Self-monitoring of articulation responses in sound discrimination tests

Two experiments were conducted using self-monitoring types of auditory discrimination tests. In both the subjects' task was to judge whether their articulation of single words was correct or incorrect. Subjects were first-through third-grade pupils. The self-monitoring tests were shown to have statistically significant power as measurements of: (1) improvement following therapy; (2) reliability; (3) correlation with articulation ability; and (4) differences between groups and grades. A discussion is given of related experiments and the relationship self-monitoring ability may have to a motor theory of speech perception.     

Speech summer camp for treating articulation disorders in cleft palate patients

INTRODUCTION: Compensatory articulation disorder (CAD) severely affects speech intelligibility of cleft palate children. CAD must be treated with speech therapy. Children can manage articulation better when they use language in event contexts such as every day routines. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to study and compare two modalities of speech intervention in cleft palate children with associated CAD. The first modality is a conventional approach providing speech therapy in 1-h sessions, twice a week. The second modality is a speech summer camp in which children received therapy 4h per day, 5 days a week for a period of 3 weeks. We were aimed to determine if a speech summer camp could significantly enhance articulation in CP children with CAD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five children with repaired cleft palates who exhibited CAD were studied. A matched control group of 45 children with repaired cleft palate who also exhibited CAD were identified. The patients included in the first group attended a speech summer camp for 3 weeks. The matched control subjects included in the second group received speech therapy aimed to correct CAD twice per-week in 1-h sessions. RESULTS: At the onset of either the summer camp or the speech therapy period, the severity of CAD was evenly distributed with non-significant differences across both groups of patients (p > 0.05). After the summer camp (3 weeks) or 12 months of speech therapy sessions at a frequency of twice per-week, both groups of patients showed a significant decrease in the severity of their CAD (p < 0.05). However, when the distribution of the severity of CAD was compared at the end of the summer camp or the speech therapy period, non-significant differences were found between both groups of patients (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A speech summer camp is a valid and efficient method for providing speech therapy in cleft palate children with compensatory articulation disorder.     

Word discrimination and chronological age related to sentence-based speech-reading skill

Twenty-one hearing-impaired subjects participated in the present study designed to investigate two questions. First, whether the ability to discriminate isolated words is related to sentence-based speech-reading. Second, whether older adults (i.e., 52 to 75 years) could, as in listening tasks, benefit relatively more than younger adults (i.e., 31 to 50 years) when extra contextual information is offered in the speech-reading task. The results demonstrated that word discrimination contributes significantly to efficient speech-reading performance. However, the nature of the relationship is dependent on the particular aspect of word discrimination being tested: that is, one aspect of the word-discrimination test (involving a short-term memory component) was tied to one specific speech-reading condition only (i.e., 3-word sentences), whereas another aspect (without a short-term memory component) facilitated performance in all kinds of speech-reading conditions. For both age groups it was found that contextual information had an equally facilitative effect. The results were discussed with respect to the role played by contextual information in visual speech perception compared to other related areas (e.g., listening and reading tasks).     

Speech discrimination in advanced otosclerosis following stapedectomy

This paper studies the changes in speech discrimination following stapes surgery in patients with advanced otosclerosis. Two thirds of these patients showed a postoperative improvement in the discrimination score with obvious correlation with closure of bone-air gap. The results were slightly worse in comparison to those obtained on otosclerotic patients with good bone conduction. In advanced otosclerosis even a minimal impairment in bone conduction and/or an incomplete closure of the gap interfere with discrimination.     

Delayed judgment speech-sound discrimination and /r/ or /s/ articulation status and improvement

A delayed judgment test of speech-sound discrimination was correlated with measures of articulation status and articulation improvement with training in two groups of subjects, an /r/ group and an /s/ group. While the discrimination measures were reliable and internally consistent, discrimination-articulation correlations were low. Several possible psychometric explanations for the nonsignificant results are ruled out, and subject and task variables that might interfere with children's performance on discrimination measures are discussed.     

双侧人工耳蜗植入者在噪声环境下的言语辨别能力

目的探讨双侧人工耳蜗植入患者的言语辨别能力.方法用2例双侧人工耳蜗植入者比较双侧与单侧人工耳蜗在不同信噪比下对广东话声调的辨别能力.结果在+15,+10和+5的信噪比下, 双侧人工耳蜗的平均能力为96%, 92%和88%, 而左耳及右耳单侧人工耳蜗的平均成绩为86%,83%和74%. 在0,-5,-10及-15的信噪比下,单侧人工耳蜗的平均能力近于0%,而双侧人工耳蜗的平均成绩为80%,72%,68%和54%.结论在不同信噪比下,双侧人工耳蜗植入更有助于提高对广东话声调的辨别能力. 进一步证明了双侧人工耳蜗植入患者运用双耳听力的优势.     

