Joseph G. Agnello

A study of phonetic changes in edentulous patients following complete denture treatment

lh b e a sence of teeth creates difficulties in the articulation of certain speech sounds. Some patients do not exhibit any speech problem, because it appears that the tongue makes compensatory adjustments for the absence of the teeth. Allen1 has stated that a patient fitted with complete dentures generally adjusts his speech pattern to the new appliance and thus improves. Martone reported that older patients when fitted with complete dentures show a resistance to speech improvement. Conflicting data exist regarding the type of speech improvement and whether the improvement, if any, is associated with specific sounds or with a general over-all quality of the voice. Kaire? and YlppG and Sovij%vi4 reported that, in the absence of dentures, the concentration of the higher frequencies in the over-all acoustic spectrum of speech was reduced. During speech production, formant regions were found to be lowered when dentures were not present. These formant regions rose when dentures were inserted. The primary aim of this study was to assess speech changes in complete denture patients ( 1) in the edentulous state, (2) immediately following denture insertion, (3) two weeks following the insertion of the dentures, and (4) twelve weeks following the insertion of the dentures. A secondary aim was to relate the assessment of speech samples to spectrographic portrayal. The phonemes /s/, /sh/, /t/, and the voiced /th/ were examined by trained speech therapists using the method of paired comparison.

Stutterer's scaled attitudes and their prognostic significance in therapy

Abstract Thirty individuals who manifested stuttering behavior participated in an intensive therapy program. Measures of pretherapy attitudes on the Attitude and Behavioral Observation Scale, which consists of self-evaluations of attitudes on a scale of five equal-appearing intervals and also two questionnaires, the Iowa Scale of Attitude Toward Stuttering and the Stutterers Self-Ratings of Reactions to Speech Situations were utilized. These three scales were found to be significantly correlated. A difference score from the Motor Performance Scale, a speech proficiency scale of one to five was completed at pre- and posttherapy, as a measure of the clients success from therapy. Generally, pretherapy attitudes did not correlate significantly with success from therapy.

English vowels for Chinese speakers enrolled in English as a second language classes

Chinese and English differ considerably in the characteristics of the vowels. The present study focuses on acoustic characteristics of Chinese production of English vowels. The seven Chinese students in the present study had all been born in mainland China, and were students at the University of Cincinnati. All were enrolled in ESL (English as a second language) classes because of difficulties with English pronunciation. Two native English speakers were used to provide a comparative analysis, by minimal pairs, for formant placement of the vowels /i/, /I/, and others. A total of five English speakers phonetically transcribed the productions and tallied the data into a confusion matrix. The acoustic analysis, performed separately by five speech science students revealed systematic differences in the production of the vowels associated with the confusion. The Chinese first formant was lower and the second was higher than found for the midwestern English speakers. Insufficient reduction in frequency between m...

SDLB adaptation and an approximation of Steven's power law

Initial curve fitting efforts having yielded similar results, data from four studies [E. Jerger, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 29, 357–363 (1957); T. Palva and J. Karja, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 45, 1018–1021 (1969); E. M. Weiler, M. Loeb, and E. A. Alluisi, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 51, 638–643 (1972); and E. M. Weiler and J. D. Hood, Audiology 16, 499–506 (1977)] were combined to encompass intensities from 20 to 80 dB SL at 1 kHz. All studies used the classic method of simultaneous dichotic loudness balances (SDLB} as described by Hood [Acta. Oto‐Laryngol. Suppl. 92 (1950)] and Small [Modern Developments in Audiology, edited by J. Jerger (Academic, New York, 1963)]. A regression line was fit to the log values of stimulus intensity and log adaptation (dB). Converting to the form of Stevens power law, the resulting constant K by this approach was 0.9449 and the exponent of intensity N was 0.73953. For loudness magnitudes, N has often been reported as about 0.60.

