb and subject noun phrase are uninverted, whereas another view offers no empirical support for such a stage. The purpose of the present investigation was to test these divergent developmental descriptions by analyzing children's spontaneously produced questions. Six children at each of three linguistic stages, defined by mean utterance length in morphemes and ranging from 2.50 to 3.99, were selected for study. The children were between 25 and 47 months of age and evidenced no speech, language, or hearing disorders. Although the results replicated the proposed semantic ordering of question types, a stage characterized by uninverted forms was not supported.
Laryngeal Behavior during Stuttering
Authors: Conture Edward G. , Schwartz Howard D. , Brewer David W.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to provide detailed, objective descriptions of stutterers' laryngeal behavior during instances of stuttering within conversational speech. Subjects were 11 adult stutterers who produced stutterings (sound prolongations and sound/syllable repetitions) while their laryngeal behaviors were observed by means of a flexible fiber-optic nasolaryngoscope (fiberscope). Laryngeal behaviors during 86 of the 11 stutterers' stutterings were categorized as adducted, intermediate, or abducted. Results indicate that during sound prolongations the vocal folds were more likely to be adducted and less variable in their movement than during sound/syllable repetitions. Results further indicated that the voicing characteristics of the stuttered sound (voiceless vs. voiced) and the type of stuttering (sound prolongation vs. sound/syllable repetition) interactively influenced laryngeal behavior. It is hypothesized that a complex interaction among the laryngeal, articulatory, and respiratory systems contribute to the occurrence of the inappropriate abductory and/or adductory laryngeal behavior which characterizes prolonged or repeated (stuttered) speech segments.
Increasing the Frequency of Stuttering
Authors: Young Martin A.
Published: July 2014

Information about the conditions under which stuttering varies should include variables that both increase as well as decrease stuttering. Most investigations in which the research factors have been under experimental control have focused on decreasing rather than increasing stuttering. This literature review Of conditions that might be expected to increase stuttering reveals that most investigators have not been able to raise stuttering frequency above control or base levels. Although some variables may increase stuttering, the research is too meager to speculate about underlying factors.
Threshold and Suprathreshold Correlations for the Oral Tactile Sensory Mechanism
Authors: Fucci Donald , Harris Daniel , Petrosino Linda
Published: July 2014

The possible relationship between threshold and suprathreshold responses for the lingual tactile system was investigated. Lingual vibrotactile thresholds and suprathreshold magnitude function exponents were correlated for 26 adult subjects. A statistical analysis of the correlations indicated that there was no significant relationship between thresholds and exponents. Vibrotactile threshold and suprathreshold information may be useful in increasing understanding of the complexities of oral somesthesis.
A "Rationalized" Arcsine Transform
Authors: Studebaker Gerald A.
Published: July 2014

Arcsine or angular transformations have been used for many years to transform proportions to make them more suitable for statistical analysis. A problem with such transformations is that the arcsines do not bear any obvious relationship to the original proportions. For this reason, results expressed in arcsine units are difficult to interpret. In this paper a simple linear transformation of the arcsine transform is suggested. This transformation produces values that are numerically close to the original percentage values over most of the percentage range while retaining all of the desirable statistical properties of the arcsine transform.
Effects of Presentation Rate and Divided Attention on Auditory Comprehension in Children with an Acquired Language Disorder
Authors: Campbell Thomas F. , McNeil Malcolm R.
Published: July 2014

We examined why auditory comprehension in language-disordered children improves when the rate of presentation of speech is slowed. Seven children with an acquired language disorder associated with a convulsive disorder participated in two divided-attention tasks in which pairs of sentences were presented simultaneously. Subjects were instructed to respond first to the sentence produced by a male speaker (primary sentence) and then to the sentence produced by a female speaker (secondary sentence). In the first condition, both sentences were presented at a normal rate of speech. In the second condition, primary sentences were time expanded 75%, and secondary sentences were presented at a normal rate. We hypothesized that when the primary sentences were presented slowly, spare attention would be available for processing the secondary sentences. Results showed that slowing the presentation rate of the primary sentences significantly improved performance on the secondary sentences, even though secondary sentences were presented at a normal rate of speech. Hypotheses of generally slowed processing of auditory information in language-disordered individuals cannot account for these results. They are consistent, however, with a model of defective attention allocation.
Conversational Structure and Topic Performance Mother-Child Interaction
Authors: Wanska Susan K. , Bedrosian Jan L.
Published: July 2014

