bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Auditory Sensitivity and the Prelinguistic Vocalizations of Early-Amplified Infants
Authors: Hapsburg Deborah von , Davis Barbara L. 
Published: May 2007

PurposeVocalization development has not been studied thoroughly in infants with early-identified hearing loss who receive hearing aids in the 1st year of life. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between auditory sensitivity and prelinguistic vocalization patterns in infants during the babbling stage.MethodSpontaneous vocalizations of 15 early-identified infants with varying degrees of hearing sensitivity, from normal to profound hearing loss, were audiotaped and perceptually transcribed. Associations between the infant’s unaided pure-tone average and the following vocalizations were explored: canonical babbling ratio, percentage of utterances containing canonical syllables, canonical syllable shapes, number of syllable sequences, and consonant-onset patterns in canonical syllables.ResultsHearing sensitivity was significantly associated with the percentage of utterances containing canonical syllables, the vocalization types used in utterances, and canonical syllable shapes used by the infants.ConclusionsAuditory sensitivity contributes significantly to the emergence of babbling patterns. In addition, there is a need for continued study of the vocalizations of infants with milder forms of hearing loss, because in this study, their vocalizations were highly variable despite having received early amplification.
Guidelines for Statistical Analysis of Percentage of Syllables Stuttered Data
Authors: Jones Mark , Onslow Mark , Packman Ann , Gebski Val 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to develop guidelines for the statistical analysis of percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS) data in stuttering research.

Method
Data on %SS from various independent sources were used to develop a statistical model to describe this type of data. On the basis of this model, %SS data were simulated with varying means, standard deviations, and sample sizes. Four methods for analyzing %SS were compared.

Results

Results suggested that %SS data can be adequately modeled with a gamma distribution. Simulations based on a gamma distribution showed that all 4 analysis techniques performed favorably with respect to Type I error except for F. E. Satterthwaite’s (1946)
t
test, which had increased Type I error on two occasions. Power was generally lower for the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test compared with the other methods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed on square-root-transformed data performed adequately under all scenarios, but ANOVA performed on nontransformed data and Satterthwaite’s
t
test performed poorly when sample sizes were small or when sample sizes and variances of the groups were markedly different.

Conclusions

Standard techniques such as
t
test and ANOVA are appropriate for most analysis scenarios with %SS data. Two occasions when this is not the case are when sample size is small, with fewer than 20 in each group, or when sample sizes and variances of the groups are markedly different. Under these circumstances, analyses should be based on standard methods, with a suitable transformation performed prior to analysis.
The Relationship Between Phonological Memory, Receptive Vocabulary, and Fast Mapping in Young Children With Specific Language Impairment
Authors: Gray Shelley 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
This study assessed the fast mapping performance of children with specific language impairment (SLI) across the preschool to kindergarten age span in relation to their phonological memory and vocabulary development.

Method
Fifty-three children diagnosed with SLI and 53 children with normal language (NL) matched for age and gender (30 three-year-olds, 18 four-year-olds, 28 five-year-olds, and 30 six-year-olds) participated. Children’s phonological memory was assessed using nonword repetition and digit span tasks. Receptive vocabulary was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—III. Children learned the names for 8 objects during 2 fast mapping tasks.

Results
Overall, the NL group demonstrated significantly better performance on phonological memory and vocabulary measures across the age span; however, performance on the fast mapping task differed significantly only at age 5. Phonological memory and existing receptive vocabulary did not predict fast mapping ability.

Conclusions
The phonological memory skills of preschoolers with NL and SLI followed a similar developmental pattern, but the SLI group consistently scored significantly lower than the NL group. Overall, the NL group showed significantly better receptive vocabulary, with evidence that between-group differences increased at age 6. Neither short-term phonological memory nor receptive vocabulary predicted fast mapping comprehension or production performance, even though both have been shown to correlate with later stages of word learning.
Nonword Repetition: A Comparison of Tests
Authors: Archibald Lisa M. D. , Gathercole Susan E. 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
This study compared performance of children on 2 tests of nonword repetition to investigate the factors that may contribute to the well-documented nonword repetition deficit in specific language impairment (SLI).

Method
Twelve children with SLI age 7 to 11 years, 12 age-matched control children, and 12 control children matched for language ability completed 2 tests of nonword repetition: the Children’s Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep) and the Nonword Repetition Test (NRT).

