Disfluency in spasmodic dysphonia: a multivariate analysis.

This study examined visual analog scaling (VAS) judgments of disfluency by normal listeners in response to oral reading by speakers with spasmodic dysphonia (SD) and by nondysphonic controls, as well as the variables of frequency of occurrence of disfluencies, speaking rate, number of reading errors, and temporal acoustic measures of interword interval duration and articulation time. MANOVA yielded statistically significant differences between SD and control speakers for all variables except reading errors. Although no significant fluency-related differences were observed in terms of type of vocal spasm or voice tremor, significant differences in disfluency measures were obtained for clinical ratings of severity of dysphonia. Greater dysphonia severity ratings were associated with decreased fluency, but milder ratings were not necessarily associated with disfluency. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that frequency of disfluency occurrence, speaking rate, and reading errors accounted for more than three fourths of the variability in VAS judgments of disfluency. Findings suggest that although disfluency is not a defining feature of SD, it does contribute significantly to the overall clinical impression of severity of the disorder.

Young adolescents' perception of their peers who wear hearing aids.

In order to evaluate the perceptions of young adolescents of their peers who wear hearing aids, observers were selected from four types of schools: rural, suburban, inner city, and a self-contained classroom for the hearing impaired. Observers made semantic differential ratings of two teen-aged peers, one of whom had normal hearing and one of whom had a moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss. Both boys spoke under three conditions: wearing a postauricular hearing aid, wearing a body aid, and wearing no aid at all. Results indicated at least partial support for the "hearing aid effect" (Blood and Blood, 1977) as evidenced by the differential perceptions of the observers as a function of the school they attended, differential reactions to the hearing impaired speaker and the one with normal hearing, and the absence, presence, and type of hearing aid worn. This study reports the perceptual similarities and differences among observer groups and between the two speakers. Further, it is suggested that the overall speech quality, in addition to the absence, presence, and type of hearing aid, is important to peer perceptions.

Simple motor and phonemic processing reaction times of elderly subjects.

Simple motor reaction time (RT) was measured for arm movement in response to a known monosyllable presented by earphone. The required direction of movement (L or R) was known to S. Choice RT was also measured: only one word of a pair of taped monosyllabic words, differing only in the prevocalic consonant (e.g., tea-key) was presented by earphone. Simultaneously, a picture of each word appeared on response plates, one to the L and one to the R of the center rest position. S had to touch the response plate with the picture of the word heard. Subtracting simple from choice RT, in msec, yielded an estimate of auditory-phonemic processing (decoding) time. Data were collected from generally normal, healthy, elderly Ss [Grp I (10 M, 10 F) of 72 yrs mean age, and Grp II (7 M, 9 F) of 84 yrs mean age] and a control group (9 M, 9 F) of 21 yrs mean age. An ANOVA with repeated measures showed that significant differences existed among the 3 groups. A similar ANOVA procedure on phonemic processing time revealed that significant differences existed between the younger and the older Ss, but not between Grps I vs II. Collectively, these findings were taken to suggest that advanced age does not affect all behavioral operations in a generalized fashion. It was suggested that auditory-phonemic processing is more resistant to the aging process than manual responses.

Disfluency changes in children as a function of the systematic modification of linguistic complexity.

This investigation determined the influence of modeling on the complexity of language in 5-year-old youngsters, and the effect of simple and complex language usage on the occurrence and topography of disfluency. Forty children balanced for age, sex, and educational level served as subjects, and a repeated measures design was implemented to examine changes in linguistic complexity and disfluency between "simple" and "complex" language modeling conditions. The investigation demonstrated a significant modeling effect and suggested a significant relationship between linguistic complexity and disfluency in children. The results are discussed in terms of grammatical load and its possible effect on speech interruption.

Influence of reading level difficulty on the disfluencies of normal children.

This study assessed the effect of increasing the difficulty of reading material on the frequency and type of disfluency in the oral reading of normally fluent elementary school children. Eighty children participated in the study. Ten boys and 10 girls each, from Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6, read five 200-word passages, corresponding to one grade below their school placement, the grade of their school placement, and one, two, and three grades above their school placement. Results indicated a significant increase in total moments of disfluency and four specific types of disfluency as the difficulty of reading material increased. The data revealed a tendency for "stuttering" disfluencies to increase more in frequency than "normal" nonfluencies. Results are discussed with respect to theoretical and experimental implications.

Certain select variables as predictors of goal achievement in speech therapy.

A previous factor-analytic investigation indicated that 18 variables, structured within interpersonal and technical skill dimensions, contribute most significantly to supervisor's evaluations of student clinicians engaged in speech therapy. The present study was designed to extend that investigation by determining the relative contribution of the variables to the clinicians' accomplishment of the goals of the therapy session. Using the previously collected data, 17 of the resultant variables were regressed in stepwise fashion against the clinicians' accomplishment of the session's goals. The regression solution yielded a three-variable prediction system, which accounted for approximately two-thirds of the criterion variance. All three variables were related to clinicians' technical skills. The "schedule of reinforcement" variable was the single most valid predictor and accounted for half of the criterion variance. The other two technical skill variables were "implements carryover procedures in therapy" and "changes therapeutic procedure to meet client needs." Implications for inclusion of these variables in interactive and microtherapy methodologies of clinical training are discussed.

The influence of task presentation and information load on the adaptation effect in stutterers and normal speakers.

Fourteen stutterers and 14 normal speakers read two passages differing in information value under two different conditions. Condition I provided subjects with a priori knowledge regarding the experimental limits and requirements. Condition II withheld such knowledge. Results indicate that adaptation curves for both stutterers and normal speakers were influenced by the information value of the reading passage. Less adaptation was observed with the high information than with the low information passage. The task presentation variable differentiated stutterers from normal speakers. When a priori instructions were provided to stutterers, the adaptation curve assumed a smooth, decelerating course. When a priori instructions were withheld, the curve deviated from the expected course. For normal speakers, identical adaptation trends were observed whether or not a priori instructions were provided. Stuttering adaptation is a function of both linguistic and situational variables; normal nonfluency adaptation is primarily a function of linguistic variables. Theoretical, experimental, and clinical implications are offered.