Computer‐aided speech onset analysis in stuttering therapy

The previous hard‐wired speech onset comparator (Agnello, 1976) has been replaced by a series of programming options using a TRS‐80 and condenser microphone assembly. Options allow for six methods of acoustic analysis and feedback to focus on common stuttering characteristics. Choices of word list difficulty, rapid feedback, and individualized analysis have resulted in improved motivation while rehearsing and identifying onset control strategies in the first two groups of patients. Details will be presented.

Acoustical features and cognitive features of stuttered speech: Their correlates and implications for management

Data obtained from well over 100 stutterers pertaining to acoustical features (voice onset, co‐articulatory patterns, F‐patterns, pitch contours, and temporal features of phrasing) will be reviewed. Further, data obtained on attitudes and other cognitive aspects will be related to the acoustical (descriptive) features and implications for management. In the management discussion a device (microprocessor) for training stutterers to hit idealized speech onset targets will be presented.

Heterophonic Auditory Adaptation to Critical and Noncritical Bandwidths

Auditory adaptation effects were measured for narrow bands of noise both within and outside of the critical band for 1 000 Hz. In keeping with previous research, a pure-tone condition resulted in more adaptation than any of the noise band conditions. However, as the noise bands were increased in width, a significant decrease in adaptation was observed, which is not in agreement with earlier findings. Adaptation results converted to theoretical auditory units show a trend which conforms to the Hood-Weiler model for loudness coding.

Homophonic adaptation compared to critical bandwidth

Glass and Weiler (1979) found a steady decrease in loudness adaptation as bandwidth of the adapting noise increased, when it was assessed with a 1 kHz comparison tone. This differed from the findings of Carterette using a homophonic assessment of adaptation at increasing bandwidths. The present study used a homophonic technique to compare adaptation within the critical bandwidth for 1 kHz (100 Hz bw), and outside the critical bandwidth (300 Hz bw). The values for ten listeners agreed closely with the findings of Glass and Weiler for these same two stimulus values. The subjective increase in unadapted loudness for the 300 Hz bw, was not extended to the adaptation, which decreased. The difference again is not in the same direction reported for the larger noise bandwidths of Carterette.

Broad‐Band Noise and Monaural Adaptation

The comparison stimulus used in the present experiment was white noise (20–20 000 Hz), with energy at 1000 Hz ± 50 Hz filtered out. The adapting tone was a 70‐dB‐SPL 1000‐Hz tone. Both stimuli were presented simultaneously to the preferred ear. The adapting period was 7 min. Average adaptation was 6.5 dB for 11 Subjects. Adaptation values ranged from 0 to 1.58 dB (Wilcoxon T = l, p≤0.01). A small but significant amount of monaural adaptation is found with this technique, suggesting that auditory adaptation, at the least, is not entirely a phenomenon resulting from binaural interaction. The 6.5‐dB value found is much less than the average 22.3‐dB adaptation measured using a pure‐tone comparison stimulus in another study run at approximately the same time. The report of subjects that there was difficulty in distinguishing the adapting tone from the white noise may account for the smaller amount of adaptation found in the present study.

Pressure‐referenced analysis of the acoustic properties of speech

Previous research by Lisker and Abramson [L. Lisker, and A. S. Abramson, “Cross Language Study of Voicing in Initial Stops: Acoustical Measurements,” Word 20, 384–422 (1964)] report measurements designated voice onset time (VOT). VOT has been shown to be reliable in distinguishing consonant cognates and also differences across languages. More recently, Stevens and Klatt [K. N. Stevens and D.H. Klatt, “Role of Formant Transitions in the Voiced‐Voiceless Distinction for Stops,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 55, 653–659 (1974)] have noted that the voice bar and the formant transitions are traded off as the distinguishing acoustic feature in the perception of the step consonants. A new method allows for VOT equivalency measurements and a new measure designated as voice termination time. The technique simultaneously records intraoral air pressure and spectrographic speech analysis through a sonagraph. The time from peak pressure to formant onset or from formant offset to peak pressure yields measures of VOT and VTT, res...