bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Preliminary Analysis of the Ameliorative Effects of Time-out from Speaking on Stuttering
Authors: James Jack E. , Ricciardelli Lina A. , Rogers Peter , Hunter Christine E.
Published: July 2014

Relatively few attempts have been made to systematically examine the processes responsible for the ameliorative effects of response-contingent stimulation (RCS) on stuttering. It was hypothesized that the reductions in stuttering that frequently accompany RCS are the result of the stutterer being encouraged to access extant fluent speech that may not be fully evident during "contingency-free" (CF) conditions. A preliminary analysis of the hypothesis was conducted by monitoring RCS and CF stuttering frequency and speaking rate in 20 adult stutterers before, during, and after a program of fluency training. Subjects were divided into "high" and "low" responders on the basis of their baseline response to the RCS procedure of time-out from speaking, after which they participated in a 32-hour program of fluency training aimed at minimizing stuttering. After showing a degree of relapse during a subsequent 6-mon follow-up, high and low responders were found to be equally affected by time-out. This result contrasted the differential response shown by the two groups during the baseline phase, and is consistent with the hypothesis that improvements in fluency during RCS may occur when stutterers access extant fluent speech that is not otherwise being fully utilized.
Magnitude Estimation and Cross-Modal Matching of Lingual Vibrotactile and Auditory Sensation
Authors: Harris Daniel , Fucci Donald , Petrosino Linda
Published: July 2014

The present experiment was a preliminary attempt to use the psychophysical scaling methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching to investigate suprathreshold judgments of lingual vibrotactile and auditory sensation magnitudes for 20 normal young adult subjects. A 250-Hz lingual vibrotactile stimulus and a 1000-Hz binaural auditory stimulus were employed. To obtain judgments for nonoral vibrotactile sensory magnitudes, the thenar eminence of the hand was also employed as a test site for 5 additional subjects. Eight stimulus intensities were presented during all experimental tasks. The results showed that the slopes of the log-log vibrotactile magnitude estimation functions decreased at higher stimulus intensity levels for both test sites. Auditory magnitude estimation functions were relatively constant throughout the stimulus range. Cross-modal matching functions for the two stimuli generally agreed with functions predicted from the magnitude estimation data, except when subjects adjusted vibration on the tongue to match auditory stimulus intensities. The results suggested that the methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching may be useful for studying sensory processing in the speech production system. However, systematic investigation of response biases associated with vibrotactile-auditory psychophysical scaling tasks appears to be a prerequisite.
Comparing Criteria of Hearing Impairment in the Elderly
Authors: Bess Fred H. , Lichtenstein Michael J. , Logan Susan A. , Burger M. Candice
Published: July 2014

We determined and compared the associations of four commonly used audiometric criteria of hearing impairment with two functional outcome measures in 152 aged persons screened in primary care medicine practices. The outcome measures were the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP, a measure of global function), and the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly-Screening Version (HHIE-S, a communication-specific measure of functional impairment).

There were five main findings. (1) The four criteria of hearing loss were not independent. (2) The criterion of loss chosen depends on the functional measure of impairment. (3) Functional hearing impairment may also be classified by the number of criteria met. (4) A large subset (21%) of aged persons met one criterion but had little in the way of communicative or global dysfunction. (5) Hearing handicap as measured by the HHIE-S was directly associated with global dysfunction as measured by the SIP.
Comfortable Loudness Level
Authors: Cox Robyn M.
Published: July 2014

This paper reports the results of a series of investigations of comfortable loudness levels with particular reference to their application to hearing aid gain prescriptions. Experiment 1 studied the effects of several stimulus waveforms, bandwidths, and durations on comfortable loudness levels for normal and hearing impaired listeners. Speech band comfort levels were found to be significantly higher than equal-duration noise band or warble tone comfort levels. Comfortable loudness levels were found to be independent of warble tone modulation parameters and of stimulus bandwidth (stimuli did not exceed critical bandwidths). In Experiment 2, reliability of comfortable loudness levels was evaluated in hearing-impaired subjects over two consecutive 1-year periods. Results indicated that comfortable loudness levels were slightly less reliable than thresholds. In addition, the results were consistent with a hypothesis that exposure to amplified sound produces a small increase in comfortable loudness levels. In Experiment 3, data from 67 hearing-impaired subjects were used to develop regression equations for prediction of comfortable loudness levels. Thresholds at the test frequencies were combined with comfortable loudness data at 500 Hz and 4000 Hz. The prediction method was then evaluated using a new group of 25 subjects. Accuracy of predictions of comfort levels was substantially better with the new method than with an older method that relied exclusively on threshold data. Relevance of the outcomes to hearing aid fitting procedures is discussed.
Verbal Fluency Characteristics of Normal and Aphasic Speakers
Authors: Adams Marsha L. , Reich Alan R. , Flowers Charles R.
Published: July 2014

