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*NSSLHA members can download the full-text versions of these articles in the "Members" section of our site.
- The Evolution of the Auditory System: A Tutorial
- Pediatric Nonorganic Hearing Loss: Psychosocial Issues and Management
- Relative Speech Timing in Parkinson Disease
- Gestures Produced by Patients With Aphasia and Ideomotor Apraxia
- Verbal Working Memory Skills of Children Who Stutter: A Preliminary Investigation
- Case Studies of Sentence Complement Training and False Belief Performance
- Pretreatment Stimulability and Percentage of Consonants Correct as Predictors of Across-Phoneme Generalization
- Clinicians' Questioning Behavior: Achieving Intellectual Intimacy in a Postmodern Professional Era
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1. The Evolution of the Auditory System: A Tutorial
Elizabeth Hester
Abstract: A respectable body of work exists on the evolution of speech production, but little has been published on the evolution of the auditory system. Salient points in the evolution of the auditory system are presented here based on a review of the literature in paleontology, embryology, and comparative studies of extant organisms. Structural changes in the vertebrate ear are the central issue. Research methods and interpretive caveats are examined, followed by a discussion of evolution in relation to audition and the emergence of the auditory system. Findings from the fossil record, pertinent to aural structures, are noted, with comparative investigations of extant organisms in the evolution of the inner ear and central auditory structures. Discussion focuses on changes in structure and their benefits for evolutionary selection, with an overview of theories associated with these changes. In conclusion, the implications of ongoing evolution of the auditory system in higher primates are considered.
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2. Pediatric Nonorganic Hearing Loss: Psychosocial Issues and Management
Zarin Mehta
Rachel Martindale
Abstract: Children as well as adults can present with nonorganic hearing loss (NOHL), which may be the result of conscious malingering or may be psychogenic in nature. Some cases of pediatric NOHL (PNOHL) can be symptomatic of underlying psychosocial stressors. These issues, left unresolved, may become harmful to a child's well-being, especially if the hearing loss is replaced with functional symptoms that are emotionally and psychosocially damaging to the child. In most clinical settings, attention is rarely focused on determining the underlying problems leading to the PNOHL or to the management of the condition. Literature discussing psychosocial stressors that lead to PNOHL and the personality profile of children who present with PNOHL are reviewed in this article. Techniques for managing this condition also are presented.
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3. Relative Speech Timing in Parkinson Disease
Alexander M. Goberman
Jessica McMillan
Abstract: Relative speech timing was examined in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) and in age-matched control speakers. Relative timing ratios were created from temporal intervals in one phrase containing no pause, one phrase containing an optional pause, and one phrase containing a mandatory pause. Results indicated that there were no relative timing differences between participants with PD and the controls. However, there were subtle differences in PD participant to control participant comparisons when examined in relation to the expected pause location. Overall, these data support previous studies, which found that speech relative timing is invariant on natural tasks despite changes in absolute timing. In addition, these data support the contention that speech relative timing is constrained by the physiology of the speech production system.
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4. Gestures Produced by Patients With Aphasia and Ideomotor Apraxia
Beth L. Macauley
Candace L. Handley
Abstract: This study examined the effects of aphasia and ideomotor apraxia on conversational gesture. Participants included 8 neurologically normal control participants and 12 participants having aphasia from a single left-hemisphere stroke. Testing included the Western Aphasia Battery (Kertesz, 1982), the Florida Apraxia Battery (Rothi et al., 1992), and scoring of conversational gesture. Statistical findings using a between-group analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant difference in quantity and type of gestures used between experimental and control participants. Within the experimental participants, there was a clear relationship between severity of aphasia and conversational gesture, but not between severity of ideomotor apraxia and conversational gesture. Therefore, severity of aphasia appears to be a better predictor than severity of ideomotor apraxia for the production of spontaneous gesture.
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5. Verbal Working Memory Skills of Children Who Stutter: A Preliminary Investigation
Jamie Reilly
Joseph Donaher
Abstract: In the field of speech-language pathology, recent attention has focused on the role of verbal working memory in language processing. The current study examined the verbal working memory skills of children who stutter (CWS) via a digit and letter span experiment. The CWS showed significantly reduced recall when compared to an age-matched group of children who do not stutter (CWDS). This effect was apparent across both written and oral response modalities. Implications for the relationship between verbal working memory, phonological development, and stuttering are discussed. Furthermore, we call for more extensive investigation of these associated phenomena among CWS.
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6. Case Studies of Sentence Complement Training and False Belief Performance
Carol A. Miller
Sandy E. Verrilli
Abstract: It has been hypothesized that sentence complement comprehension is a prerequisite for the development of false belief understanding in young children. Previous research has suggested that training on sentence complements leads to improved false belief performance. This study used a case study design to investigate the effect of sentence complement training on false belief for 2 children. One was a 3-year-old twin girl with typical language development; her twin sister was included, without training, for comparison. The second child was a 3-year-old girl with an expressive language delay. The twins demonstrated sentence complement mastery from the outset of the study, but did not display full competence with false belief. The child with a language delay improved markedly in comprehension of sentence complements but consistently failed false belief tasks. The results suggest that although sentence complement comprehension may play a role in false belief development, the relationship between the two may not be as close as has been suggested.
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7. Pretreatment Stimulability and Percentage of Consonants Correct as Predictors of Across-Phoneme Generalization
Cari B. Flint
Janis Costello Ingham
Abstract: The clinical importance of clearly identifying variables that are related to across-phoneme generalization and the need for replication of findings that show stimulability as one such variable prompted this study. The first purpose of this study was to replicate the finding that stimulability status of untreated speech sounds predicts generalization patterns, while at the same time examining whether the presence or absence of correct productions could also predict generalization patterns. The second purpose of this study was to replicate the finding that stimulability status of speech sounds targeted in treatment influences the overall amount of across-phoneme generalization. Pretreatment stimulability and percentage correct of misarticulated speech sounds were measured in 7 children with functional phonologic disorders. Following treatment, the relative association between these two variables and generalization to untreated speech sounds was examined. The results indicate that stimulability is the variable that is most strongly associated with generalization. This association between pretreatment stimulability and generalization was present regardless of the stimulability status of the treatment target. Clinical implications of these findings, possible theoretical underpinnings of stimulability, and the usefulness of connected speech samples are discussed.
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8. Clinicians' Questioning Behavior: Achieving Intellectual Intimacy in a Postmodern Professional Era
David A. Shapiro
Nelson Moses
Abstract: This article discusses one method that was used to create, nurture, and maintain a teaching and learning context of intellectual intimacy with students in speech-language pathology. Students enrolled in three courses submitted questions and underlying premises to the professor on a weekly basis; the assignment was designed to generate independent thought, group discussion, and interaction between the student and instructor, and to bridge the academic, clinical, and supervisory experiences. Using a taxonomy designed for this investigation, more than 1,600 questions were analyzed for domain of knowledge (propositional, procedural, and causal) and information function (discovery, exploration, and understanding). Results revealed the nature of questions asked and patterns of students' questioning behavior. Implications are addressed in terms of communication, knowledge construction, professional preparation, and clinical application. Reflecting its postmodern perspective, this research is presented in a medium (i.e., manner of writing) that is consistent with its message.
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