Discourse participation and topic performance in mother-child interaction were examined. Thirty mother-child dyads, with children ranging in age from 2:10 to 6:3 (years:months), were videotaped in a 10-min free play situation. The interactions were analyzed using several measures of conversational participation and topic including discourse types, turn transitions, and maintenance. Results indicated that children in this age group shared similar characteristics of conversational participation with their mothers. However, the mothers of these children, like mothers of sensorimotor level children, maintained their role as facilitators of the structure and cohesiveness of discourse. Although the children, in general, were more discontinuous in their discourse than their mothers, they exhibited greater topic maintenance and use of shading, a more sophisticated conversational strategy, with increasing age and language abilities.
Effects of Feedback Filtering on Nasalization and Self-Perception of Nasality
Authors: Burzynski Cecile M. , Starr Clark D.
Published: July 2014

The effects of feedback filtering on nasality perception were investigated by having speakers produce sentences while hearing their voices unfiltered and low-pass filtered with cut-off frequencies of 1000, 500, and 300 Hz. As they spoke, speakers judged the nasality in their productions using a ratio scale. Measurements of nasalization were made with a miniature accelerometer attached to the side of the speaker's nose. Data obtained indicate that the speakers decreased their nasalization slightly when they heard their voices low-pass filtered at each cut-off frequency. However, they did not perceive consistent changes in their own nasality during the filtered conditions. These findings are interpreted as suggesting that nasalization is influenced by filtering air-conducted auditory information and that relationships between the acoustic correlates of nasalization and self-perception of nasality are complex.
Communicative Interactions of Mildly Delayed and Normally Developing Preschool Children
Authors: Guralnick Michael J. , Paul-Brown Diane
Published: July 2014

The communicative interactions of mildly delayed and normally developing preschool children were recorded during free play as they interacted with children at different developmental levels in a mainstreamed program. Analyses of syntactic complexity, semantic diversity, functional aspects of speech, and the use of selected discourse devices indicated that mildly delayed children adjusted important characteristics of their speech in accordance with the cognitive and linguistic levels of their companions. Specifically, speech addressed to less developmentally advanced children was less complex, more diverse, and consisted of a greater proportion of behavior requests but contained proportionally fewer information requests or information statements. These adjustments appeared to be well suited for improving communicative effectiveness and were similar in magnitude and direction to those of normally developing children. In addition, both mildly delayed and normally developing groups were generally successful in obtaining responses to their behavior and information requests. The implications of these findings were discussed in relation to the communicative competence of young children and to early childhood mainstreaming.
EMG Recording in Human Lip Muscles
Authors: Blair Claudia , Smith Anne
Published: July 2014

Electromyography, recording the electrical activity of muscles, is an electrophysiological method that has been used widely in the study of movement performance by human subjects. Borrowing from the tradition of electromyographic studies of limb muscles, investigators interested in speech production have used the method to address many important experimental questions. Unfortunately, data recorded from craniofacial muscles generally have been discussed without reference to problems of interpretation that could arise due to the unique anatomical features of the muscles, particularly the lip muscles. Anatomical data show that the fibers of different muscles of the lips are interdigitated so that fibers with differing spatial orientation typically are found within a small section of lower lip tissue. The anatomical data are consistent with results of physiological studies of the lower lip muscles that have suggested that motor units with different physiological characteristics are found within a single recording site. Together, the anatomical and electrophysiological data suggest that, even with intramuscular electrodes, the probability of recording from a single muscle of the lip in isolation is extremely low. The fact that the activity of more than one muscle is likely to be sampled critically determines the nature of the conclusions that can be drawn from the data.
Body Type and Speech Breathing
Authors: Hoit Jeannette D. , Hixon Thomas J.
Published: July 2014