Fourteen mildly aphasic and 14 normal speakers responded to an oral verbal fluency task for five different semantic categories. Retrieved words were scored within each 15-s time interval of a 60-s task as highly representative (i.e., having a high frequency of occurrence in a previous normative study), moderately representative (i.e., having a moderate frequency of occurrence), or highly unrepresentative (i.e., having a low frequency of occurrence). Both speaker groups were affected similarly by category type, and both retrieved words according to prior data-based notions of semantic categorical organization. The two groups differed with respect to the interaction between time intervals and representativeness levels. The different verbal fluency performance of the aphasic subjects was related to both the temporal occurrence of a word within a 60-s response interval and to its representativeness level (prototypicality) within a particular semantic category.
Some Effects of Advanced Aging on the Visual-Language Processing Capacity of the Left and Right Hemispheres
Authors: Rastatter Michael P. , McGuire Richard A.
Published: July 2014

The present study investigated the effects of advanced aging on hemispheric organization for visual-linguistic processing. Lexical decision vocal-reaction times of geriatric subjects were measured for unilaterally presented concrete and abstract nouns in an attempt to obtain an index of differential left and right hemispheric processing ability. Results of an ANOVA procedure showed that reaction times were significantly faster when subjects were presented the stimulus items in their right visual fields, regardless of whether the item was a concrete or abstract word. An ANOVA procedure applied to the arcsine of the percentages of occurrence of false-positive and false-negative error types showed a significant interaction between the error type and visual field variables. Post hoc tests showed left visual field, false-positive errors occurred significantly more often than the remaining visual field, error type configurations. Finally, for the reaction time data, a significant correlation existed between the two visual fields for the concrete and abstract items. Collectively, such findings were consistent with a callosal relay model of neurolinguistic organization, suggesting that the right hemisphere’s ability to perform lexical decisions was diminished in the present group of elderly subjects.
Visual Biasing of Normal and Impaired Auditory Speech Perception
Authors: Walden Brian E. , Montgomery Allen A. , Prosek Robert A. , Hawkins David B.
Published: July 2014

Intersensory biasing occurs when cues in one sensory modality influence the perception of discrepant cues in another modality. Visual biasing of auditory stop consonant perception was examined in two related experiments in an attempt to clarify the role of hearing impairment on susceptibility to visual biasing of auditory speech perception. Fourteen computer-generated acoustic approximations of consonant-vowel syllables forming a /ba-da-ga/ continuum were presented for labeling as one of the three exemplars, via audition alone and in synchrony with natural visual articulations of /ba/ and of /ga/. Labeling functions were generated for each test condition showing the percentage of /ba/, /da/, and /ga/ responses to each of the 14 synthetic syllables. The subjects of the first experiment were 15 normal-hearing and 15 hearing-impaired observers. The hearing-impaired subjects demonstrated a greater susceptibility to biasing from visual cues than did the normal-hearing subjects. In the second experiment, the auditory stimuli were presented in a low-level background noise to 15 normal-hearing observers. A comparison of their labeling responses with those from the first experiment suggested that hearing-impaired persons may develop a propensity to rely on visual cues as a result of long-term hearing impairment. The results are discussed in terms of theories of intersensory bias.
A Comparison of Two Training Strategies for Speech Recognition with an Electrotactile Speech Processor
Authors: Alcantara Joseph I. , Cowan R. S. C. , Blamey P. J. , Clark G. M.
Published: July 2014

Seven normally hearing adults were trained in the use of a multiple-channel electrotactile speech processor for 70 hours over a 6-month period. Two training strategies were used on each of the subjects: (1) analytic-plus-synthetic (AS), and (2) synthetic (S). The speech perception abilities of the subjects were assessed with closed sets of vowels and consonants, open sets of words and sentences, and speech tracking, for the tactile-plus-lipreading, tactile, and lipreading conditions. The subjects were tested on three separate occasions: (1) at the beginning of the study, (2) after 35 hours of training, and (3) after a further 35 hours of training. Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-ranks (MPSR) tests showed that improvements observed with both the AS and S strategies were significantly (p< .05) greater than zero for most tests and conditions. The Wilcoxon MPSR test showed that the difference in improvements between the training strategies was significant for only the vowel and consonant tests in the tactile condition.
Relationship of Spectral Noise Levels to Psychophysical Scaling of Vowel Roughness
Authors: Toner Mary Ann , Emanuel Floyd W. , Parker Donald
Published: July 2014

