bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Voice Onset Time in a Normal-Aged Population
Authors: Sweeting Patricia M. , Baken Ronald J.
Published: July 2014

Evidence suggests that the fine motor coordinations required to maintain the articulatory-laryngeal adjustments represented by measures of voice onset time (VOT) should change as a function of normal aging. This descriptive study obtained measures of VOT in healthy elderly subjects as a basis for extending the model of temporal speech control to the later years. Three groups of 10 subjects each were used. Group 1 was composed of subjects 25–39 years old. Groups 2 and 3 included subjects aged 65–74 and over 75, respectively. Subjects produced 30 tokens of three stimulus words beat, pete, bead, following a carrier phase. Wide-band spectrograms were prepared and measured, and the VOT data analyzed statistically. The following conclusions were drawn with respect to mean group age. The means of the VOTs did not differ significantly across subject groups. Standard deviations of the means did differ significantly; variability increased with age, both within subjects and between groups. The minimal separation of the phonemic boundaries for /b/ and /p/ decreased significantly as a function of aging, with the /p/ side of the distribution showing the greatest change.
Visual Backward Masking of Selected Visemes
Authors: Teigland Arne D. , Wilson Wesley R.
Published: July 2014

Five adult subjects with normal hearing and vision viewed tachistoscopically projected photographs of a talker uttering six phonemes. Experiment 1 determined discrimination of the visemes as a function of exposure duration (12–14 msec) and demonstrated that recognition of certain lip postures was a direct function of duration whereas for other postures duration appeared to interact with other variables. In Experiment 2, fixed duration stimuli (17 msec) were followed immediately by a variable duration masking stimulus (12–45 msec), and in Experiment 3 the test stimuli varied (22—52 msec) and the masking stimulus was fixed (45 reset). Results showed that under both conditions test stimuli were masked when the masker was at least as long as the test stimuli. In Experiment 4, the test stimuli and masking stimulus were held constant (15 msec and 45 msec, respectively) while a variable (7—37 msec) ISI was interposed. Delaying the masker did not improve recognition scores. Conclusions were (a) lip postures are subject to backward recognition masking and the effect varies in degree; (b) the processing of lip postures begins with a short-term storage of the posture; and (c) the initial stage of perceptual processing requires more than 37 msec. To the extent that this task parallels the speechreading process, the results would not support training procedures based at the level of single visemes.
The Ontogenesis of Agent
Authors: Olswang Lesley Barrett , Carpenter Robert L.
Published: July 2014

Three children were followed longitudinally for 12 months, between their 11th and 22nd months of life, to document their development of the linguistic expression of the agent concept. The children were observed approximately once a month in play and structured activities designed to elicit nonverbal and linguistic behaviors indicative of the children's awareness of the agent concept. This study describes how the linguistic behaviors (i.e., vocalizations, single-word utterances, and multiword utterances) were paired with emerging nonverbal agentive behaviors over the 12-month period. The children's first vocalizations did not appear to be consistently associated with any nonverbal agentive behaviors. Later vocalizations were consistently paired with directive nonverbal agentive behaviors. With the emergence of the mature cognitive notion of agent, the children produced single-word utterances coding the agent in agent-action-recipient events. And finally, for two of the children, multiword utterances coding two aspects of agent-action-recipient events were produced. The evolution of paired nonverbal agentive behaviors and different utterance types has provided evidence supporting the linguistic expression of an underlying cognitive notion.
The Influence of Probe-Tone Parameters on the Shape of Psychophysical Tuning Curves in Normal-Hearing Listeners
Authors: Grimes Charles T. , Wright Herbert N.
Published: July 2014

Psychophysical tuning curves have become increasingly important in furthering the interpretation of traditional masking data. Although a substantial amount of relatively new information is available on psychophysical tuning curves, the analysis and interpretation of this information are diffcult because of the lack of consistency among the probe-tone parameters used. This study investigated the shape of psychophysical tuning curves under simultaneous masking as a function of three frequencies— 500, 1000, and 4000 Hz; three levels—5, 20, and 40 dB SL; and two durations—10 msec and 200 msec. of the probe tones.

The results indicate that the general shape of psychophysical tuning curves is consistent throughout the 18 combinations of parameter values studied. Irregularities such as notches and CF shifts, inconsistently noted in previous investigations, were observed in the shape of psychophysical tuning curves. However, they were shown to depend on unique combinations of probe-tone parameters. These results are compared to previous investigations of simultaneous-masking psychophysical tuning curves with respect to the specific effects of probe-tone parameter values on the shape of the curves. Irregularities in the shape of psychophysical tuning curves are discussed in relation to aural combination tones and other nonlinearities.
Facilitating the Comprehension of Syntax in Aphasia
Authors: Pierce Robert S.
Published: July 2014

