The Directional Effects of Marker Frequencies on Across-Channel Temporal Gap-Detection Tasks: An Experimental Study.

INTRODUCTION: Gap detection tests are crucial clinical tools for identifying auditory processing disorders that result from abnormalities in the central auditory nervous system. These tests assess the ability to resolve temporal information in sounds, which aids in the diagnosis of auditory temporal processing issues. This study explores the directional effects of marker frequencies on gap detection tasks with respect to the conditions of long and short frequency disparity (separation). METHODS: We measured the gap detection thresholds (GDTs) using four across-channel narrowband noise conditions (1-2, 2-1, 1-4, and 4-1 kHz). A within-subject study design involved 29 healthy individuals with normal hearing. Stimuli were presented monaurally using headphones routed via a calibrated audiometer. RESULTS: The condition with long frequency disparity and a low leading frequency (1-4 kHz) exhibited higher GDTs compared to the other across-channel conditions. However, we did not observe this effect in the other condition with long frequency disparity and a high leading frequency (4-1 kHz), which did not show significant differences from the two conditions with short frequency disparity. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that the combined effects of the spectral characteristics of the gap markers, including frequency disparity and order of presentation, influence the temporal resolution ability of auditory gap detection. Clinicians evaluating a patient suspected to have central auditory disorders should recognize that the across-channel GDTs may not consistently increase as the frequency separation between the markers increases.

Treatment of speech sound disorders in children: Nonspeech oral exercises.

BACKGROUND: Children with speech disorders need to receive effective services to improve their speech intelligibility. A variety of treatments are available, and one of the most commonly used techniques is oral-motor training, which includes nonspeech oral exercises. METHODS: This paper conducted a review of the literature on using nonspeech oral exercises to treat children with developmental speech sound disorders. RESULTS: Despite the popularity of this treatment, the nonspeech oral techniques lack supporting evidence in existing literature. Also, the justification of the proposed rationales for this treatment is being questioned. Many other speech-based approaches that are supported by research are available for speech-language pathologists. Some have suggested that any oral training and activity should be performed in the context of speech. The appropriate role of nonspeech oral exercises is that they should be ultimately practiced within the context of speech. CONCLUSION: Generally, oral training that does not involve speech production should be considered carefully with respect to a client's speech needs. Thus, further research is needed to examine the clinical value of using nonspeech oral exercises to treat speech sound disorders in children.

Across- and Within-Channel Gap Detection Thresholds Yielded by Two Different Test Applications.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with auditory processing disorders show some deficits with the temporal processing of auditory signals. Gap detection measurements are commonly used to assess temporal processing skills across different listening tasks. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the gap detection thresholds (GDTs) in across-channel (AC) and within-channel (WC) tasks by using two computer applications-Adaptive Tests of Temporal Resolution (ATTR) and Psycon. RESEARCH DESIGN: A within-subject study design. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty-one young adults with normal hearing participated in the study. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Each participant's gap detection performance was assessed using the narrowband noise stimuli of the ATTR and Psycon applications. Four conditions were administered with 2 kHz as the leading frequency marker before the gap and 1 kHz as the trailing frequency marker after the gap for AC tasks, and with 2 kHz as both the leading and trailing frequency markers for WC tasks. RESULTS: The results showed lower GDTs for the WC tasks than the AC tasks. Also, the GDT values for the WC tasks were lower in the ATTR than Psycon; whereas the GDT values for the AC tasks were higher in the ATTR than Psycon. CONCLUSION: The differences noted in the obtained GDT values from the ATTR and Psycon applications may be attributed to subtle spectral differences in the stimuli of the two programs. The present study also indicates that because of the inherent differences in the stimuli generated by the different software, the normative values for GDTs may need to be established according to evaluation tools before drawing conclusions about clinical conditions.

Attitudes about research among Allied Medical Students enrolled in speech and hearing undergraduate program.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate students' attitudes toward research during their pre-professional training. METHODS: The study collected survey data from 31 undergraduate students enrolled in speech and hearing undergraduate program at the College of Applied Medical Sciences at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The data were collected at the beginning of a research methodology course over two consecutive terms. The study used a 32-item questionnaire listed in the Likert scale, and it measured students' perspectives about research across five sub-scales: usefulness of research, research anxiety, research difficulty, life relevancy of research, and attitude toward research. RESULTS: The findings showed that students favorably perceived research with average factor ratings ranging from 4.10 to 5.54 out of 7. Also, the study found that the usefulness of research, life relevancy of research, and attitude toward research were correlated highly. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that students' favorable attitudes toward research may be due, in part, to perceiving research as relevant and useful to their lives and careers.

Auditory temporal resolution in adaptive tasks. Gap detection investigation.

OBJECTIVES: To study auditory temporal resolution skills using adaptive auditory tasks designed with a computer-based experimental program, and to provide normative valuesfor gap detection thresholds (GDTs) of young listeners in 3 listening conditions. Methods:  The GDTs were established under 3 stimulus conditions: 1) broadband noise (BBN), 2) narrowband noise within-channel (NBN WC) using similar leading and trailing markers centered at 1.0 KHz, and 3) narrowband noise across-channel (NBN AC) with the leading marker centered at 2.0 KHz and the trailing marker centered at 1.0 KHz. In within-subjects design, the GDTs were obtained from 27 normal hearing young Saudi adults at Speech and Hearing Laboratories, Department of Rehabilitation Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between April 2017 and April 2018. Results: The mean GDTs for the BBN condition was 3.19 millisecsond (msec), NBN WC was 14.53 msec, and NBN AC was 29.71 msec. Our findings for the GDTs measured in the 3 conditions were consistent with those of earlier investigations that used different instrumentations. Also, no correlations among the GDTs of the 3 stimulus conditions were found. Conclusion: The present study showed that experimental program is a reliable tool with clinical potential to estimate GDTs across different conditions. Also, the findings of no correlations in the GDTs across stimulus conditions suggest that different processes were involved in the perception of the temporal gap for different stimulus conditions.