Direct magnitude estimation (DME) and equal-appearing interval (EAI) ratings of perceived roughness and spectral noise level (SNL) measurements of isolated sustained vowel samples (/a/ and /i/) were obtained. The linear and curvilinear relationships between the resulting roughness ratings and SNL were then examined. In the present study, the comparison between the two models resulted in conflicting evidence regarding the model that best described the relationship between roughness ratings and SNL measurements. In all comparisons, however, a significant linear component was indicated. Additionally, when a significant curvilinear component was indicated, the difference between the lines and curves that were fit to the data was minimal. The present findings suggest, therefore, that a high degree of linearity exists between both DME and EAI roughness ratings and SNL.
The Relationship of Age and Cardiovascular Health to Certain Acoustic Characteristics of Male Voices
Authors: Orlikoff Robert F.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain information about the acoustic characteristics of men’s voices as a function of age and cardiovascular health. Eighteen adult males, divided equally into groups of healthy young and elderly men and elderly men diagnosed with chronic atherosclerosis in the absence of other systemic complaints, prolonged the vowel /α/ at a comfortable pitch maintained within 70–78 dB SPL. Measures of mean fundamental frequency (F
0
), mean jitter and shimmer (both absolute and relative), and the standard deviation of F
0
, SPL, and peak-to-peak vocal amplitude were computed. Significant differences were found between the healthy young and healthy elderly subjects on measures of F
0
and amplitude
SD
, percent jitter, and shimmer. Differences were generally magnified when the younger subjects were compared with the elderly atherosclerotic subjects. Although only percent jitter significantly differentiated between the two geriatric groups, the atherosclerotics’ phonations were generally associated with greater short- and long-term variability (as well as intersubject variability) than the healthy elderly men. Unlike the younger subjects, the elderly (especially the elderly atherosclerotic) subjects’ perturbation measures fell much closer to the upper limits established in the literature for normal voices, indicating that the elderly speaker may be more prone to vocal disruption in the face of pathology.
Differential Learning of Phonological Oppositions
Authors: Gierut Judith A.
Published: July 2014

This study evaluated whether variations in the structure of minimal versus maximal opposition treatments would result in empirical differences in phonological learning. Subjects were 3 children who excluded at least six sounds from their pretreatment phonetic and phonemic inventories. An alternating treatments design in combination with a staggered multiple baseline across subjects was used to evaluate differences in learning the two types of oppositions. Results indicated that treatment of maximal oppositions led to greater improvement in the children’s production of treated sounds, more additions of untreated sounds to the posttreatment inventory, and fewer changes in known sounds than treatment of minimal oppositions. Moreover, individual differences suggested that phonological learning was enhanced not only by the number but also by the type of distinctions being taught. A potential sequence of relative clinical effectiveness was proposed such that teaching multiple and major class distinctions > teaching multiple distinctions > teaching few distinctions among sounds.
Rotation and Translation of the Jaw During Speech
Authors: Edwards Jan , Harris Katherine S.
Published: July 2014

A two-dimensional rigid-body model of jaw movement was used to describe jaw opening and closing gestures for vowels and for bilabial and alveolar consonants. Jaw movements were decomposed into three components: (a) rotation about the terminal hinge axis, (b) the horizontal translation of that axis, and (c) the vertical translation of that axis. Data were collected for 3 subjects in two separate recording sessions. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships among the three jaw movement components. For 2 subjects, but not for the third, an interdependence between jaw rotation and the first principal component of jaw translation, horizontal translation, was observed. For these 2 subjects, the first degree of freedom of jaw movement corresponded to a combination of rotation and the first principal component of jaw translation. For the third subject, the first degree of freedom of jaw movement corresponded to rotation alone. The results of this study, like those of Westbury (1988), indicate that an accurate description of jaw movement during speech requires the recording of two points of jaw movement.
Syllable Durations of Preword and Early Word Vocalizations
Authors: Robb Michael P. , Saxman John H.
Published: July 2014

The continuity in development of syllable duration patterns was examined in 7 young children as they progressed from preword to multiword periods of vocalization development. Using a combination of lexical and chronological age points, monthly vocalization samples were analyzed for bisyllable duration and final syllable lengthening. Results revealed no systematic increase or decrease in the duration of bisyllables produced by the children as a group. Lengthening of final syllables was observed across nearly all recording sessions for all children. It is likely that the feature of bisyllable duration is not discernibly sensitive to changes associated with a developing speech mechanism and environmental input. On the other hand, the regularity in final syllable lengthening is consistent with a continuity theory of development.
Predictors of Novel Inflection Learning by Preschool-Aged Boys
Authors: Nakamura Monica , Plante Elena , Swisher Linda
Published: July 2014

This study addressed the extent to which performance on selected verbal and nonverbal measures contributes to the prediction of inflection learning. Twenty normal boys between the ages of 4:4 (years:months) and 5:7 were presented with stories designed to teach novel vocabulary and morphological inflections. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the measure of current inflection skills accounted for nearly half of the variance in inflection learning results. In addition, performance on a posttest of vocabulary learning significantly (
p
< .05) contributed to the prediction equation. Although closer analysis of the findings indicates that the relation between nonverbal rule learning and inflection learning warrants further investigation, none of the three nonverbal measures was a significant contributor to the prediction equation. The results suggest that inflection learning may be tied more to other language abilities than to nonverbal cognitive skills in normally developing boys.
Effects of Time Gating and Word Length on Isolated Word-Recognition Performance
Authors: Craig Chie H. , Kim Byoung W.
Published: July 2014