This study represents tile third in a series designed to assess aphasic listeners' ability to comprehend syntax. It addressed the issue of whether the presence of additional surface structure markers would facilitate the comprehension of syntactic distinctions based on tense, word order, and relativization. The results indicate that the additional markers did significantly improve comprehension of tense and word-order distinctions for those aphasic subjects who achieved relatively low scores on the stimulus sentences not containing the additional markers. Those subjects who had relatively high scores on the sentences without the additional markers also benefited from the extra markers, but this improvement failed to reach statistical significance. These results are discussed in relationship to the concept of knowledge-based processing.
Towards an Understanding of Retarded Children's Linguistic Deficiencies
Authors: Kamhi Alan G. , Johnston Judith R.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to provide a more accurate description of the language pertbrmance of retarded children and, by doing so, to understand better how the general mental handicap affects language learning. Subjects were a group of 10 retarded children matched for MA to a group of 10 normal children and 10 language-impaired children. Various syntactic and semantic analyses were performed. The results indicated that the retarded group's language abilities were essentially comparable to those of the normal group, though differences between these groups were found. Notably, the retarded children did not demonstrate the same linguistic deficiencies as the language-impaired children. It was suggested that the MA-inconsistent language behaviors exhibited by the retarded children were quantitative in nature rather than qualitative and as such seemed to reflect deficits in adaptive (i.e., social) and motivational behaviors rather than deficits in linguistic or cognitive abilities.
An Empirical Evaluation of the Effects of High-Pass Noise on the Whole-Nerve Action Potential
Authors: Gorga Michael P. , Abbas Paul J.
Published: July 2014

A number of methods are presented for evaluating the effects of high-pass noise on the whole-nerve action potential (AP). These methods include measurements of AP thresholds, amplitude-versus-level functions, decrement in AP amplitude-versus-masker level functions, and AP tuning curves. Examinations of threshold shifts as a function of tone-burst frequency and AP amplitude-versus-level with and without the presentation of high-pass noise indicate that basal portions of the cochlear partition can be masked effectively. Decrement in AP amplitude-versus-masker level functions and subsequently constructed AP tuning curves were used to verify that the presentation of high-pass noise did not alter the frequency response of that region of the basilar membrane responding to a 4000-Hz tone-burst probe. As a result, we conclude that high-pass noise may be used to mask the response from remote regions of the cochlea without altering response characteristics from lower frequency regions.
Use of Contralateral Masking in the Measurement of the Auditory Brainstem Response
Authors: Humes Larry E. , Ochs Marleen G.
Published: July 2014

In the first portion this study, the effects of two levels of contralateral masking on the auditory brainstem response (ABR) were investigated in 10 normal-hearing subjects. No significant changes were observed in the mean latency-intensity functions or the mean amplitude-intensity functions of this group of subjects when noise of various levels was added to the nontest ear. In the second portion of this study, ABRs were also recorded from the poorer ear of four subjects with a profound unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Results from the latter group revealed a crossed-over wave V in all cases when the stimulus was delivered to the poorer ear and the nontest (better) ear was not masked. Contralateral masking obliterated this "crossed ABB" in all four unilaterally impaired subjects. These results provide support for the use of contralateral masking when recording from the poorer ear of subjects having asymmetrical hearing loss.
Associations between Phonology and Syntax in Speech-Delayed Children
Authors: Paul Rhea , Shriberg Lawrence D.
Published: July 2014

Interactions between phonology and syntax are inspected in continuous speech samples from 30 speech-delayed children. Two types of interactions are examined: The co-occurrence of speech and language delay and the effects of phonological reduction on the realization of phonetically complex morphophonemes. Four possible patterns of association between the phonological and syntactic systems are outlined, and subjects are assigned to these patterns based on their phonological and syntactic performance. Results indicate that two-thirds of the subjects display evidence of overall syntactic delay, whereas half show some limitation in the use of phonetically complex morphophonemes, their performance in that area being below the level of their syntactic production. Implications of these findings for a the theory of speech delay and for management programming are discussed.
Voice Onset Time in Young and 70-Year-Old Women
Authors: Neiman Gary S. , Klich Richard J. , Shuey Elaine M.
Published: July 2014

This study was conducted to determine the effect of aging on voice onset time (VOT). Ten women between 20 and 30 years old and 10 women between 70 and 80 years old read CVC syllables embedded in a carrier phrase. Spectrograms were used to measure VOT for voiced and voiceless bilabial and velar stops in the context of high and low vowels. Findings revealed that VOT was generally the same in older and younger subjects, and both age groups maintained similar voiced/voiceless and bilabial/velar distinctions. Older subjects demonstrated significantly shorter VOTs only in certain contexts involving place of consonant production and vowel context. The effects of aging on VOT, therefore, seem to appear only in selected phonetic contexts.
Contextual Effects in the Measurement of Hearing-Impaired Speakers' Intelligibility
Authors: Sitler Ronald W. , Schiavetti Nicholas , Metz Dale Evans
Published: July 2014