Diameter changes of the rib cage and abdomen were recorded during tidal breathing and speech production in 12 adult male subjects grouped on the basis of prominence on three body type components: relative fatness, relative musculoskeletal development, and relative linearity. Data were charted to solve for lung volume, volume displacements of the rib cage and abdomen, and muscular mechanism. Tidal breathing differed across subject groups with regard to depth, rate, and chest wall configuration. Subjects rated high in relative fatness breathed deeper, slower, and with a greater chest wall deformation from relaxation than did other subjects: Speech breathing differed across subject groups with regard to relative volume contributions of the rib cage and abdomen, abdomeren excursions, rib cage paradoxing, and chest wall configuration. Subjects rated high in relative fatness demonstrated substantial abdomen contributions to lung volume change, large abdomen excursions, frequent rib cage paradoxing, and marked chest wall deformations from relaxation. By contrast, subjects rated high in relative linearity demonstrated large rib cage contributions to lung volume change; small abdomen excursions, and slight chest wall deformations from relaxation. Subjects rated high in relative musculoskeletal development generally represented a mixture of characteristics of the other two subject groups in their speech breathing performance. Functional differences are discussed in relation to possible underlying mechanism and inferences are drawn concerning evaluation and management of individuals with speech breathing disorders.
Acoustic Measures of Stutterers' and Nonstutterers' Fluency in Two Speech Contexts
Authors: Healey E. Charles , Ramig Peter R.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to compare stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluency during multiple productions of two dissimilar speech contexts. Twenty-two adult stutterers were matched within 1 year of age to 22 nonstutterers. Spectrographic analyses were performed on subjects' five consecutively fluent productions of a simple isolated phrase and a phrase extracted from an oral reading passage. Measures of fluent voice onset time (VOT), and vowel, consonant, and total phrase durations were calculated from the five repetitions of each phrase. From the isolated phrase, there were a total of five fluent durational measures (i.e., one VOT, two vowel, one consonant, & one phrase duration). For the phrase taken from the oral reading passage, six fluent measures were obtained (i.e., one VOT, three vowel, one consonant, & one phrase duration). Results demonstrated that only one of the five measurements taken during the isolated phrase condition was significantly different between the groups. Three of the six measures obtained from the phrase taken from the oral reading condition revealed significant between-group differences. No group differences were associated with the repetitions of either phrase for any of the dependent measures for both groups. These findings suggest that the length and complexity of the speech tasks used to obtain acoustic measures of stutterers' fluency play an important role in the discovery of differences between the fluency of the two groups.
Tinnitus as a Source of Internal Noise
Authors: Penner M. J.
Published: July 2014

For 7 patients with sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, pitch and loudness matches were made to the tinnitus. These matches were followed by measurement of three psychometric functions (probability of a correct response as a function of signal level) for pure tones, one in the presumed tinnitus region (i.e., at the average frequency matching the pitch of the tinnitus), one below the minimum frequency of the matches, and one above the maximum frequency of the matches. The data reveal (a) that pitch-loudness matches are usually quite variable and (b) that the slope of the psychometric function is flattest in the presumed tinnitus region. The first result is consistent with the idea that tinnitus is an unstable signal. The second result is consistent with the notion that the unstable tinnitus acts as a source of "internal" noise.
Speaking Clearly for the Hard of Hearing II
Authors: Picheny M. A. , Durlach N. I. , Braida L. D.
Published: July 2014

The first paper of this series (Picheny, Durlach, & Braida, 1985) presented evidence that there are substantial intelligibility differences for hearing-impaired listeners between nonsense sentences spoken in a conversational manner and spoken with the effort to produce clear speech. In this paper, we report the results of acoustic analyses performed on the conversational and clear speech. Among these results are the following. First, speaking rate decreases substantially in clear speech. This decrease is achieved both by inserting pauses between words and by lengthening the durations of individual speech sounds. Second, there are differences between the two speaking modes in the numbers and types of phonological phenomena observed. In conversational speech, vowels are modified or reduced, and word-final stop bursts are often not released. In clear speech, vowels are modified to a lesser extent, and stop bursts, as well as essentially all word-final consonants, are released. Third, the RMS intensities for obstruent sounds, particularly stop consonants, is greater in clear speech than in conversational speech. Finally, changes in the long-term spectrum are small. Thus, speaking clearly cannot be regarded as equivalent to the application of high-frequency emphasis.
Interactions between Speech and Finger Movements
Authors: Smith Anne , Mcfarland David H. , Weber Christine M.
Published: July 2014

