Klaas Bakker

Disfluencies in cluttered speech

UNLABELLED The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and frequency of occurrence of disfluencies, as they occur in singletons and in clusters, in the conversational speech of individuals who clutter compared to typical speakers. Except for two disfluency types (revisions in clusters, and word repetitions in clusters) nearly all disfluency types were virtually indistinguishable in frequency of occurrence between the two groups. These findings shed light on cluttering in several respects, foremost of which is that it provides documentation on the nature of disfluencies in cluttering. Findings also have implications for our understanding of the relationship between cluttering and typical speech, cluttering and stuttering, the Cluttering Spectrum Hypothesis, as well as the Lowest Common Denominator definition of cluttering. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES At the end of this activity the reader will be able to: (a) identify types of disfluency associated with cluttered speech; (b) contrast disfluencies in cluttered speech with those associated with stuttering; (c) compare the disfluencies of typical speakers with those of cluttering; (d) explain the perceptual nature of cluttering.

System and method for assessing breathing and vocal tract sound production of a user

A system and method for assessing breathing and vocal tract sound production of a user. The system comprises a first sensor generating a vocal tract sound signal representing vocal tract sounds produced by the user, a second sensor generating a breathing signal representing breathing movement of the user, and a signal processing unit for processing the vocal tract sound and breathing signals. The method comprises the steps of sensing vocal tract sounds produced by the user and providing a vocal tract sound signal representative thereof, sensing breathing movement of the user and providing a breathing signal representative thereof, receiving the signals via an analog input for processing the signals, generating a combined signal by superimposing the vocal tract sound and breathing signals, and displaying the combined signal to the user.

A preliminary assessment of the validity of three instrument-based measures for speech rate determination

Abstract This study assessed the validity of three instrument-based measures with regard to their potential for implementation in automated procedures for speech rate determination. Recorded monologues of 17 normal speakers were analyzed through a live counting procedure to determine the number of syllables each of them produced. Subsequent transcription of these monologues led to exact counts of: (1) all syllables, (2) stressed syllables only, (3) words, and (4) phrases. These results were compared with instrument-based counts of stressed syllables, voice initiations, and pauses. A correlational analysis revealed that automated counts of stressed syllables were strongly predictive of live syllable counts as well as of transcription-based counts of syllables and words. Automated voice initiation counts were also predictive of these measures, but to a lesser extent. These findings were confirmed by a subsequent factor analysis, which, in addition, demonstrated that the number of pauses represented a separate unique dimension. It follows that automated stressed-syllable counts hold the most promise for clinical applications that target speech rate modification.

Labial and Laryngeal Reaction Times of Stutterers and Nonstutterers

Simple reaction time experiments, in which speech-motor capacities of stutterers and nonstutterers were compared, most often have tested laryngeal functioning. In these studies subjects were required to phonate, as quickly as possible, when a cuestimulus was presented. The results have tended to indicate that stutterers respond more slowly than do nonstutterers. This was true even though only fluent responses were analyzed to ensure that the results would not be contaminated by the presence of stuttering (Adams and Hayden, 1976; Cross and Luper, 1983; Prosek, 1978; Starkweather, Hirschman, and Tannenbaum, 1976; Watson and Alfonso, 1983).

Cluttering: Current scientific status and emerging research and clinical needs

Abstract The following discussion is an attempt to integrate the observations, and insights, of the previous case descriptions in order to establish the scientific status and emerging scientific and clinical needs regarding cluttering. This purpose has a parallel with most beginning clinical contacts—that is, a number of diagnostic and assessment-related questions apply. In line with the focus of the present paper, these questions involve the entire population of those who clutter rather than individuals who are suspected of having a cluttering problem in particular. In parallel with the diagnostic question one might wonder if a fluency disorder like cluttering exists and deserves to be considered a unique and independent clinical entity. Moreover, the differential diagnostic question addresses the possibility that symptoms demonstrated by those who are considered to be a clutterer may be representative for other fluency disorders such as stuttering or neurogenic disfluency. Both questions, in combination, deal with the possibility that cluttering needs to be treated independently from other forms of problematic fluency, both in research and clinical practice. Importantly, it has not been determined at this time if cluttering (1) exists in its own right, (2) is a result exclusively of coexisting perceptuomotor and cognitive anomalies, or (3) both. Assuming that agreement on the essence of cluttering can be achieved, there still is the question of how the identifying characteristics and associated symptomatologies of cluttering need to be measured. The following is an attempt to come to the best possible answers to these questions, using the facts and notions provided in the previous articles.