Previous research has indicated that hearing-impaired speakers' intelligibility scores are better when sentences are used than when word lists are used as speech material in word identification tests. The speech intelligibility of 20 hearing-impaired speakers was measured with word identification tests using isolated words (W-22 monosyllables) and words in sentences context (CID sentences). Analysis of individual speaker' intelligibility data revealed that sentence intelligibility scores were higher than word intelligibility scores only for the better speakers and that no differences were apparent between sentence and single-word intelligibility for the poorer speakers. These findings agree with the results of research with normal speeds degraged in intelligibility by noise or filtering and indicate that an interaction may exist between context and overall intelligibility in which only speech that has a certain degree of overall intelligibility may show further intelligibility improvement with increased contextual clues.
Control of Upper Airway Structures During Nonspeech Tasks in Normal and Cerebral-Palsied Subjects
Authors: O'Dwyer Nicolas J. , Neilson Peter D. , Guitar Barry E. , Quinn Peter T. , Andrews Gavin
Published: July 2014

Electromyographic (EMG) recordings taken from 13 orofacial and mandibular muscles during a sequence of nonspeech movements were compared in six normal and six cerebral-palsied adult subjects. Abnormalities in the amplitude of muscle activity and timing of muscle control in the cerebral-palsied subjects were borne out in statistically significant differences between the two subject groups on five measures of muscle activity. The findings do not support hypotheses that weakness affects individual upper airway muscles in cerebral-palsied persons or that a pathological imbalance between positive and negative oral reactions is present in these subjects. A possible mechanism for hypertonicity in facial muscles in cerebral palsy is suggested, based on inappropriate activation patterns across muscles. The results are consistent with a previous proposal that a defect in the specification of motor commands and/or their communication to muscles is a fundamental abnormality in cerebral-palsied individuals which affects both speech and nonspeech motor control.
Expectancy and Heart Rate as Predictors of the Speech Performance of Stutterers
Authors: Baumgartner John M. , Brutten Gene J.
Published: July 2014

Three adult stutterers who displayed a preexperimental pattern of consistent expectation and occurence of stuttering were studied in a single-subject design. Multiple linear regression analyses led to the conclusion that cognitive (signalled) expectancy was predictive of stuttering for two of the subjects. The third subject evidenced essentially no relationship between signalled expectancy and disfluent performance. For two subjects, neither mean heart rate nor heart rate variability was predictive of speech performance. For the third subject, mean heart rate was predictive but heart rate variablity was not. For two subjects, there was essentially no relationship between the measured physiologic variables and cognitive expectancy. However, for the third subject both mean heart rate and heart rate variability were significantly predictive of cognitive expectancy. These results suggest that adult stutterers should not be viewed as a homogeneous group with respect to preutterance activity that is either cognitive or physiologic. The relationship between preutterance heart rate, heart rate variability, and expectancy responses and between these preutterance variables and subsequent stuttering appears to be individualistic.
Evaluations of Blom-Singer Tracheoesophageal Puncture Prostheses Performance
Authors: Moon Jerald B. , Sullivan John , Weinberg Bernd
Published: July 2014

Emperical and theoretical approaches to the assessment of Blom-Singer tracheoesophageal puncture prosthesis performance are described in this paper. The results of empirical studies provide new insights about the behavior of Blom-Singer devices. Namely, the overall average resistance (about 126 cm H
2
O/LPS) of these devices stems from two major factors: air entrance and air exit effects. The magnitudes of airway resistance for each of these factors and the relative contribution each factor makes to the total airway resistance of these prostheses are delineated. The performance of these devices and modifications thereof are shown to be characterized and predicted quite well using a one-dimensional, spring-constant mathematical model.
Words, Objects, and Actions in Early Lexical Acquisition
Authors: Schwartz Richard G. , Leonard Laurence B.
Published: July 2014

The influences of referent type (Objects vs. Actions) and within-category referent relationships (functionally similar vs. perceptually similar) upon children's acquisition of lexical concepts were examined. Twelve children aged 12 ½–15 ½ months at the outset served as subjects. During 10 experimental sessions over a period of 3–4 months the children were presented with 16 contrived lexical concepts. Each concept consisted of a nonsense word and four objects or four actions which served as the referents for that word. The children acquired object words and concepts in greater numbers than action words and concepts, suggestive of differences in the underlying complexity or structure of object and action concepts. The lack of significant differences in the acquisition of perceptually based and functionally based concepts suggests that children at this point in development may base lexical concepts on perceptual or functional attributes.
Comparison between the Motoric Constraints for Amer-Ind and ASL Sign Formation
Authors: Daniloff Joanne Kelsch , Vergara Deborah
Published: July 2014