Under the dynamic pattern perspective for motor control, movement is viewed as an "emergent" property, arising from cooperative relationships among limit-cycle oscillators. This is in contrast to more traditional approaches to motor control in which a central representation of movement is usually assumed to exist. The assertion that coordination of movement arises from interactions between oscillatory processes leads to some unexpected predictions. In particular, interactions between frequency and amplitude of simultaneously performed speech and manual tasks are predicted, because the organism "parameterizes" all ongoing oscillatory processes as a "total unit. " Using quantitative analyses, we have demonstrated that interactions between speaking and finger tapping do occur in both the amplitude and frequency domains. Such interactions, however, do not appear to be as simple as those predicted by proponents of the dynamic pattern perspective.
An Effect of Modeling and Imitation Teaching Procedures on Children with and without Specific Language Impairment
Authors: Connell Phil J.
Published: July 2014

Following a treatment program in which an invented morpheme was taught through either imitation or modeling procedures, the generalization of 40 specific language-impaired children was compared to that of 40 children learning language normally. The results of the comparison indicated that the two teaching procedures have opposite relative effects on the two groups. The abnormal group generalized more extensively following imitation teaching while the normal group generalized more extensively following modeling teaching. The opposing results of the two procedures on the two groups suggest that language-impaired children will benefit more from teaching strategies that are adapted to their unique learning styles than from strategies fashioned after the styles of children who learn language normally.
Effects of Consonantal Context on Vowel Lipreading
Authors: Montgomery Allen A. , Walden Brian E. , Prosek Robert A.
Published: July 2014

The effects of consonantal context on vowel lipreading were assessed for 30 adults with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss who lipread videotape recordings of two female talkers. The stimuli were the vowels /i,
I
,,
U
,u/ in symmetric CVC form with the consonants /p,b,f,v,t,d,∫,g/ and in the asymmetric consonantal contexts /h/-V-/g/, /w/-V-/g/, /r/-V-/g/. Analyses of the confusion matrices from each talker indicated that vowel intelligibility was significantly poorer in most contexts involving highly visible consonants, although the utterances of one talker were highly intelligible in the bilabial context. Among the visible contexts, the fricative and labiodental contexts in particular produced the lowest vowel intelligibility regardless of talker. Lax vowels were consistently more difficult to perceive than tense vowels. Implications for talker selection and refinement of the concept of viseme were drawn.
Functional Identification of the Perioral Neuromuscular System
Authors: Blair Claudia , Muller Eric
Published: July 2014

The components of a neuromuscular system are identified, and anatomical and physiological features of the elements are organized into a signal flow diagram. The elements of the perioral neuromuscular system are described in the context of the system flow diagram developed for a generalized neuromuscular system. Important features of commonality and contrast between limb and perioral systems, and areas of needed research are emphasized. Features of contrast include geometry and insertions of muscles, relative influence of inertial loads, and organization of inputs to motoneurons.
Temporal Acoustic Measures of Dysarthria Associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Caruso Anthony J. , Burton Estelle Klasner
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate stop-gap duration, voice onset time (VOT), and vowel duration in intelligible speakers with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Broadband sound spectrograms were used to measure 8 normal and 8 ALS speakers' intelligible speech productions of monosyllabic words containing word-initial stop-plosive consonants (/p, t, k, b, d, g/). Significant differences were found between the two groups for both vowel duration and stop-gap duration; moreover, correlational analysis indicated that the ALS speakers, as a group, exhibited a direct relationship between stop-gap and vowel durations associated with productions of /t/ and /k/. No significant differences were found between the two talker groups for VOT. Results will be related to the neuroanatomical and physiological mechanisms involved in dysarthric (ALS) speech.
A Respirometric Technique to Evaluate Velopharyngeal Function in Speakers with Cleft Palate, with and without Prostheses
Authors: Gilbert Harvey R. , Ferrand Carole T.
Published: July 2014