Results
The children with SLI performed significantly more poorly on both tests than typically developing children of the same age. The SLI group was impaired on the CNRep but not the NRT relative to younger children with similar language abilities when adjustments were made for differences in general cognitive ability. The children with SLI repeated the lengthiest nonwords and the nonwords containing consonant clusters significantly less accurately than the control groups.

Conclusion
The evidence suggests that the nonword repetition deficit in SLI may arise from a number of factors, including verbal short-term memory, lexical knowledge, and output processes.
The Effect of Word Frequency on Noun and Verb Definitions: A Developmental Study
Authors: Marinellie Sally A. , Chan Yen-Ling 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
Word frequency has profound effects in word recognition and production tasks. Here the influence of word frequency on definitions was investigated, and it was hypothesized that word frequency would have significant influence on responses provided for definitions of nouns and verbs.

Method
Students from Grades 4, 7, 10, and college wrote definitions for high- and low-frequency nouns and verbs and rated their familiarity with the stimulus words. In the noun study, definitions were coded with the semantic response categories “use/purpose,” “description,” “association/relation,” “partial explanation,” “explanation,” and “error.” “Partial explanation” and “explanation” responses were subcategorized to code for use of critical attributes of meaning and class terms. In the verb study, definitions were coded for “synonym,” “association/relation,” “class,” “partial explanation,” “explanation,” and “error.”

Results
Results indicated that certain response categories (such as a class term or a critical attribute) were more characteristic in definitions of high- compared with low-frequency words, whereas responses (such as nonspecific class) were more characteristic in low- compared with high-frequency words. In addition, certain response categories increased with age (such as use of class terms and critical attributes), while errors decreased with age. Familiarity ratings served to validate the high- and low- frequency nature of the stimulus words.

Conclusions
In general, word frequency had a significant impact on word definitions. Implications are discussed with respect to word familiarity, representation in the mental lexicon, acquisition of word meaning, and shared linguistic knowledge.
Teachers and Laypersons Discern Quality Differences Between Narratives Produced by Children With or Without SLI
Authors: Newman Robyn M. , McGregor Karla K. 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
To examine the functional impact of specific language impairment (SLI). Specific goals were to determine whether (a) subjective ratings of narrative quality differentiate children with SLI from their normally developing (ND) age-mates, (b) laypersons and teachers differ in their ratings of narrative quality, (c) objective measures confirm previously reported problems in narration among children with SLI, and (d) objective measures of narrative structure and quality ratings relate.

Method
Twenty-seven laypersons and 21 teachers used interval scaling to rate the quality of narratives produced by 20 5–7-year-olds, 10 with SLI and 10 ND age-mates. The narratives were also analyzed objectively for fluency, length, sentence-level syntax, and story grammar and themes.

Results
Subjective ratings differentiated the SLI and ND groups with 70% nonoverlap. No differences were observed between the laypersons' and teachers' numeric ratings; however, laypersons reported that they paid more attention to the “sparkle” or charm of the narratives. Objective measures of story length, grammaticality, and thematic development differentiated SLI and ND groups. Mean length of C-unit and number of thematic units positively predicted quality ratings.

Clinical implications
Intervention efforts aimed specifically at improving the quality of these children’s oral narration may focus on increasing length, grammatical accuracy, and story development. Future clinical and research efforts aimed at addressing the broader functional impact of SLI are also critical given that the manifestations of SLI are noticeable to both teachers and laypersons.
The Development of Temporal Resolution: Between-Channel Gap Detection in Infants and Adults
Authors: Smith Nicholas A. , Trainor Laurel J. , Shore David I. 
Published: May 2007

PurposeInfants have a good ability to detect brief silent gaps between 2 short identical sound markers (within-channel gap detection), with thresholds between 2 and 11 ms. The present experiment traces the development of temporal resolution for between-channel gaps (i.e., gaps delineated by spectrally disparate markers). This ability appears crucial for the perception of complex stimuli such as speech and is thought to reflect more central auditory processing.MethodInfants age 6–7.5 months and adults were tested in a between-channel gap detection task using a conditioned head-turn procedure. Gaps were marked by 1- and 4-kHz Gaussian-enveloped sine-tone markers.ResultsInfant gap thresholds were between 30 and 40 ms under conditions in which adult thresholds were between 10 and 20 ms.ConclusionsUnlike within-channel gap detection, the central temporal processing required for between-channel gap detection is still immature at 6 months of age.
The Dimensionality of Language Ability in School-Age Children
Authors: Tomblin J. Bruce , Zhang Xuyang 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
This study asked if children’s performance on language tests reflects different dimensions of language and if this dimensionality changes with development.

