Alan C. Nichols

Confusions in recognizing phonemes spoken by esophageal speakers: I. Initial consonants and clusters

A methodology was developed to determine the patterns of phonemic errors that listeners would make in receiving the initial consonants and clusters of monosyllables spoken by esophageal speakers. Analyses of the features preserved in the errors were performed. The identified phonemic error patterns and the features found to be poorly preserved in the errors were used to structure multiple-choice intelligibility practice materials for esophageal speakers.

Oral stereognostic differences between apraxics, dysarthrics, aphasics, and normals

Abstract The present study investigates the pattern of errors displayed by the three differentiable groups of neurologically impaired subjects with expressive disorders of speech: aphasics, apraxics and dysarthrics. All exhibit significant oral stereognostic errors, although as has been shown, some disagreement exists as to the significance of errors made by aphasics. All may be encountered in clinical situations, though differentiation between them may present problems.

Effects of phonetic distance on recognition of synthetic sentences

Phonetic replacements for the syllable initial consonants and clusters of words in sentences were made according to the scale of phonetic distance devised by Black (Perceptual Differences Between Consonants. Columbus: The Ohio State University, 1974). The impact of such replacements upon the intelligibility of synthetically produced sentences was shown to be substantial. The regression of intelligibility over distance was strong, providing support for the construct validity of Blacks scaling.

Confusions in recognizing phonemes spoken by esophageal speakers: II. vowels and diphthongs

A methodology was developed to determine the patterns of phonemic errors that listeners would make in receiving the vowels and dipthongs of monosyllables spoken by esophageal speakers. Analyses of the features preserved in the errors were performed. The identified phonemic error patterns and the features found to be poorly preserved in the errors were used to structure multiple-choice intelligibility practice materials for esophageal speakers.

Esophageal Intelligibility Training: Back Consonants and Clusters.

Seven esophageal speakers recorded multiple choice intelligibility lists loaded with words beginning with +BACK consonants and clusters. (A third of the items began with -BACK consonants and clusters). After recording several lists, they played them back and scored them, noting their errors for independent practice. After eight sessions (four weeks) of practice, prepractice and postpractice recordings were randomized and presented to a group of naive listeners. The group scores for the +BACK words improved significantly from prepractice to postpractice (84.1% to 90.6%). The average gain per session for +BACK practice was 0.81%, a result that was in close agreement with prior research. The average gain for the less-practiced -BACK items was 0.46%.

The Effects of Open-Space versus Traditional, Self-Contained Classrooms on the Auditory Selective Attending Skills of Elementary School Children

The effects of the open-space classroom and the traditional, self-contained classroom on the auditory selective attending skills of elementary school children were studied. Thirty-eight fourth-grad...

The “soft-spoken” woman I: “Comfortable” loudness and loudness adjustments

Abstract Inadequate loudness may be the most common voice problem. This behavior is most common among women. Soft-spoken and normally-loud women were found to be significantly different in terms of sound pressure measures of “comfortable” loudness and adjustment of loudness. The construct validity of such measures was thereby substantiated. The results suggest that objective measures should be used as the basis for relearning loudness behaviors among female speakers with inadequate loudness.

Pilot studies of the influence of stimulus variables on articulation test scores

Abstract Two pilot studies of the effects of noise and response-intensity variation on the scoring of articulation tests were carried out. Significant interactions were found in both studies. These results indicate that the noise in the testing environment and the intensity of the responses of the person tested have effects on the test score.

The development of procedures for the measurement of vocal loudness behaviors.

Vocal loudness productions of five similar groups of speakers were analyzed. The groups differed significantly in “comfortable” loudness, in multiples (2x, 4x, and 0.5x) of comfortable loudness, and in ranges (4x-0.5x) of comfortable loudness. Interclass reliabilities for sets of measures were high and highly significant. Implications for the specification of vocal loudness behaviors are discussed.

Slurvian generation, satiation, and recall: Two age groups

Abstract Two groups, composed of persons of two of the age categories commonly affected by language loss through brain damage, were involved. The time required to generate and satiate meaning of slurvian sentences was determined independently for both the visual and auditory modalities. Effects on the retention of the two age groups for the two modalities and for the generation and satiation conditions were assessed through three recall tests. Age did not affect the effective durations for generation or satiation. The stimuli were more quickly generated through the auditory modality, but were satiated in both modalities with equivalent effective durations. Recall was adversely influenced by both age and satiation. Hypotheses were proposed to account for differences between the present study and earlier studies.