There is a paucity of respirometric quotient (RQ) data on individuals with velopharyngeal inadequacy. Paesani (1964) reported data using a technique that involved separate productions of the same task to obtain the RQ. The RQ values obtained were greater than unity, which is theoretically impossible. In the present study, respirometric quotients, the ratio of oral air volume expended to total volume expended, were obtained using separate but simultaneous productions of oral and nasal airflow. RQ values were calculated for 10 speakers with cleft palate, with and without their prosthetic appliances, and 10 normal speakers. As a group, those with cleft palate and without their appliances exhibited RQ values that were significantly lower than values obtained from the normal speakers and from speakers with the appliances in place. These findings indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in RQ values when comparing sentence repetition and counting tasks. These values were lower than those obtained for the nonnasal syllable repetition tasks, with the/m/ syllable repetition task generally being associated with the lowest RQ value of any of the speech tasks. The correlation between RQ values and perceptual judgments was -.60, indicating that there was modest agreement between the two measures. As RQ values decreased, perceptual judgments of nasality increased.
Speech-Muscle Visuomotor Tracking in Dysarthric and Nonimpaired Speakers
Authors: McClean Michael D. , Beukelman David R. , Yorkston Kathryn M.
Published: July 2014

Assessment of speech-muscle function during nonspeech tasks may provide an important component in the clinical evaluation of speech-motor disorders. Various methodological problems have limited the value of such data in the past. The goal of the present study was to evaluate a set of instrumental, objective procedures for assessment of the nonspeeeh performance capabilities of different speech-muscle systems. Subjects included 10 nonimpaired adults and a diverse group of 6 adult dysarthric individuals. Each subject performed visuomotor tracking of a 0.6-Hz sinusoidal target with the lower lip, jaw, larynx, and respiratory systems. Cross correlation and phase data were used to describe tracking performance. The nonimpaired subjects showed consistently high cross correlations with little phase shift. The dysarthric subjects showed a wide range of tracking performance which was generally consistent with their overall levels of speech performance and levels of neurological impairment. Differential levels of performance were noted across speech subsystems in some dysarthric subjects. In general, the results suggest that visuomotor-tracking paradigms provide a viable approach to clinical evaluation of speech-muscle function in nonspeech tasks.
Surface EMG Recording of the Perioral Reflexes
Authors: McClean Michael D.
Published: July 2014

The capability to record muscle-specific reflexes in the perioral muscles with surface electrodes could have practical significance for the study of speech production disorders. In the present study, surface electrodes were used to describe the perioral reflexes in 7 stutterers and 5 nonstutterers. Electromyographic (EMG) recordings were obtained at electrode sites associated with the orbicularis oris inferior muscle (OOI) and depressor labii inferior muscle (DLI) during lower-lip press and depression gestures. During postural maintenance of these gestures, innocuous mechanical stimuli were applied at the corner of the mouth. Signal averages on the two EMG signals for the two gestures and electrode sites revealed four distinct reflex response components: two excitatory (E1 and E2) and two suppression components (S1 and S2). During lip pressing, the OOI electrode site showed a prominent E1 response in all subjects, and, during lip depression, the DLI site showed an initial S1-E2 response pattern in the nonstutterers. These observations are consistent with previous descriptions of the perioral reflexes involving intramuscular electrodes. Quantitative differences in the perioral reflexes were not seen in the stutterers and nonstutterers. However, a difference was noted in the pattern of reflex response between the two groups during lip depression at the DLI electrode site.
Influence of Signal Duration on the Masking-Level Difference
Authors: Wilson Richard H. , Fugleberg Ruth A.
Published: July 2014

The effect of signal duration on the 500-Hz masking-level difference was studied in 4 subjects using an adaptive, two-interval, forced-choice method. S
o
N
o
, S
π
N
o
, and S
o
N
π
thresholds for 13 signal durations between 2 and 100 ms were established incontinuous broadband noise (36.2 dB pressure-spectrum level). The signals were synthesized and gated digitally with 1-ms rise-fall times. The S
o
N
o
threshold integration functions diverged from the S
π
N
o
or the S
o
N
π
threshold integration functions as the signal duration was reduced from 100 ms to 6–10 ms. As the signal duration was reduced below 6–10 ms, however, the threshold integration functions for S
o
N
o
, S
π
N
o
, and S
o
N
π
converged. The relationships among the threshold integration functions were reflected in the S
o
N
o
-S
π
N
o
and the S
o
N
o
-S
o
N
π
masking-level differences that increased as the signal duration was reduced from 100 to 6–10 ms and then decreased as the signal duration was reduced below 6–10 ms.
Age and Speech Breathing
Authors: Hoit Jeannette D. , Hixon Thomas J.
Published: July 2014