Previous research has shown that Amer-Ind signals are more easily learned and remembered than their synonyms in American Sign Language. One possible reason is a difference in motoric complexity between the two systems. To test the hypothesis that such a difference exists, the positions and movements that constitute the 236 signals of Amer-Ind Code were compared with those of their synonyms in American Sign Language. It was found that the ASL signs were indeed more complex in terms of changes of hand orientation during production, the use of two hands rather than one, the number of different handshapes used, and the total amount of movement required. When the two systems were compared in terms of the normal development of finger, hand, and arm movements, it was found that more Amer-Ind signals than ASL signs are within the competence of infants at both the 6-month and 12-month levels. Relative to the motor coordination required to execute both systems, it was concluded that the Amer-Ind corpus is less complex than a matched group of ASL signs.
Stimulus Duration and Frequency Discrimination for Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Subjects
Authors: Hall Joseph W. , Wood Elizabeth J.
Published: July 2014

Frequency discrimination for 500- and 2000-Hz pure tones at durations of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 200 ms was determined for 10 normal-hearing and 10 cochlear-impaired listeners. Listeners from both groups demonstrated monotonic increases in frequency difference limens as stimulus duration decreased. The functions of the hearing-impaired listeners were parallel to those of the normal-hearing listeners for stimulus durations between 10 and 200 ms, but the overall performance of the hearing-impaired group was poorer than that of the normal-hearing group. The functions of many of the cochlear-impaired subjects were less steep than normal for the shortest durations tested (between 5 and l0 ms). There appeared to be no relation between temporal integration for frequency discrimination and temporal integration for detection threshold. The results are discussed in terms of processes of temporal integration and frequency selectivity.
Speech Processing for Cochlear Implant Prostheses
Authors: Millar I. B. , Tong Y. C. , Clark G. M.
Published: July 2014

The transformation of speech into electrical signals which can stimulate the auditory nerve in order to create hearing sensations that carry speech information depends on many factors. These include the limitations imposed by the current state-of-the-art in otological surgery, mieroelectronic and micromechanical technology, and knowledge of the functioning of the auditory system under both acoustic and electrical stimulation. Sufficient advances have been made in all these areas to enable several research centers to develop cochlear prostheses which give some hearing to certain totally deaf persons. The work of these centers towards the goal of full unaided speech perception via the prosthesis is examined and evaluated.
Consistency of Effects of Slow Rate and Pauses on Aphasic Listeners' Comprehension of Spoken Sentences
Authors: Brookshire R. H. , Nicholas L. E.
Published: July 2014

The effects of intrasentence pauses and slow speaking rate on aphasic listeners' comprehension of spoken low- and high-difficulty sentences were investigated. Aphasic subjects heard commands spoken at a normal rate, at a slower than normal rate, and with inserted 4-s pauses. Subjects' performance was measured weekly for 4 consecutive weeks. The effects of pauses and slow rate on subjects' performance were not consistent across subjects or within subjects across sessions. Type of aphasia, time postonset of aphasia, and overall severity of comprehension deficit were not strongly related to aphasic listeners' responses to pauses or slow rate.
Management of Sentence Production Demands
Authors: Kamhi Alan G. , Catts Hugh W. , Davis Michelle K.
Published: July 2014

This study examined the effects of variations in language complexity on young children's phonological accuracy and consistency of target words. A more general intent was to understand better the way in which developmental level and children's tolerance of speech variability influenced the management of processing demands. Seven children aged 22–34 months were seen six times over a 4-month period. During these sessions, children were presented with an elicited imitation task consisting of 18 stimulus words, each of which occurred in eight sentences of varying language complexity. Younger children in Language Stage III were found to be more influenced by changes in language complexity than older children in Language Stages IV and V. Within-stage differences were also found. Moreover, in contrast to previous research, children showed as many improvements in phonological accuracy with increases in language complexity as they did decreases in phonological accuracy. It was suggested that between-stage differences were primarily caused by differences in developing speech, language, and cognitive abilities, whereas within-stage differences were primarily caused by differences in the extent to which children tolerated variability in their speech. Based on this contention, some speculations were offered concerning the way in which normal and disordered children manage processing demands.
Temporal Integration of Tone Glides by Children with Auditory-Memory and Reading Problems
Authors: Tobey Emily A. , Cullen John K.
Published: July 2014