Method
Children were given standardized language batteries at kindergarten and at second, fourth, and eighth grades. A revised modified parallel analysis was used to determine the dimensionality of these items at each grade level. A confirmatory factor analysis was also performed on the subtest scores to evaluate alternate models of dimensionality.

Results
The revised modified parallel analysis revealed a single dimension across items with evidence of either test specific or language area specific minor dimensions at different ages. The confirmatory factor analysis tested models involving modality (receptive or expressive) and domain (vocabulary or sentence use) against a single-dimension model. The 2-dimensional model involving domains of vocabulary and sentence use fit the data better than the single-dimensional model; however, the single-dimension model also fit the data well in the lower grades.

Conclusions
Much of the variance in standardized measures of language appears to be attributable to a single common factor or trait. There is a developmental trend during middle childhood for grammatical abilities and vocabulary abilities to become differentiated. These measures do not provide differential information concerning receptive and expressive abilities.
Effects of Acoustic Manipulation on the Real-Time Inflectional Processing of Children With Specific Language Impairment
Authors: Montgomery James W. , Leonard Laurence B. 
Published: May 2007

Purpose

This study reports the findings of an investigation designed to examine the effects of acoustic enhancement on the processing of low-phonetic-substance inflections (e.g., 3rd-person singular -
s,
possessive -
s
) versus a high-phonetic-substance inflection (e.g., present progressive -
ing
) by children with specific language impairment (SLI) in a word recognition, reaction time (RT) processing task. The effects of acoustic enhancement on the processing of the same morphemes as well as an additional morpheme (comparative -
er
) were examined in an offline grammaticality judgment task. The grammatical function of 1 of the higher-phonetic-substance inflections, -
ing,
was presumed to be hypothesized relatively early by children; the function of the other, -
er,
was presumed to be hypothesized relatively late.

Method

Sixteen children with SLI (age

M

= 9 years;0 months) and 16 chronological age (CA; age

M

= 8;11) children participated. For both tasks, children listened to sentences containing the target morphemes as they were produced naturally (natural condition) or with acoustic enhancement (enhanced condition).

Results
On the RT task, the children with SLI demonstrated RT sensitivity only to the presence of the high-substance inflection, irrespective of whether it was produced naturally or with enhancement. Acoustic enhancement had no effect on these children’s processing of low-substance inflections. The CA children, by contrast, showed sensitivity to low-substance inflections when they were produced naturally and with acoustic enhancement. These children also showed sensitivity to the high-substance inflection in the natural condition, but in the enhanced condition they demonstrated significantly slower RT. On the grammaticality judgment task, the children with SLI performed worse than the CA children overall and showed especially poor performance on low-substance inflections. Acoustic enhancement had a beneficial effect on the inflectional processing of the children with SLI, but it had no effect on CA children.

Conclusion
The findings are interpreted to suggest that the reduced language processing capacity of children with SLI constrains their ability to process low-substance grammatical material in real time. This factor should be considered along with any difficulty that might be attributable to the grammatical function of the inflection.
Phonological Abilities of Hearing-Impaired Cantonese-Speaking Children With Cochlear Implants or Hearing Aids
Authors: Law Zoe W. Y. , So Lydia K. H. 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
This article examined the phonological skills of 2 groups of Cantonese-speaking children with prelingual, profound bilateral hearing loss. The phonological abilities of 7 children fitted with hearing aids were compared with the abilities of 7 children who wore cochlear implants.

Method
Participants in each group ranged in age from 5;1 to 6;4 years. The participants were asked to name 57 pictures and retell 2 stories. Phonological abilities were described in terms of the participants' phonological units and the phonological processes used. The participants' perception of single words was assessed using a Cantonese phonology test that includes tonal, segmental, and semantic distracters.

Results
All except 1 participant had incomplete phonetic repertories. All participants showed complete vowel and tone inventories. The study group used both developmental rules and nondevelopmental phonological rules. For perception of single words, participants chose the target word most often. The cochlear implant users had a significantly higher percentage correct score for consonant production than hearing aid users.