Thirty healthy men representing three widely different age groups (25, 50, and 75 years) were studied with respect to general respiratory function and speech breathing. Subdivisions of the lung volume were found to differ with age and most markedly so for measures of vital capacity and residual volume. Speech breathing also was found to differ with age and was characterized by differences in lung volume excursion, rib cage volume initiation, number of syllables per breath group; and lung volume expended per syllable: Age-related differences in general respiratory function and speech breathing are discussed in relation to possible underlying mechanisms. In addition, implications are drawn regarding the evaluation and management of individuals with speech breathing disorders.
Speech Recognition Threshold in Noise
Authors: Van Tasell Dianne J. , Yanz Jeilry L.
Published: July 2014

Speech recognition threshold (SRT) was measured in quiet and in noise for normal-hearing subjects and subjects with high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. For the hearing-impaired subjects, SRT in quiet approximated the amount of hearing loss in the frequency region of importance for each of two sets of speech materials—spondees and monosyllables. With changes in frequency response of the stimulus delivery system, SRT shifted differentially for spondees and monosyllables. The speed, reliability, and apparent sensitivity of the SRT in quiet and noise to frequency response characteristics make it a potentially useful tool for hearing aid evaluation if speech materials appropriate to both the hearing loss configuration and the frequency response of amplification are chosen.
Further Validation of the Speech Transmission Index (STI)
Authors: Humes Larry E. , Boney Stephen , Loven Faith
Published: July 2014

The present article further evaluates the accuracy of speech-recognition predictions made according to two forms of the Speech Transmission Index (STI) for normal-hearing listeners. The first portion of this article describes the application of the modified Speech Transmission Index (mSTI) to an extensive set of speech-recognition data. Performance of normal-hearing listeners on a nonsense-syllable recognition task in 216 conditions involving different speech levels, background noise levels, reverberation times and filter passbands was found to be monotonically related to the mSTI.

The second portion of this article describes a retrospective and prospective analysis of an extended sound-field version of the STI, referred to here as STI
x
. This extended STI considers many of the variables relevant to sound-field speech recognition, some of which are not incorporated in the mSTI. These variables include: (a) reverberation time; (b) speech level; (e) noise level; (d) talker-to-listener distance; (e) directivity of the speech source; and (f) directivity of the listener (eg., monaural vs. binaural listening). For both the retrospective and prospective analyses, speech-recognition was found to vary monotonically with STI
x
.
Movement Timing in Deaf and Hearing Speakers
Authors: Tye-Murray Nancy , Zimmermann Gerald N. , Folkins John
Published: July 2014

We review evidence suggesting that deaf speakers do not move their articulators toward the following open posture throughout closure and report results from a preliminary cinefluorographic study. Two prelingually deaf and two hearing speakers produced two different strings of alternating heterogeneous monosyllables as though speaking in time with a metronome (the so-called P-center task). Events traditionally associated with vowel production appeared evenly timed throughout the productions, and, in general, the deaf speakers performed similarly to the hearing speakers. We relate the results to Fowler's (1983) interpretation of the P-center phenomenon as an indicant of continuous vowel production.
Perception of Synthetic Visual Consonant-Vowel Articulations
Authors: Walden Brian E. , Montgomery Allen A. , Prosek Robert A.
Published: July 2014

Synthetic speech-like articulations were presented to adult subjects via the visual modality, following the classic categorical perception experimental paradigm (Liberman, Harris, Hoffman, & Griffith, 1957). Animations were generated on a computer-based graphics system. Stimuli consisted of representations of the syllables /b/,/v b/, and/w b/; as well as 6 linearly interpolated intermediate stimuli between each of the possible exemplar pairs, resulting in three 8-item continua. Three sets of observations were obtained for these stimuli. First, for each continuum, labeling data were obtained in which the subject assigned one or the other exemplar label to each of the stimuli. Next, ABX discrimination data were obtained for each continuum. In the final task, subjects assigned a rating of one through nine to each animation indicating the extent to which it was like the exemplar syllables. Although the labeling functions showed rather abrupt transitions from one response category to the other, the peaks in the discrimination functions did not coincide with the category boundaries. Further, the mean rating functions were relatively linear, and the distribution of rating responses revealed unimodal distributions whose peak locations differed depending on the stimulus.
Speech Perception by Four Single-Channel Cochlear Implant Users
Authors: Dent Laurel J. , Simmons F. Blair , White Robert L. , Roberts Robert A.
Published: July 2014

