- Speech Breathing Behavior and Vocal Fold Function in Dysphonic Participants Before and After Therapy During Connected Speech: Preliminary Observations
- Computerized Measures of Verbal Working Memory Performance in Healthy Elderly Participants
- Limitations of Age-Equivalent
- Phonological Awareness/Literacy Predictors of Spelling Abilities for First-Grade Children
- Effect of Syllable-Initial Voicing on Vowel Duration During Simultaneous Communication in Speech Produced by Inexperienced Signers: A Systematic Replication
- Phonological Awareness Instruction: Opinions and Practices of Educators and Speech-Language Pathologists
- Issues in Research on Children With Early Language Delay
- A Review of Past and Present Hair Cell Regeneration Techniques
++++++++++
1. Speech Breathing Behavior and Vocal Fold Function in Dysphonic Participants Before and After Therapy During Connected Speech: Preliminary Observations [PDF]
Natalie Schaeffer
Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York
Abstract: This research is an extension of the author's previous research in which speech breathing values (on the respigraph) of participants with abuse-related dysphonia and those with normal voices were compared during connected speech. Results from the previous study revealed that the dyphonic group used significantly lower end-expiratory values (i.e., extended exhalation below resting expiratory levels) in comparison to the group with normal voices. The present study investigated speech breathing values (on the respigraph) simultaneously with vocal fold function (on the electroglottograph) in 10 dysphonic participants, before and after therapy, during connected speech. Preliminary results indicated a significant improvement in speech breathing data (higher end-expiratory levels) and a trend toward increased vocal fold symmetry (lower speed quotients) following therapy. Additionally, posttherapy perceptual ratings revealed significant improvements in the participants' vocal quality when compared to pretherapy ratings.
Key Words: dysphonia, speech breathing, vocal fold function
Return to Top
2. Computerized Measures of Verbal Working Memory Performance in Healthy Elderly Participants [PDF]
Adrienne B. Hancock
The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Leonard L. LaPointe
Julie A. G. Stierwalt
Michelle S. Bourgeois
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Rolf A. Zwaan
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract: Purpose: Computerized measures of working memory offer advantages of precision, efficiency, and examiner control and are therefore reported more frequently. However, the influence of computer stimulus parameters is still unclear, primarily because they are not uniformly used or reported in published research.
Method: Twenty-four individuals with no reported neurological or serious medical conditions completed a computerized battery of 0-, 1-, and 2-back tasks presented in 2 modalities and 3 levels of interstimulus intervals (ISIs).
Results: Response time (RT) lengthened and accuracy decreased in a 2-back compared to a 1-back task of working memory. Visual or auditory presentation of stimuli generally did not influence RT or accuracy. RT lengthened but accuracy improved as ISI lengthened across 3 levels (800, 1600, and 3200 ms), indicating that participants used the additional time to determine the correct response.
Conclusion: Verbal working memory appears amodal but caution comparing RT across studies using different modalities of stimuli is warranted because RT is affected by perceptual processing time. Influences of ISI are now evident and should be limited by establishing a standard ISI. At minimum, stimulus parameters should be carefully considered and reported in order to advance interpretation of computerized measures.
Key Words: working memory, computerized stimuli, modality, interstimulus interval, response time
Return to Top
3. Limitations of Age-Equivalent [PDF]
Scores in Reporting the Results of Norm-Referenced Tests
Emily S. Maloney
Linda S. Larrivee
Worcester State College, Worcester, Massachusetts
Abstract: The literature for speech-language pathology is replete with criticisms of age-equivalent (AE) scores as descriptions of performance on standardized tests. However, there are few empirical examples that demonstrate explicitly the confusion that results from AE scores. This study investigated scores for 19-year-old participants on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–III (PPVT–III; L. M. Dunn & L. M. Dunn, 1997) and examined the relationship between the participants' standard scores and their AE scores. Although the range of normal for standard scores was 88-115, derived AE scores for these participants ranged from 14;0 (years;months) to 22+. Results revealed that, as expected, standard scores were normally distributed. AE scores were unevenly distributed and skewed, making interpretation problematic.
This information can be used to assist speech-language pathologists in implementing evidence-based practice when reporting performance on standardized tests.
Key Words: age-equivalent scores, norm-referenced tests, standardized tests, measurement
Return to Top
4. Phonological Awareness/Literacy Predictors of Spelling Abilities for First-Grade Children [PDF]
Barbara Weinrich
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Emily Fay
Abilities First, Middletown, Ohio
Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether selected phonological awareness/literacy skills were significant predictors of spelling abilities in first-grade students and how relevant each predictor was when it was examined simultaneously with the other predictors.
Method: Eighty first-grade children with normal language skills were given a variety of assessment measures to determine whether selected phonological awareness/early literacy skills were significant predictors of spelling ability, as measured by 2 spelling assessment instruments.