Temporal auditory integration for short-duration, frequency-varying signals was examined in children with deficits in auditory memory and reading. Signals were similar to those previously used: a fixed-frequency tone, a tone glide rising in frequency, and a tone glide falling in frequency. No significant differences were found between the Experimental and Control groups' thresholds as a function of signal class (i.e., fixed-frequency or tone glide) or duration. In addition, a significant asymmetry in the thresholds of short-duration rising and falling tone glides was found for both groups. Falling tone glides were detected at higher intensities than were rising tone glides. Data from this study indicated this particular group of children with auditory memory and reading problems was able to detect simple and complex short-duration signals in a manner similar to normal children.
Interactive Basis of Severely Handicapped and Normal Children's Acquisition of Referential Language
Authors: Koenig Mareile A. , Merwis Carolyn B.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to compare the interactions of prelinguistic severely handicapped children and their caregivers to the interactions of prelinguistic normal children and their mothers. The children were matched for level of sensorimotor development. Comparisons were made with regard to the children's use of gestures, patterns of play, and natural opportunities for developmentally appropriate communicative stimulation. These comparisons were based on observations of each child and his caregiver during a 30-min period of naturalistic play. Overall, no significant differences were found between the children's use of prelinguistic gestures or in their patterns of play. Significant differences were found, however, between the communicative environments of the two groups of children. The severely handicapped children experienced significantly fewer opportunities to hear labels for the objects of their attention or to observe functional object demonstrations. Both the theoretical implications and the practical applications of these findings were considered.
Reflectivity Bias in Picture-Pointing Grammatical Comprehension Tasks
Authors: Shorr David N. , Dale Philip S.
Published: July 2014

Two studies, one correlational and one experimental, supported the hypothesis that 4- and 5-year-olds' performance on a picture-pointing grammatical comprehension task administered under standard procedures is highly influenced by reflectivity style. In the first study, a substantial correlation was obtained between reflectivity and picture-pointing grammatical comprehension task performance. This correlation was significantly greater than that between reflectivity and object-manipulation grammatical comprehension task performance. In the second study, a reflectivity-promoting but grammatically irrelevant modification in the administration of the picture-pointing task resulted in significantly improved comprehension scores and a significantly lower correlation with reflectivity.
Stereotype Formation by Inference
Authors: White Peter A. , Collins Sara R. C.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis concerning the origin of the stereotype of the stuttering personality. According to this hypothesis the stereotype is formed by inference from beliefs about the internal variables that accompany disfluencies resembling stuttering on occasions when they occur in normally fluent speakers. This hypothesis leads to the prediction that ratings of the personality of the typical adult male stutterer will be similar to ratings of the internal state of a normally fluent speaker during a transitory spell of disfluent speech. This prediction was tested by obtaining.ratings of each of these targets, using the 25 bipolar rating scales employed in previous research on this topic, from two groups each of 40 students. As predicted, the mean ratings of each target were highly correlated across the scales. These results imply that the Stereotype of the stuttering personality, although mainly negative, may be derived not from motivational factors, but from judgments made under uncertainty.
Written Narratives of Deaf and Hearing Students
Authors: Sarachan-Deily Ann Beth
Published: July 2014

The ability of deaf high school students to recall propositions and inferences from prose was examined and compared with that of hearing students. Students were asked to read and then write a given story. The hearing students recalled significantly larger numbers of propositions than deaf students, but both deaf and hearing students recalled similar numbers of story inferences in their written narratives. The interaction between the deaf students' reading comprehension levels and their narratives revealed that better readers were more accurate in recalling explicit propositional information but were not different in recalling implicit content. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
Effects of Aerosol Corticosteroids on the Voice
Authors: Watkin Kenneth L. , Ewanowski Stanley J.
Published: July 2014

The present investigation compared the effects of triamcinolone acetonide (Aristocort® Aerosol) and beclomethasone dipropionate (Vanceril Inhaler®) on the vocal functioning of 11 chronic asthmatics. Using conventional aero-acoustic techniques, subjects' vocal fundamental frequency, maximum phonation time, and oral air volume velocity were sampled at baseline (oral corticosteroid use) and at the end of the first and second year of aerosol triamcinolone acetonide use. At the end of the second year of aerosol triamcinolone acetonide use, all subjects discontinued use of this compound and began use of aerosol beclomethasone dipropionate. Subjects' vocal performance then was sampled after 1 year of aerosol beclomethasone dipropionate use. Results of this study suggest that aerosol triamcinolone acetonide reduced the vocal dysfunction observed during the baseline period. When aerosol beclomethasone dipropionate was used, however, subjects' vocal performance was similar to that observed during the baseline period (oral steroid use).
Mother and Child Speech Rates as a Variable in Stuttering and Disfluency
Authors: Meyers Susan C. , Freeman Frances J.
Published: July 2014

Three questions were addressed in this study: (a) Do mothers of stuttering children talk faster than mothers of nonstuttering children, (b) do stuttering children talk faster than nonstuttering children, and (c) is there a relationship between child's rate of speech and mother's rate of speech in dyadic conversation? Twelve nonstuttering preschool boys and their mothers were matched with 12 stutterers and their mothers. Ten min of free-play interaction between alternated mother—child dyads were video recorded. Speech rates, defined as syllables per second in fluent utterances, were calculated. Results demonstrated that mothers of stutterers talked significantly faster to all children. Stutterers spoke slower than nonstutterers, and severe stutterers spoke slower than moderate stutterers. A correlational analysis revealed that the more the child stuttered, the slower he talked during fluent speech. Further, the slower the child talked during fluent speech, the faster the mother interacting with him talked. The results reveal an interactive and complex relationship between mother and child speech rates. The interpretation of results relating to child speech rates was complicated by post hoc analyses revealing a significant relationship between speech rates and utterance length.
Diotic Loudness Summation in Normal and Impaired Hearing
Authors: Hall Joseph W. , Harvey Antony D.G.
Published: July 2014