Four profoundly deaf adults, each a recent recipient of a scala tympani implant, underwent auditory and auditory-visual speech comprehension evaluations. Two subjects had multiple-electrode auditory prostheses, and 2 had single-electrode implants. All subjects were tested preoperatively with a high-power hearing aid, and postoperatively with a single-channel wearable sound processor. Reported here are the results of the first formal speech recognition tests which were conducted during the 8 months after the sound processor fitting. Three subjects had used the single-channel processor on a daily basis for up to 8 months at the time of postoperative testing. The 4th subject was a nonuser. On listening tests, a comparison between pre- and post-implant scores revealed little difference for any subject. On postoperative speechreading tasks, all subjects identified medial consonant phonemes and 2-digit numerals better with stimulation than without. The 3 frequent users of the device experienced significant improvement on connected-discourse tracking, and their speechreading of videotaped and live voice CID Everyday Sentences (Davis & Silverman, 1978) was enhanced with the addition of stimulation. The nonuser was a very proficient speechreader at the outset and exhibited no significant difference on connected-discourse tracking with and without stimulation. Moreover her ability to speechread Everyday Sentences was hampered slightly by the addition of stimulation. This single-channel sound processor functioned as a sensory supplement for the 3 frequent users, but no subject was able to use the processor as a sensory substitute.
An Experimental Increase in Stuttering Frequency
Authors: Martin Richard R. , Haroldson Samuel K.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether stuttering frequency could be increased from baseline by an experimental condition. Initially, 10 adult stutterers spoke spontaneously while alone. Next, they continued speaking, but with an adult, male conversationalist. Finally, the subjects again spoke while alone. Percent stuttering increased in the conversational situation compared with the baseline (alone) situation, and decreased in the final baseline (alone) situation compared with the conversational situation.
Early Event-Related Potentials with Passive Subject Participation
Authors: Chertoff Mark E. , Goldstein Robert , Mease Michael R.
Published: July 2014

An oddball paradigm was used to elicit event-related potentials from 10 normal-hearing young adult subjects. The frequent signal (90% probability) was a 1000 Hz tone burst at 75 dB nHL and the oddball signal (10% probability) was a similar tone burst at 60 dB nHL. A mock or control condition in which both frequent and oddball signals were 60 dB nHL also was run. The subjects were given no instructions other than to lie quietly on a cot in a test booth. They were awake throughout the test session. The identical procedure was repeated in a second session at least 24 hr after the first. Subtraction of the frequent (60 dB nHL) from the oddball (60 dB nHL} averaged evoked potential (AEP) in the mock condition yielded virtually a straight line. However, subtraction of the frequent (75 dB nHL) AEP from the oddball (60 dB nHL) AEP revealed a negative difference that peaked at about 175 ms. Subtraction of either the frequent or the oddball AEP obtained in the mock condition from the 60 dB nHL oddball of the experimental condition also produced a negative peak at about 175 ms and, in addition, a smaller negative difference that peaked at about 75 ms. Observations were consistent across sessions.
Early Speech Production of Children with Cleft Palate
Authors: Estrem Theresa , Broen Patricia A.
Published: July 2014

