No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the California Consonant Test by manipulating selected variables to determine whether it would be a reliable and valid alternative to the presently used CID W-22 word lists with the sensorineural hearing loss population. This study also looked at the scores obtained on the two discrimination tests and the scores obtained on the Profile Questionnaire for Rating Communicative Performance. In this way, a closer look was taken to determine how much difficulty hearing impaired individuals were reportedly experiencing in understanding speech as compared to their actual performance on the two discrimination tests.The test population consisted of 16 male and 16 female subjects with bilateral symmetrical, sensorineural hearing losses. The CID W-22 Auditory Test and the California Consonant Test (live voice and recorded presentations) were administered to each subject under aided and unaided conditions. At the end of each testing session, each subject was asked to answer the Profile Questionnaire for Rating Communicative Performance in a Home Environment.Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and t-tests for independent measures were calculated to determine if significant correlations existed.It was concluded from this investigation that the California Consonant Test is a more sensitive indicator of the phoneme difficulties experienced by the individuals with &high frequency sensorineural hearing loss than is the' CID W-22 Auditory Test. Although significant correlations were not obtained between the two discrimination tests and the questionnaire, a question by question analysis indicated that all the individuals had at least some difficulties in all situations proposed in this questionnaire. It would therefore seem that the California Consonant Test is a more accurate indicator of the individual's problems in the communicative situation.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of young elementary children with differing auditory language abilities on tests of central auditory functioning (central deafness). Language abilities were based on the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) and Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT) level vs. Reading Expectancy level performances. Group A, the control group, scored in the normal range on both the ITPA and the SORT. Groups B and C were both deficient in reading skills by at least one year. The difference between these groups was their ITPA performance. Group C displayed average ITPA profiles while Group B scored significantly lower in auditory skills.Four central deafness tests designed by Willeford and the Sound Mimicry Test of the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Auditory Skills Test Battery were administered to all subjects. A One Way Analysis of Variance was used to analyze differences in performance between groups on all test variables.Pearson Correlation Coefficients were used to study relationships between the ITPA and the central deafness tests and the Sound Mimicry Test. Group B, subjects with poor ITPAauditory subtest scores, also scored significantly lower on two of the central deafness tests. Group C scored significantly lower than the control group only on the Sound Mimicry Test.Great disparity among individual scores within groups detracts from possible conclusions to be drawn from this study. It appears, however, that the two central deafness tests designed to assess brainstem integrity (Binaural Fusion and Alternating Speech) correlate with performances on the ITPA auditory subtests. Scores on the ITPA Auditory Memory subtest appear to correlate with the Sound Mimicry Test suggesting that these subjects experience difficulty with temporal order sequencing tasks. A larger testing population would be necessary to substantiate trends noted in this research.

This study investigated the auditory and perceptual patterns of two schizophrenic groups. A paranoid group containing 10 males and 10 females was matched with a non-paranoid group and evaluated through the use of The Sound Test, an auditory projective test, and the Holtzman Inkblots, a visual projection technique. The results found no significant differences between groups on any variable. Trends were observed in the direction of the hypotheses when male response patterns were viewed separately. The results were discussed in terms of male and female response differences and chronicity as contaminating variables.

The purpose of this study was to compare the psychometric profiles and admission data of black South African females with white South African females on admission to the Eating Disorder Unit at Tara the H. Moross Centre. A total of 20 eating disorder patients between the age range of 13 and 29 years admitted to the Tara between the periods 1998-2004 were studied. Of the 20 patients, 5 black and 5 white patients with a DSMIV diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa were used; and 5 black and 5 white patients with a DSMIV diagnosis of Bulimia Nervosa. Psychometric profiles of each patient were established through the use of the EDI (Eating Disorder Inventory) the BITE (Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh) and the BECK Depression Inventory. Admission data consisted of age, race, sex, occupation, home language, province of residence, diagnosis, period of onset, year of admission, admission weight, goal weight, height, body mass index, own ideal weight, highest past weight, lowest past weight, amenorrhea (duration). All admission and psychometric measurements indicated no significant difference between culture groups for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Hence, it is seems as if the psychometric profiles of hospitalised eating disorder patients are similar despite racial/ethnic differences and that black South African females also have similar admission data as white females. / M.Soc.Sc. (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2004

Many patients with head and neck cancer suffer from dysphagia caused by organ preserving regimens of chemoradiation therapy. However, intervention for this population varies in terms of timing, intensity, and types of treatments prescribed. This prospective study investigated swallowing-related quality of life, functional oral intake, and swallowing-related pain for patients who received two different types of preventative swallowing intervention before and during chemoradiation therapy. A total of eight participants who had undergone chemoradiation therapy participated in the study. Four participants completed direct swallowing exercises (exercises that require swallowing). The remaining four completed indirect swallowing exercises (exercises that do not require swallowing). There were no significant differences between groups for all outcome measures taken. These findings support the hypothesis that both programs were equally effective intervention methods. Due to these results and the high prevalence of odynophagia in this population, indirect swallowing exercises may cause the patient less pain than direct swallowing exercises while still sparing their swallowing function to the same degree as the direct regimen. However, due to the low census and lack of a control group, these findings should be interpreted with reasonable caution. Thus, further investigation with a larger sample size and comparator control data is warranted.

Intensity significantly impacts aphasia treatment efficacy, yet research protocols have not answered questions about optimal intensity and/or dosage. A single-subject ABA design investigated the influence of repetition priming on naming performance for four individuals with stroke-induced aphasia. The participants completed an intensive training protocol with repeated attempts to name pictures. Independent variables included training status and stimulus dosage. The dependent variable was response accuracy. Response accuracy increased for all participants during the training phase, and training effects persisted through the maintenance phase for all participants. Stimulus dosage did not consistently influence response accuracy for the participants.