Diotic loudness summation at 500 and 2000 Hz was measured in 10 normal-hearing and 10 cochlear-impaired listeners. Diotic stimuli were matched in loudness to monaural "standards" of 70, 80, and 90 dB SPL. Diotic loudness summation averaged about 9 dB at 500 Hz for both groups. At 2000 Hz, the hearing-impaired listeners showed reduced diotic loudness summation at the 70- and 80-dB levels, but showed normal diotic loudness summation (about 9 dB) at the 90-dB level. The results indicate that diotic loudness summation is normal in cochlear-impaired ears, provided that the stimuli are presented sufficiently above threshold.
Comparison of Pure-Tone Audibility Thresholds Obtained with Audiological and Two-Interval Forced-Choice Procedures
Authors: Marshall Lynne , Jesteadt Walt
Published: July 2014

Audibility thresholds were measured at 500 and 4000 Hz with a standard clinical procedure and a two-interval, forced-choice (2IFC) adaptive procedure for 72 normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, age 17 to 83. Psychometric functions were obtained for clinical, 2IFC, and Yes-No procedures. A measure of response bias was obtained from the Yes-No procedure. The 2IFC adaptive thresholds were 6.5 dB lower than audiological thresholds. The psychometric functions for the forced?choice procedures were generally shallower than those for the clinical procedure and were shifted to lower sound pressure levels. Response bias played a small role at best in accounting for the magnitude of the difference in threshold estimated by the adaptive and clinical procedures or for the differences among the psychometric functions.
A Computer-Controlled Vowel Corrector for the Hearing Impaired
Authors: Povel Dirk-Jan , Wansink Marty
Published: July 2014

The Vowel Corrector is a visual aid to be used in speech training of the hearing impaired. The display provides information about the identity of vowels spoken in isolation or in monosyllables. Vowels appear on a screen as differently located areas in a space, the coordinates of which are obtained from a dimensional analysis of vowel spectra. Resolving properties of the device, indexed by a measure of area overlap, are examined in detail. In particular, implications for differentiating utterances of male, female, and child speakers are studied. Results show that the device has promising features and is especially useful for exploring the vowel space as well as for learning a global differentiation of the vowels. The discrimination of spectrally similar vowels is limited, however. Ideas for future improvements are discussed.
Use of a Monosyllabic Adaptive Speech Test (MAST) with Young Children
Authors: Mackie Kerrie , Dermody Phillip
Published: July 2014

Sixty children aged 3, 5, and 7 years were tested using a simple up-down adaptive speech threshold procedure. The test stimuli were familiar monosyllabic words presented as a closed set with a picture-pointing response. The results indicate that monosyllabic adaptive speech test (MAST) procedures can be used reliably with children as young as 3 years of age. Thirty of the children also received a different randomization of the same speech stimuli presented at a constant level, equal to their MAST threshold. The results confirmed the accuracy of the MAST estimate of the children's 50% speech threshold. Further support for the validity of the MAST threshold procedure with young children was obtained using a group of 10 children with conductive hearing loss. Their results show a significant correlation between the MAST threshold and pure-tone loss. The data also indicated significant improvement in MAST thresholds over the three age groups investigated. These developmental changes are discussed in terms of a word frequency effect.
Movements of the Upper and Lower Lips during Speech
Authors: Folkins John W. , Canty Jeanne L.
Published: July 2014

Inferior-superior displacements of the upper lip, lower lip, and jaw were transduced with a strain-gauge system in 4 normal-speaking adults. Movements of the upper and lower lips were compared across conditions in which the jaw was free to move and when bite blocks were used to fix the jaw at four different vertical positions. As jaw-open position was increased with the bite blocks, it was found that: (a) Positions of both lips changed for bilabial closure, but the closing movements did not usually maintain consistent proportions between lips across different bite-block sizes; (b) although the lips maintained fairly consistent maximum interlabial opening across many conditions, this opening was reduced in the small bite-block conditions; and (c) in a few cases there was an increase in the duration of lip-closing movements, but these were small and inconsistent. The findings are discussed relative to possible organizational systems that would produce the observed interactions among speech articulators.
Magnitude Estimation and the "Paradoxical" Loudness of Tinnitus
Authors: Penner M. J.
Published: July 2014