Results: Reading ability and sound-to-letter phonemic awareness skills were significant in predicting spelling ability.
Implications: Select phonological awareness/literacy skills of poor spellers should be identified so that the necessary interventions that would promote successful learners could be provided.
KeyWords: literacy predictors, spelling, emergent literacy, phonological awareness, Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS)
Return to Top
5. Effect of Syllable-Initial Voicing on Vowel Duration During Simultaneous Communication in Speech Produced by Inexperienced Signers: A Systematic Replication [PDF]
Kristin Allen
Sarah Maisonet
Dale E. Metz
Nicholas Schiavetti
State University of New York at Geneseo
Robert L. Whitehead
National Technical Institute for the Deaf,
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
Abstract: Under natural speaking conditions, or speaking alone (SA), vowels following word-initial voiced stop consonants are longer in duration than vowels following word-initial voiceless stops. This study investigated vowel durations following the production of word-initial voiced and voiceless stop consonants produced during simultaneous communication (SC) by recording inexperienced sign language users during SC and SA. Although the results indicated longer sentence and vowel durations for SC than SA, they showed no differences in the relative duration of vowels following voiced or voiceless stops. Vowel durations following voiced stop consonants were uniformly longer than vowel durations following voiceless stops across both speaking conditions. This finding is consistent with previous research indicating that global temporal alterations observed in SC do not degrade important temporal cues of spoken English. The findings are also consistent with the findings of D. E. Metz et al. (2006), who investigated experienced signers' vowel durations under identical experimental conditions as the present study.
Key Words: simultaneous communication, voice onset time (VOT), vowel duration, VOT-vowel duration trade-off, inexperienced signers
Return to Top
6. Phonological Awareness Instruction: Opinions and Practices of Educators and Speech-Language Pathologists [PDF]
Melinda Daniel
Mary E. Reynolds
Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
Abstract: Using electronic surveys, this study asked education professionals which components of phonological awareness they thought best supported the development of literate language, and to what extent each respondent was involved in phonological awareness instruction. Participants were kindergarten and first-grade teachers, reading specialists and special education teachers, and speech-language pathologists. The majority of respondents felt that knowledge of letter-sound correspondence and blending gave children the best foundations for reading. Reading specialists and special education teachers reported spending more time providing phonological awareness instruction to children who are at risk for reading difficulty than did speech-language pathologists. Of concern was that more than half of the speech-language pathologists reported no involvement in phonological awareness instruction in the regular curriculum, with 29% reporting that they did not provide phonological awareness instruction to children on their caseloads, who may be at risk for reading failure.
Key Words: phonological awareness, emergent literacy, reading, language impairment
Return to Top
7. Issues in Research on Children With Early Language Delay [PDF]
Irina Tsybina
Alice Eriks-Brophy
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Abstract: Some children acquire new words more slowly and start to combine words into phrases later than their typically developing peers, while having no obvious cognitive or sensory disabilities. These children's language deficits are typically restricted to language production; the receptive language abilities in most, although not all, of these children appear to develop normally. Therefore, these children are often characterized as late talkers, children with early language delay, or children with expressive language delay. The current article reviews research on these children in five areas: (a) characteristics of late talkers (children with early language delay), (b) terminology, (c) definitions and inclusion criteria, (d) issues of spontaneous recovery, and (e) effectiveness of intervention. The review makes it apparent that the evidence that has so far been generated by the research on early language delay is mixed or lacking in many areas of the field, such as predicting language outcomes for late-talking children, defining communication patterns of these children, and determining the necessity for and effectiveness of early interventions. Some possible directions for future research are suggested; for example, extending research to bilingual late-talking children.
Key Words: expressive language delay, late talkers, spontaneous recovery, early language intervention, caregiver–child interaction, early language delay
Return to Top
8. A Review of Past and Present Hair Cell Regeneration Techniques [PDF]
Anna Kharlamova
Nancy L. Aarts
College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio
Abstract: In more than 80% of cases of hearing loss, the cause is directly or indirectly related to the degeneration and death of sensory hair cells and their associated spiral ganglion neurons (M. C. Holley, 2002; J. F. Willot, 1991). Although certain animal species have the ability to regenerate lost hair cells, humans do not. If regeneration of these hair cells or the generation of new hair cells became possible, then many individuals would be given the potential to restore hearing. Several laboratories around the world are currently attempting to understand the molecular factors and mechanisms necessary for cochlear hair cell function, death, and (re)generation in the animal and human species. Three leading approaches—gene therapy, cell transplant, and drug delivery—are making rapid advances in generating new or restored hair cells in the human cochlea. This article includes a description of cochlear hair cell functioning, the history of hair cell regeneration efforts, and a comparison of approaches to cochlear hair cell regeneration.
Key Words: cochlear hair cells, drug delivery, gene therapy, hair cell regeneration, sensorineural hearing loss, stem cells
Return to Top
|