This study examined the effects of forward time gating and word length on monosyllabic isolated word-recognition performance. Fifty (60-ms) time-gated words were developed from a pre-recorded version (Auditec of St. Louis) of the Northwestern Auditory Test No. 6 (NU-6) List 1, Form A. A total of 358 time-gated items were presented monaurally at 80 db SPL, and time-gated word identification, isolation point, acceptance point, and listener confidence measures were obtained from 20 normally hearing listeners. A comparison of conventional nontime-gated word-recognition scores obtained using the NU-6 List 4, Form C with the time-gated measures revealed that, even upon word offset, listeners recognized time-gated words less frequently and with less confidence. The time-gated findings also demonstrated that word length, based on word duration from onset to offset, significantly influenced real-time recognition performance.
The Effects of Digital Quantization Error on Speech Intelligibility and Perceived Speech Quality
Authors: Harris Richard W. , Brey Robert H. , Chang Yuan-Shu , Soria B. Diann , Hilton Laurence M.
Published: July 2014

The effects of digital quantization error upon speech intelligibility and perceived speech quality, for normally hearing subjects, were investigated for digitized speech processed to simulate 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, 14-, and 16-bit integer conversion and 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-bit floating-point conversion. For the integer data, there were no significant differences in speech intelligibility for 8- to 16-bit conversion. Only 6-bit integer conversion at 55 dB SPL resulted in a significant degradation in speech intelligibility. For the floating-point data, there were no significant differences in speech intelligibility for 2- to 7-bit floating-point conversion. However, results of the perceived quality experiment appeared to be more sensitive to differences among the various conditions. Speech processed using 12-, 14-, and 16-bit integer conversion was judged to be superior to speech processed using the 6-, 8-, and 10-bit integer conditions. Speech processed using 5-, 6-, and 7-bit floating-point conversion was judged to be superior to speech processed using 2-, 3-, and 4-bit floating-point conversion.
Speech-Associated Attitudes of Stuttering and Nonstuttering Children
Authors: Nil Luc F. De , Brutten Gene J.
Published: July 2014

A Dutch version of the Communication Attitude Test (Brutten, 1985) was used to assess the speech-associated attitudes of 70 stuttering and 271 nonstuttering Belgian children of elementary and middle school age. The results showed that the stuttering children evidenced significantly more negative attitudes toward speech than did their nonstuttering peers. This difference was present from age 7, the youngest age group studied, on up. Moreover, a significant group x age interaction revealed that the speech-related attitudes of the stuttering children became more negative with increasing age. In contrast, those of the nonstuttering children became less negative after age 9. These findings suggest that, in the course of fluency therapy for youngsters who stutter, negative attitudes toward speech should be addressed. This is especially true if, as with adults who stutter, negative attitudes are predictive of therapeutic failure.
Laryngeal Reaction Time Profiles in Spasmodic Dysphonia
Authors: Watson Ben C. , Freeman Frances J. , Pool Kenneth D. , Finitzo Terese , Chapman Sandi B. , Mendelsohn Dianne , Devous Michael D. , Schaefer Steven D. , Close Lanny G. , Kondraske George V.
Published: July 2014

This study combines measures of linguistic and vocal performance and long-latency auditory electrophysiology to investigate task-dependent variability in spasmodic dysphonia (SD). Linguistic performance was evaluated using several measures of relatively complex linguistic ability (i.e., discourse analysis). Vocal performance was evaluated by measuring acoustic laryngeal reaction time (LRT) for tasks that differ in complexity. Normal structure of the cortex and subcortex was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. Cortical function was measured using multichannel quantitative auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). As a group, SD subjects who demonstrated subtle linguistic deficits also demonstrated prolonged LRT for the complex task and repeated and persistent auditory electrophysiologic abnormalities over the anterior quadrant of the left hemisphere. As a group, linguistically normal SD subjects demonstrated no significant increase in LRT for the complex task and no recurrent electrophysiologic abnormalities over the left anterior cortex relative to normal controls. Results support a neurogenic origin of SD and suggest that some aspects of inter- and intrasubject variability may be related to differences in loci and magnitude of cortical abnormalities.
Effect of Consonant-Vowel Ratio Modification on Amplitude Envelope Cues for Consonant Recognition
Authors: Freyman Richard L. , Nerbonne G. Patrick , Cote Heather A.
Published: July 2014

