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The following is a summary of the processes that I examine using the Rochester Hearing and Speech Center approach:
- Temporal resolution: the ability to detect rapid changes in the speech signal
- Lexical decoding speed: the ability to process the words of speech quickly and accurately
- Short-term/working memory: the degree and patterns in which information is maintained in conscious memory (e.g., comparison of earlier to later presented information)
- Short-term/working memory span: the amount of information (# units) that can be retained in short-term/working memory
- Sequencing: the ability to maintain speech sounds, words, or directions in correct order
- Auditory-linguistic integration: the ability to integrate information across different auditory/language processing regions
- Prosodic perception: the ability to perceive/replicate rhythmic patterns
- Selective auditory attention: the ability to focus and recall target stimuli while blocking out competing stimuli. This can be evaluated by (a) figure-ground tests (i.e., speech embedded in noise) and (b) binaural separation (whereby competing stimuli are presented dichotically)
- Divided auditory attention: the ability to recall both competing stimuli presented
- Sustained auditory attention: the ability to maintain attention to verbally presented information over a period of time without a break
I also examine higher order phonological skills, including:
- Phonemic synthesis: the ability to blend individually presented speech sounds and derive the target whole word
- Sound-symbol associations (i.e., phonics): the ability to discriminate, sequence, and represent speech sounds through the use of symbols
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