Conclusions
The prediction that Cantonese children wearing cochlear implants would have better phonological skills than children having hearing aids with a similar degree of hearing loss was confirmed. Cochlear implant usage appeared to promote consonant feature production development to a greater degree than did the use of a hearing aid.
Effects of Training on Speech Recognition Performance in Noise Using Lexically Hard Words
Authors: Burk Matthew H. , Humes Larry E. 
Published: May 2007

PurposeThis study examined how repeated presentations of lexically difficult words within a background noise affect a listener’s ability to understand both trained (lexically difficult) and untrained (lexically easy) words in isolation and within sentences.MethodIn the 1st experiment, 9 young listeners with normal hearing completed a short-term auditory training protocol (5 hr) while 8 other young listeners with normal hearing completed a similar protocol lasting about 15 hr in the 2nd experiment. All training made use of multiple talkers and was in a closed-set condition. Feedback was provided on a trial-to-trial basis and consisted of either orthographic or orthographic and auditory feedback. Performance on both the trained and untrained words in isolation and within sentences was measured pre- and posttraining.ResultsListeners' performance improved significantly for the trained words in an open and closed-set condition, as well as the untrained words in the closed-set condition. Although there was no mean improvement in the number of keywords identified within sentences posttraining, 50% of the listeners who completed the long-term training showed improvement beyond the 95% critical difference.ConclusionsWith enough training on isolated words, individual listeners can generalize knowledge gained through isolated word training to the recognition of lexically similar words in running speech.
The Relationship Between Nonverbal Cognitive Functions and Hearing Loss
Authors: Zekveld Adriana A. , Deijen Jan Berend , Goverts S. Theo , Kramer Sophia E. 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
This study investigated the relationship between hearing loss and memory and attention when nonverbal, visually presented cognitive tests are used.

Method
Hearing loss (pure-tone audiometry) and IQ were measured in 30 participants with mild to severe hearing loss. Participants performed cognitive tests of pattern recognition memory, sustained visual attention, and spatial working memory. All cognitive tests were selected from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB expedio; Cambridge Cognition Ltd., 2002). Regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between hearing loss and these cognitive measures of memory and attention when controlling for age and IQ.

Results
The data indicate that hearing loss was not associated with decreased performance on the memory and attention tests. In contrast, participants with more severe hearing loss made more use of an efficient strategy during performance on the spatial working memory subtest. This result might reflect the more extensive use of working memory in daily life to compensate for the loss of speech information.

Conclusions
The authors conclude that the use of nonverbal tests is essential when testing cognitive functions of individuals with hearing loss.
Predictors of Expressive Vocabulary Growth in Children With Autism
Authors: Smith Veronica , Mirenda Pat , Zaidman-Zait Anat 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the variability and predictors of expressive vocabulary development in children with autism and very delayed language.

Method
This study involved 35 children with autism whose initial chronological ages were between 20 and 71 months and whose initial expressive vocabularies were less than 60 words. Their expressive vocabularies were measured at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months following the start of intervention using the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory (L. Fenson et al., 1993).

Results
A cluster analysis revealed 4 distinct patterns of expressive vocabulary development over 2 years. The number of words said, the presence of verbal imitation skills and pretend play skills with objects, and the number of gestures to initiate joint attention at baseline were all associated with the cluster of children who demonstrated the most rapid expressive vocabulary growth over time. The 2 clusters of children who demonstrated the least vocabulary growth had the most significant developmental delays and autism severity at 6 months, but not at baseline.

Conclusions
This study confirms the heterogeneity in language development in young children with autism and, consistent with other reports, confirms that specific prelinguistic skills are predictive of development.
Profiles of Vocal Development in Young Cochlear Implant Recipients
Authors: Ertmer David J. , Young Nancy M. , Nathani Suneeti 
Published: May 2007

Purpose
The main purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of cochlear implant experience on prelinguistic vocal development in young deaf children.

Procedure
A prospective longitudinal research design was used to document the sequence and time course of vocal development in 7 children who were implanted between 10 and 36 months of age. Speech samples were collected twice before implant activation and on a monthly basis thereafter for up to 2 years. Children’s vocalizations were classified according to the levels of the Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development—Revised (SAEVD–R; S. Nathani, D. J Ertmer, & R. E. Stark, 2006).

Results
The main findings were (a) 6 of 7 children made advancements in vocal development after implantation; (b) children implanted between 12 and 36 months progressed through SAEVD–R levels in the predicted sequence, whereas a child implanted at a younger age showed a different sequence; (c) milestones in vocal development were often achieved with fewer months of hearing experience than observed in typically developing infants and appeared to be influenced by age at implantation; and (d) in general, children implanted at younger ages completed vocal development at younger chronological ages than those implanted later in life. Specific indicators of benefit from implant use were also identified.

Conclusion
The time course of vocal development in young cochlear implant recipients can provide clinically useful information for assessing the benefits of implant experience. Studies of postimplantation vocal development have the potential to inform theories of spoken language development.