This investigation examined the degree to which modification of the consonant-vowel (C-V) intensity ratio affected consonant recognition under conditions in which listeners were forced to rely more heavily on waveform envelope cues than on spectral cues. The stimuli were 22 vowel-consonant-vowel utterances, which had been mixed at six different signal-to-noise ratios with white noise that had been modulated by the speech waveform envelope. The resulting waveforms preserved the gross speech envelope shape, but spectral cues were limited by the white-noise masking. In a second stimulus set, the consonant portion of each utterance was amplified by 10 dB. Sixteen subjects with normal hearing listened to the unmodified stimuli, and 16 listened to the amplified-consonant stimuli. Recognition performance was reduced in the amplified-consonant condition for some consonants, presumably because waveform envelope cues had been distorted. However, for other consonants, especially the voiced stops, consonant amplification improved recognition. Patterns of errors were altered for several consonant groups, including some that showed only small changes in recognition scores. The results indicate that when spectral cues are compromised, nonlinear amplification can alter waveform envelope cues for consonant recognition.
Stimulus Ratio Effects on Speech Discrimination by Children and Adults
Authors: Sussman Joan E.
Published: July 2014

This investigation examined the response strategies and discrimination accuracy of adults and children aged 5–10 as the ratio of same to different trials was varied across three conditions of a “change/no-change” discrimination task. The conditions varied as follows: (a) a ratio of one-third same to two-thirds different trials (33% same), (b) an equal ratio of same to different trials (50% same), and (c) a ratio of two-thirds same to one-third different trials (67% same). Stimuli were synthetic consonant-vowel syllables that changed along a place of articulation dimension by formant frequency transition. Results showed that all subjects changed their response strategies depending on the ratio of same-to-different trials. The most lax response pattern was observed for the 50% same condition, and the most conservative pattern was observed for the 67% same condition. Adult response patterns were most conservative across condition. Differences in discrimination accuracy as measured by P(C) were found, with the largest difference in the 5- to 6-year-old group and the smallest change in the adult group. These findings suggest that children’s response strategies, like those of adults, can be manipulated by changing the ratio of same-to-different trials. Furthermore, interpretation of sensitivity measures must be referenced to task variables such as the ratio of same-to-different trials.
Speech Identification Difficulties of Hearing-Impaired Elderly Persons
Authors: Humes Larry E. , Christopherson Laurel
Published: July 2014

This study examined the performance of four subject groups on several temporally based measures of auditory processing and several measures of speech identification. The four subject groups were (a) young normal-hearing adults; (b) hearing-impaired elderly subjects ranging in age from 65 to 75 years; (c) hearing-impaired elderly adults ranging in age from 76 to 86 years; and (d) young normal-hearing listeners with hearing loss simulated with a spectrally shaped masking noise adjusted to match the actual hearing loss of the two elderly groups. In addition to between-group analyses of performance on the auditory processing and speech identification tasks, correlational and regression analyses within the two groups of elderly hearing-impaired listeners were performed. The results revealed that the threshold elevation accompanying sensorineural hearing loss was the primary factor affecting the speech identification performance of the hearing-impaired elderly subjects both as groups and as individuals. However, significant increases in the proportion of speech identification score variance accounted for were obtained in the elderly subjects by including various measures of auditory processing.
The Effects of Minimal Pairs Treatment on the Speech-Sound Production of Two Children With Phonologic Disorders
Authors: Saben Cari B. , Ingham Janis Costello
Published: July 2014

Two children whose speech-sound production could be described by phonologic processes were administered a linguistically based treatment program that utilized minimal pair words. A subset of phonemes affected by a target phonologic process was taught consecutively. Spontaneous picture-naming probes were administered periodically to measure speech-sound production for all phonemes affected by the targeted phonologic process and several control phonologic processes. For both subjects, motoric components (i.e., models and phonetic placement cues) had to be added to the minimal pairs treatment. With the added motoric components, both subjects successfully passed through all treatment steps. However, neither subject generalized modified speech-sound production to treated phonemes in untreated words or to untreated phonemes affected by the target phonologic process.
The Continuity of Babble and Speech in Children With Specific Expressive Language Delay
Authors: Whitehurst Grover J. , Smith Meagan , Fischel Janet E. , Arnold David S. , Lonigan Christopher J.
Published: July 2014

A natural language sample of babble and words was obtained for 37 two-year-olds with severe specific expressive language delay. Variables derived from this sample were used to predict individual differences in expressive language scores 5 months later. The rate of word use was positively related to language outcome, whereas rate of vowel babble was negatively related to outcome. Together, these two variables accounted for 41% of the variance in language outcome test scores. The addition of one nonlinguistic variable, a measure of behavior problems, allowed the prediction equation to account for over 50% of the variance in expressive language outcome. The single strongest correlate of language outcome was the proportion of consonantal to vowel babble. The degree of social responsiveness of babble and the length of babble were not related to later language scores. These findings indicate that for children with specific expressive language delay, vowel babble competes with expressive language, consonantal babble facilitates expressive language, and the length and social responsiveness of babble are independent of expressive language. The continuity between babble and speech is multidimensional and multidirectional.
Very-Low-Birthweight Children and Speech and Language Development
Authors: Aram Dorothy M. , Hack Maureen , Hawkins Suzanne , Weissman Barbara M. , Borawski-Clark Elaine
Published: July 2014