Word-initial target phonemes and the production of those phonemes were examined in normal children and children with cleft palate during the period when the children were acquiring their first 50 words. As a group, the children with cleft palate tended to target more words with word-initial nasals, approximants, and vowels ([+sonorant] phonemes) and fewer words with word-initial stops, fricatives, and affricates ([-sonorant] phonemes). Normal children tended to target more words with initial consonants articulated in the center of the oral tract ([+coronal]) and the children with cleft palate targeted more words with initial phonemes articulated at the periphery of the oral tract ([-coronal]). The same patterns also were observed in production, but individual children with cleft palate did not always follow this pattern. Although the accuracy of the productions of individual children appeared to be related to word choice, factors such as hearing sensitivity, structural adequacy, and the timing of surgical repair also might have affected speech production accuracy.
The Relation between Vowel Recognition and Measures of Frequency Resolution
Authors: Turner Christopher W. , Henn Carol C.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to employ measures of frequency resolution obtained from individual subjects to predict each subject's vowel recognition performance. Input filter patterns at six test frequencies were obtained from normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. These patterns were used to correlate frequency resolution with vowel recognition in those same subjects. Vowels were presented at levels at which the entire spectrum was fully audible to each subject. Using each subject's measured filter characteristics (and interpolated values for intermediate frequencies), an "internal spectrum" of each vowel was calculated by determining the outputs of all filter channels for the vowel as the input signal. It was speculated that the more similar two internal spectra for a subject were, the more often they would be confused in the vowel recognition task. This expectation received some support when the measure of similarity was a point-by-point Euclidean distance between the two internal spectra. Stronger support was obtained when the measure of similarity was based upon Klatt's (1982) "weighted slope metric" that emphasizes similarities of spectral peak locations. The present study demonstrates a relation between impairments of frequency resolution and vowel recognition. The described filter-bank model of vowel recognition suggests that measures of frequency resolution along with the acoustic spectra of vowel stimuli may be useful in predicting the recognition of vowels by individuals.
Evaluation of Stopping Rules for Audiological Ascending Test Procedures Using Computer Simulations
Authors: Marshall Lynne , Hanna Thomas E.
Published: July 2014

Stopping rules for ascending audiological test procedures were evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation. The stopping rules differed in the minimum number of responses required at a level, whether these responses occurred on half or a majority of the ascending series, and whether all or only the most recent ascending series were considered. For all procedures, shallow psychometric function slopes yielded estimated thresholds closer to the level giving 50% detection than did steeper slopes, which yielded estimated thresholds roughly 2.5 dB above the level corresponding to 50% on the psychometric function. Shallow slopes also resulted in decreased reliability across threshold measurements, an increased number of trials required for threshold estimates, and a higher proportion of measurements that had to be repeated. Stopping rules using a two-response criterion were faster than those using a three-response criterion, with only a small decrease in reliability. Among stopping rules using the same number of responses for criterion, differences were seen primarily in efficiency for shallow slopes, particularly for procedures using a three-response rather than a two-response criterion for stopping. Results from these simulations should be useful to standards groups.
Speech Breathing in Women
Authors: Hoit Jeannette D. , Hixon Thomas J. , Altman Mary Ellen , Morgan Wayne J.
Published: July 2014

Thirty healthy women representing three age groups (25, 50, and 75 years) were studied with respect to general respiratory function and speech breathing. Certain subdivisions of the lung volume differed with age: vital capacity, expiratory reserve volume, and residual volume. Speech breathing also differed with age and was characterized by differences in lung volume excursion, rib cage volume excursion, lung volume initiation, rib cage volume initiation, and lung volume expended per syllable. Age-related differences in general respiratory function and speech breathing are discussed in relation to possible underlying mechanisms. In addition, patterns of function observed in women are compared to those observed in men in an earlier investigation (Hoit & Hixon, 1987). Clinical implications are drawn regarding the evaluation and management of speech breathing disorders.
The Effect of the Heartbeat on Vocal Fundamental Frequency Perturbation
Authors: Orlikoff Robert F. , Baken R. J.
Published: July 2014

Signal-averaging and autocorrelation analysis revealed that the cardiovascular system exerts a modest but consistent influence on vocal fundamental frequency (F
0
), accounting for approximately 0.5% to 20% of the absolute F
0
perturbation (jitter) measured during a sustained phonation. There was also a marked trend for this percentage to decrease with increasing vocal F
0
. Estimated mean "deterministic jitter" (J

) values of 3.7 µsec (SD = 3.2) and 0.9 µsec (SD = 0.5) were derived from 6 normal male and 6 normal female subjects, respectively, with an overall mean of 2.3 µsec (SD =2.7). These values represent approximately 6.9% of the mean total jitter for men and 2.4% of the mean total jitter for women, or about 4.6% for all subjects. The results are discussed in terms of their significance regarding more reliable vocal jitter measurement.