Speech discrimination skills in the elderly: a critical review

Traditionally, investigators have claimed that speech discrimination skills decline with increasing age more than would be expected, given hearing sensitivity. These effects are magnified under difficult listening conditions. Evidence is presented which both supports and refutes this claim of decreased speech discrimination ability in the elderly. Other possible explanations for this phenomenon including reaction time, response bias, hearing threshold, memory, learning, selective attention and social expectation are discussed. The question of whether this effect represents central or peripheral processing is explored. It is suggested that further evidence is necessary before conclusive statements can be made.     

双侧人工耳蜗植入者在噪声环境下的言语辨别能力

目的 探讨双侧人工耳蜗植入患者的言语辨别能力。方法 用2例双侧人工耳蜗植入者比较双侧与单侧人工耳蜗在不同信噪比下对广东话声调的辨别能力。结果 在 15, 10和 5的信噪比下,双侧人工耳蜗的平均能力为96%,92%和88%,而左耳及右耳单侧人工耳蜗的平均成绩为86%,83和74%。在0,-5,-10及-15的信噪比下,单侧人工耳蜗的平均能力近于0%,而双侧人工耳蜗的平均成绩为80%,72%,68%和54%。结论 在不同信噪比下,双侧人工耳蜗植入更有助于提高对广东话声调的辨别能力。进一步证明了双侧人工耳蜗植入患者运用双耳听力的优势。     

Reading and articulation

Children who are slow to develop a normal phonological system often experience difficulty in learning to read. This fact is repeatedly referred to in the literature. This article attempts to look at factors which are common to the development both of phonology and reading ability. The literature relating sound synthesis to both skills is reviewed together with implications for therapy.     

Speech discrimination in patients with Bell's palsy and a paralysed stapedius muscle

The contraction of the stapedius muscle results in a frequency dependant attenuation of sound through the middle ear. Idiopathic facial nerve paralysis (Bell's palsy) usually results in a paralysis of the stapedius muscle. This prospective study included 119 patients presenting with Bell's palsy over an 18-month period. After applying exclusion criteria, 80 patients with normal pure-tone audiograms underwent speech audiometry. This was performed on presentation and after recovery of the facial nerve palsy. Fifty-six patients (70%) with an absent stapedius reflex showed marked‘roll-over’from means of 98–49% on their speech audiogram. This resolved completely with recovery of the facial nerve palsy and return of the stapedial reflex. To determine whether this effect was due primarily to the paralysis of the stapedius muscle or to an associated polyneuropathy, a second study on six normal patients was done. These patients had both ears (12 in total) tested with speech filtered to simulate a paralysed stapedius muscle. This resulted in a mean‘roll-over’from 90.9 to 59.9%. The magnitude of this roll-over (31%) was only two-thirds of that seen in Bell's palsy patients (49%) with the difference between these means statistically significant (P < 0.05). This suggests that Bell's palsy, usually considerd a mononeuropathy, involves certain of the auditory fibres of the eighth nerve and is a polyneuropathy. Stapedius function is important in speech discrimination at higher levels of sound intensity such as speech in noise and severing the stapedius tendon in stapes surgery may affect speech discrimination after successful surgery.     

助听器配戴与感音性聋患者的言语识别

目的：感音性耳聋者的纯音听力水平与选配助听器的声增益特性对言语识别率提高的讨论。方法：８５例６岁～９０岁双耳感音性聋者单耳选配耳背式助听器,经１年以上随访,对助听耳的纯音听力、最佳言语识别率、助听器的声增益特性进行分析。结果：８５例助听耳平均言语识别率为６０±２４％,裸耳言语识别率为 ５０±２６％,平均残留听力水平（１２５Ｈｚ～８ ０００Ｈｚ）为 ５５±１１ｄＢＨＬ。结论：８５例感音性耳聋者助听耳的言语识别率（Ｙ）与残留听力水平（Ｘ）之间的相关关系为：Ｙ＝－０．８０８Ｘ＋１０４。