Very low birthweight (VLBW) is often considered to be a risk factor for speech and language disorders, yet data are equivocal. The present study compared speech and language comprehension and production between 249 very-low-birthweight (VLBW <1.5 kg) and 363 normalbirthweight 8-year-olds, randomly sampled in a geographic area. Mean performance for the entire group of VLBW children and for the group when 24 VLBW children with major neurologic abnormalities were excluded, was significantly lower than for controls on the majority of speech and language measures. Further analyses addressed the clinical significance of these statistically significant differences. Test scores were converted to standard scores and grouped according to standard deviation intervals, thus portraying each child’s performance in terms of the magnitude of discrepancy from each test’s mean. When the, ′4 children with major neurological abnormalities were excluded, no significant differences between the VLBW and control children were observed. Using discrepancy between WISC-R performance IQ and language to define specific language impairment (SLI), a higher percentage of control than VLBW children were identified as having SLI. Neonatal risk factors did not differentiate between VLBW children with or without SLI. A higher proportion of VLBW than control children did present subnormal language associated with IQ <85, hearing deficits, and/or major neurological impairments. Thus, SLI is not more common among VLBW than control children. Language deficits accompanied by more general developmental problems, however, are more frequent.
Hypothesis-Testing Abilities of Language-Impaired Children
Authors: Weismer Susan Ellis
Published: July 2014

Hypothesis-testing abilities were assessed using a modification of the discrimination-learning paradigm employed by Nelson, Kamhi, and Apel (1987) that was designed to minimize the short-term memory demands of the task. Sixteen language-impaired and 16 normal-language children in kindergarten and first and second grades participated in the study. The languageimpaired children solved significantly fewer problems than normal-language controls equated on cognitive level, but the two groups used similar hypothesis types to solve the problems. Type of verbal feedback provided during the hypothesis testing task (explicit vs. nonexplicit) did not significantly affect the performance of either group. These results are interpreted as indicating that language-impaired children demonstrate inefficient use of problem-solving strategies that cannot be attributed solely to memory difficulties. Issues surrounding the investigation of language-impaired children’s cognitive abilities are discussed.
Cerebral Averaged Potentials Preceding Oral Movement
Authors: Wohlert Amy B. , Larson Charles R.
Published: July 2014

The “readiness potential” is an event-related potential that shows increasing negativity at vertex and motor strip scalp recording sites prior to voluntary, unilateral limb movements. Though speech involves movement on both sides of the midline, recent recordings of prespeech potentials suggest a pattern of bilateral activation that lateralizes to the dominant hemisphere just prior to the onset of articulatory movement. To determine whether this pattern of dominant hemisphere activation is present prior to a stereotyped, nonspeech movement of the mouth, the averaged potentials preceding a lip protrusion task were recorded at the cranial vertex and over the right and left motor cortex. Results were compared to potentials preceding a right finger extension task performed by the same subjects. Both the finger and the lip movements were initially preceded by slow negative potentials. Prior to the finger extension task, the negative amplitude became greatest over the left motor cortex, contralateral to the side of movement. Prior to the lip protrusion task, the amplitude of the potential remained even over the right and left motor cortices. The results suggest that, for this nonspeech movement of a midline structure, bilateral cortical control takes place. Control of lip movement is apparently not necessarily a dominant hemisphere function, though dominance may become part of the motor control strategy for more complex movements such as those used during speech.
Coupling of FM Systems to Individuals With Unilateral Hearing Loss
Authors: Kopun Judy G. , Stelmachowicz Patricia G. , Carney Edward , Schulte Laura
Published: July 2014

This study examined the attenuation characteristics of five FM system sound delivery options for a group of 10 adults and 15 children (5–13 years). Sound delivery options included a tube-fitting, lightweight headphones, a CROS earmold with tubing, a CROS earmold with a snap-ring, and a standard snap-ring earmold with a vent. Attenuation was defined as the difference between probe-tube microphone measures of the ear canal resonance and the SPL in the ear canal with each sound delivery option in place. A statistically significant but clinically inconsequential difference in attenuation for the CROS earmold with tubing was noted between adults and children. No significant differences in attenuation for any of the other sound delivery options were noted between adults and children. An investigation of the relationship between magnitude of attenuation and percentage of the ear canal occluded suggests that degree of occlusion is a major factor in determining degree of attenuation provided by a particular sound delivery option. Results also indicate that significant attenuation of high-frequency signals can occur with earmolds commonly considered nonoccluding. Caution should be used in fitting hearing aids or FM systems to individuals with normal high-frequency hearing sensitivity to prevent attenuation of unamplified high-frequency speech information.
Normal-Hearing and Hearing- Impaired Subjects' Ability to Just Follow Conversation in Competing Speech, Reversed Speech, and Noise Backgrounds
Authors: Hygge Staffan , Rönnberg Jerker , Larsby Birgitta , Arlinger Stig
Published: July 2014