Ten patients with sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus matched external tones to the tinnitus pitch. These matches were followed by (a) magnitude estimates to measure the loudness function of tones at 1 kHz and at the presumed tinnitus frequency (i.e., at the average frequency matching the pitch of the tinnitus), (b) magnitude estimates of the tinnitus itself, and (c) loudness matches of external tones to the tinnitus. The slope of the loudness function at 1 kHz is substantially smaller than the slope at the presumed tinnitus frequency. Most importantly, the magnitude estimates of the tinnitus coupled with intensity matches to the tinnitus provide coordinates that typically lie near the loudness function of the external tone used in the intensity match. Because the slope of the loudness function is much greater at the tinnitus frequency than at 1 kHz, the magnitude estimate of tinnitus loudness corresponds to a lower sensation level at that frequency than at 1 kHz. This finding favors the conclusion that rapid hanges in loudness of external tones at the tinnitus frequency account for the "paradoxical" loudness of the tinnitus. The conclusion is independent of any mathematical description of the loudness function.
Distribution of Auditory Response Behaviors in Normal Infants and Profoundly Multihandicapped Children
Authors: Flexer Carol , Gans Donald P.
Published: July 2014

Responsiveness (yes/no decisions) to sound has been found to be similar for normal infants and profoundly multihandicapped children of comparable developmental ages (Flexer & Gans, 1985). The purpose of this investigation is to extend the comparison of these two groups by examining the distribution of their response behaviors to sound. Ten normal and 10 multihandicapped children were videotaped while various auditory signals were presented. Without knowledge of stimulus type, five judges listed the behaviors that occurred during 24 sound and 24 catch trials for each child. The behaviors were then evaluated as a function of the stimulus parameters of meaningfulness, bandwidth, and intensity. Results revealed that the profoundly multihandicapped children displayed relatively more reflexive than attentive type behaviors and exhibited fewer behaviors per response. The effects of stimulus-type on the numbers and distribution of responses are discussed.
Contrastive Stress, Phonetic Context, and Misarticulation of /r/ in Young Speakers
Authors: McCauley Rebecca J. , Skenes Linda Lilley
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of contrastive stress and phonetic context on misarticulations of consonantal /r/. Subjects were 9 children between the ages of 4:5 (years:months) and 5:7 who exhibited normal articulation development but inconsistently misarticulated /r/. The experimental task was designed to elicit consonantal /r/ in two phonetic contexts ([rV] & [CrV]) and two stress conditions (primary & nonprimary stress). Three listeners who were naive to the experimental hypotheses judged the children's productions for accuracy of /r/ production and for stress. Significant main effects were obtained for context and stress: /r/ productions were more often judged as correct in clusters than in singletons and in words not receiving primary stress than in words receiving primary stress. Results are discussed in terms of the possible effects of production and perceptual variables on listener judgments. Inferences are drawn concerning future research on speaker and listener effects in the study of articulation.
Masking of Tinnitus and Central Masking
Authors: Penner M. J.
Published: July 2014

In the first experiment reported here, for subjects with sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, the masking of tinnitus is primarily dependent on the masker intensity; masking is nearly independent of masker frequency. In the second experiment reported here, for subjects with normal hearing, the central masking of a continuous tone (used to stimulate the tinnitus) is primarily dependent on the intensity of a contralateral masker; masking is nearly independent of masker frequency. Implications of the flat tuning curves on the design of tinnitus maskers and one possible interpretation of the similarity of tinnitus masking and central masking are discussed.
Effect of Two Approaches to Auditory Training on Speech Recognition by Hearing-Impaired Adults
Authors: Rubinstein Adrienne , Boothroyd Arthur
Published: July 2014

Twenty adults with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing impairments were given three tests of speech recognition: the CUNY Nonsense Syllable Test (NST), the low predictability items of the Revised Speech Perception in Noise (RSPIN) test, and the high predictability items of the RSPIN test. They were tested on four occasions: (a) at the beginning of the study, (b) after one month of "no treatment," (c) after a month of intensive auditory training, and (d) after a further month of "no treatment." During the treatment period, 10 of the subjects spent all of the time on activities involving sentence perception and perceptual strategy while the other 10 spent half of the time on activities involving consonant recognition. A small, but statistically significant increase in speech recognition performance on the high probability material was observed in both groups subsequent to training, but the effect of training method was not significant. In addition, the gains achieved were not lost in the month following the end of training. The findings suggest that the benefits of auditory training were found in an increased use of sentence context as an aid to word recognition.
Aerodynamic and Myoelastic Contributions to Tracheoesophageal Voice Production
Authors: Moon Jerald B. , Weinberg Bernd
Published: July 2014

Five laryngectomized, tracheoesophageal (TE) speakers completed a series of phonatory tasks developed to assess (a) aerodynamic and acoustic properties of TE voice and (b) aerodynamic and myoelastic contributions to the mediation of fundamental frequency change. These TE speakers' voices were characterized by increased trans-source airflow rates, comparable source driving pressures, and decreased airway resistances in comparison with standard esophageal speakers. TE speakers were capable of adjusting their voicing sources on a myoelastic basis to influence F
o
change. This result, coupled with findings that confirm aerodynamic contributions to TE phonation, are intepreted to suggest that TE voice production should be regarded as an aerodynamic-myeolastic event. Findings are integrated with existing data to highlight fundamental differences among TE, esophageal, and normal voice production.
Temporal Characteristics of the Speech of Normal Elderly Adults
Authors: Smith Bruce L. , Wasowicz Jan , Preston Judy
Published: July 2014