The performance on a conversation-following task by 24 hearing-impaired persons was compared with that of 24 matched controls with normal hearing in the presence of three background noises: (a) speech-spectrum random noise, (b) a male voice, and (c) the male voice played in reverse. The subjects’ task was to readjust the sound level of a female voice (signal), every time the signal voice was attenuated, to the subjective level at which it was just possible to understand what was being said. To assess the benefit of lipreading, half of the material was presented audiovisually and half auditorily only. It was predicted that background speech would have a greater masking effect than reversed speech, which would In turn have a lesser masking effect than random noise. It was predicted that hearing-impaired subjects would perform more poorly than the normal-hearing controls in a background of speech. The influence of lipreading was expected to be constant across groups and conditions. The results showed that the hearing-impaired subjects were equally affected by the three background noises and that normal-hearing persons were less affected by the background speech than by noise. The performance of the normal-hearing persons was superior to that of the hearing-impaired subjects. The prediction about lipreading was confirmed. The results were explained in terms of the reduced temporal resolution by the hearing-impaired subjects.
The Late Auditory Evoked Potential Masking-Level Difference as a Function of Noise Level
Authors: Fowler Cynthia G. , Mikami Charlene M.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the masking-level difference (MLD) obtained with the late (P2) auditory evoked potentials has characteristics similar to those reported for the behavioral MLD with respect to the effects of noise level. Psychoacoustic studies have shown that the magnitude of the MLD increases as a function of the noise level. In the present study, P2 thresholds were measured in SoNo (signals and noise in phase at the ears) and SπNo (signals out of phase and noise in phase at the ears) conditions for noise levels of 0–60 dB pressure spectrum level (L
ps
). Subjects were 5 normal-hearing young adults. The difference in SoNo and SπNo thresholds, or the MLD, increased linearly as the noise levels increased through 60 dB L
ps
, whereas the behavioral MLD magnitude is reported to saturate at high noise levels. These results suggest that the late-potential MLD reflects characteristics similar to, but not identical with, those of the behavioral MLD.
Dysphonia Detected by Pattern Recognition of Spectral Composition
Authors: Leinonen Lea , Kangas Jari , Torkkola Kari , Juvas Anja
Published: July 2014

The vowel [a:] in a test word, judged normal or dysphonic, was examined with the Self-Organizing Map, the artificial neural network algorithm of Kohonen. The algorithm produces two-dimensional representations (maps) of speech. Input to the acoustic maps consisted of 15-component spectral vectors calculated at 9.83-msec intervals from short-time power spectra. The male and female maps were first calculated from the speech of healthy subjects and then the [a:] samples (15 successive spectral vectors) were examined on the maps. The dysphonic voices deviated from the norm both in the composition of the short-time power spectra (characterized by the dislocation of the trajectory pattern on the map) and in the stability of the spectrum during the performance (characterized by the pattern of the trajectory on the map). Rough voices were distinguished from breathy ones by their patterns on the map. With the limited speech material, an index for the degree of pathology could not be determined. A self-organized acoustic map provides an on-line visual representation of voice and speech in an easily understandable form. The method is thus suitable not only for diagnostic but also for educational and therapeutic purposes.
Age and Laryngeal Airway Resistance During Vowel Production in Women
Authors: Hoit Jeannette D. , Hixon Thomas J.
Published: July 2014

An investigation was conducted to determine if laryngeal valving economy, as reflected in measures of laryngeal airway resistance during vowel production, differs with age in women. Seventy healthy women were studied, 10 each at age 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, and 85 years. Results indicated that laryngeal airway resistance did not differ significantly with age, although it was noted that the 45-year-old women generally had lower laryngeal airway resistance values. This pattern of function differs from that observed in men (Melcon, Hoit, & Hixon, 1989). Discussion of findings includes consideration of factors that might influence laryngeal function during speech production in women. Clinical implications are offered.
The Reliability of a Modified Simplex Procedure in Hearing Aid Frequency-Response Selection
Authors: Kuk Francis K. , Pape Nonalee M. C.
Published: July 2014

The reliability of a modified simplex procedure to select the preferred frequency response on a programmable hearing aid was studied. The effect of stimulus materials on the selected frequency response, along with the consistency in which the selected frequency response was chosen in repeated test runs, was examined.

Two groups of hearing-impaired elderly adults (from 59 to 88 years of age, with a mean age of 70 years) who had worn hearing aids for at least 1 year, participated in the study. Subjects were seen for six sessions lasting 2 to 3 hours each. During each session, subjects listened through a programmable hearing aid and selected a preferred frequency response for optimal hearing using a modified simplex procedure. Discourse passages and consonant nonsense syllables, presented in quiet and in noise, were used as the test conditions. Subjective judgment of discourse clarity and syllable recognition were used as criteria. Three estimates of preferred frequency response were obtained within a session when subjective judgment was used as a criterion and two estimates were obtained within a session when syllable recognition was used as a criterion. Subjects returned for a retest approximately 1 week after completion of all test conditions.

The results of the study revealed that, depending on test conditions, approximately 30% of subjects selected the same frequency response and 80% of subjects showed test-retest deviation of less than one step size (one cell) in the selected frequency response. The consistency was highest for discourse material presented in noise and lowest for discourse material presented in quiet.

Subjects preferred more high-frequency response when consonant syllables were used for recognition than when discourse was used for subjective judgment. On the other hand, more subjects preferred more low-frequency response for discourse judgment than for consonant-syllable recognition. These results suggest that the choice of stimulus materials affect the outcome and consistency in which these outcomes are generated with the simplex procedure.
Open-Set Word Identification by an Adult With Profound Hearing Impairment
Authors: Lynch Michael P. , Eilers Rebecca E. , Pero Patricia J.
Published: July 2014

The ability of an adult with profound hearing impairment to integrate speech information from touch, aided hearing, and speechreading in identification of open‐set words was investigated. A list was obtained of 735 words that the subject failed to identify using any single modality: touch, with either the Tacticon 1600, a multichannel electrocutaneous vocoder (TV), or the Tactaid II, a 2‐channel vibrotactile aid (TA); aided hearing (H); or speechreading (S). To test integration, observed word identification performance in combined‐modality conditions was compared with predicted performance calculated from single‐modality scores. Words were randomly assigned to seven conditions: (a) S+H, (b) H+TV, (c) H+TA, (d) S+TV, (d) S+TA, (e) S+TV+H, and (f) S+TA+H. Results indicated that the subject integrated speech information across modalities, with highest performance in the S+TV+H and S+TA+H conditions. Integration also occurred when both speechreading and touch were used and when both speechreading and aided hearing were used.
Individual Differences in Voice Quality Perception
Authors: Kreiman Jody , Gerratt Bruce R. , Precoda Kristin , Berke Gerald S.
Published: July 2014

Sixteen listeners (10 expert, 6 naive) judged the dissimilarity of pairs of voices drawn from pathological and normal populations. Separate nonmetric multidimensional scaling solutions were calculated for each listener and voice set. The correlations between individual listeners’ dissimilarity ratings were low However, scaling solutions indicated that each subject judged the voices in a reliable, meaningful way. Listeners differed more from one another in their judgments of the pathological voices (which varied widely on a number of acoustic parameters) than they did for the normal voices (which formed a much more homogeneous set acoustically). The acoustic features listeners used to judge dissimilarity were predictable from the characteristics of the stimulus sets’ only parameters that showed substantial variability were perceptually salient across listeners. These results are consistent with prototype models of voice perception They suggest that traditional means of assessing listener reliability n voice perception tasks may not be appropriate, and highlight the importance of using explicit comparisons between stimuli when studying voice quality perception
Variability of Acoustic Segment Durations After Prolonged-Speech Treatment for Stuttering
Authors: Onslow Mark , Doorn Janis van , Newman Denis
Published: July 2014

Existing literature suggests that one of the effects of treatment based on prolonged speech is increased durations of acoustic segments. However, the external validity of the data concerned may be questioned because the data were not based on spontaneous speech samples and were gathered from subjects with unknown treatment histories. With this in mind, the present investigation used young clients with no history of treatment based on prolonged speech and obtained pretreatment and posttreatment acoustic measures from spontaneous speech samples. Acoustic measures showed no significant posttreatment increases in durations of acoustic segments. However, for the acoustic measure of vowel duration and a measure of articulation rate, posttreatment speech samples showed significantly reduced variability. The potential theoretical and practical relevance of these findings is discussed.
Consistent Within-Session Measures of Tinnitus
Authors: Penner M. J. , Bilger R. C.
Published: July 2014

Two psychophysical methods, a method of adjustment (MOA) and a forced-choice double-staircase adaptive procedure (FCDS) (Jesteadt, 1980), were used to measure the predominant pitch and loudness of tinnitus for 11 subjects during one test session. The FCDS within-session variability of matches to tinnitus pitch was smaller than for the MOA and comparable to the within-session variability obtained when the FCDS procedure was used to match objective stimuli that approximated the frequency and level of the tinnitus. The within-session variability of matches to tinnitus loudness was nearly identical for the FCDS and the MOA and comparable to the within-session variability obtained when the FCDS procedure was used to match objective stimuli that approximated the frequency and level of the tinnitus. For 3 subjects who participated in 20 sessions, the two psychophysical methods produced correlated measures of tinnitus that tracked each other between sessions. This suggests that tinnitus may be stable within a brief time span but fluctuant in the long run