A number of physical and psychological changes occur as a result of the normal aging process. These changes often result in an increase in the time subjects require to perform various motor (and sensory) tasks. Although the effects of aging upon a variety of behaviors have been quite well documented, considerably less information is available concerning how normal aging may affect speech production. The present study examined temporal characteristics of the speech of 10 normal, elderly adults and 10 young adults who produced a variety of words and sentences at both normal and fast speaking rates. Acoustic analyses indicated that the elderly adults' segment, syllable, and sentence durations were 20 to 25% longer than those of the young adults at both the normal and the fast rates of speech. In addition to comparisons that were made between these two groups of subjects, comparisons were also made with durations of the speech of young children studied in previous research. It was observed that the elderly subjects tended to produce durations comparable to those of 6- and 7-year-old children.
Changes in Voice Fundamental Frequency Following Discharge of Single Motor Units in Cricothyroid and Thyroarytenoid Muscles
Authors: Larson Charles R. , Kempster Gail B. , Kistler Michael K.
Published: July 2014

This investigation was designed to measure voice F
0
changes related to single motor unit (SMU) contractions in the cricothyroid and thyroarytenoid muscles. Four subjects (3 men and 1 woman) were recorded producing a prolonged vowel at modal pitch and loudness levels while simultaneous recordings of electromyograms (EMG) from the muscles were obtained. Voice F
0
changes unrelated to SMU firings in the muscles were eliminated using an averaging method previously described by Baer (1979). Results indicate that the time between discharge of the SMU and the peak in F
0
Change ("F
0
Latency") was variable and ranged from 5 to 20 ms for the thyroarytenoid and 6 to 75 ms for the cricothyroid muscle. Distinct oscillations in F
0
were always present in recordings from the woman subject and from the men when they phonated at higher-than-modal pitch levels. The findings are discussed in relation to SMU contraction times, biomechanics of the vocal folds, and the presence of jitter in normal voices.
Interobserver Reliability and Perceptual Ratings
Authors: Kearns Kevin P. , Simmons Nina N.
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of ratings of perceptual characteristics for 10 ataxic dysarthric subjects. The influence of the occurrence of "deviant" speech parameters on the calculation of reliability coefficients was also explored. Results indicated that overall interobserver agreement levels for minimally trained judges compared favorably to reliability coefficients reported in previous studies. Furthermore, levels of overall agreement were above levels of agreement expected on the basis of chance alone.

In contrast to overall interobserver agreement, much lower levels of interobserver agreement were obtained when "occurrence Reliability" coefficients were calculated for deviant dimensions alone. However, occurrence reliability coefficients surpassed the level of agreement expected on the basis of chance alone for all subjects. Based on the results of this investigation, recommendations are made for modifying standard practices for obtaining interobserver reliability for perceptual ratings of speech characteristics.
Physiological Bases of Acoustic LRT in Nonstutterers, Mild Stutterers, and Severe Stutterers
Authors: Watson B. C. , Alfonso P. J.
Published: July 2014

Physiological Bases of Acoustic LRT in Nonstutterers, Mild Stutterers, and Severe Stutterers. Watson, B. C., & Alfonso, P. J. December 1987 434–447

On p. 440, under the section "Events after the foreperiod" the sentence should read: "Events occurring after the foreperiod were analyzed in terms of the presumed functional target of phonation onset."
Lung Volume Changes in Children and Adults during Speech Production
Authors: Russell Nancy K. , Stathopoulos Elaine
Published: July 2014

This study examined whether the behavior of the respiratory system during speech production differed between adults and children as a function of articulatory and intensity factors. Changes in the mean cross-sectional area of the rib cage and abdomen were measured and percent vital capacity calculated using respiratory inductive plethysmography. Statistical analysis revealed a number of significant differences between the results for children and adults: (a) At the loud intensity level, the adults used a larger percent of their vital capacity than did the children; (b) Adults went further into their functional residual capacity (FRC) at the loud intensity level than at the comfortable level, whereas the children did not; and (c) At the loud intensity level, children used a greater percent of their vital capacity (VC) while reading a passage containing consonants requiring high lung volume increments than while reading a passage requiring low lung volume increments; the adults did not show this effect. These findings suggest that respiration in children is influenced primarily by articulatory demands and secondarily by intensity demands. Whereas, adult respiration responds primarily to the maintenance of vocal intensity level. Finally, the so-called "lung volume range for speech" used by the children was placed significantly lower in their overall VC range than was that of the adults. This result is coupled with the observation that children consistently encroached further into their FRC than did the adults across all conditions, although the effect reached significance only at the loud intensity level while the children read the high-volume passage.