Background speech is annoying and distracting when working on tasks that require focus, and according to previous research, background speech is a common cause of reduced work performance. According to the interference-by-process theory, distraction is a function of the similarity between the processes involved in the involuntary analysis of the background speech and the voluntary processes involved in the task. In view of this theory, a similarity in language—between the produced language and the language that is listened to—may increase the magnitude of distraction by background chatter in comparison with when the language which is produced is different from the language that is perceived. The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether work performance—as indexed by writing fluency (WF)—varies depending on the similarity between the language that is heard in the background and the language that is produced. The experiment had a within-participants design with two factors: language to-be-produced (Swedish vs. English) and language of the background speech (Swedish vs. English). The sample constituted of 43 university students, with Swedish as native language. The result showed a main effect of language to-be-produced: WF increased when the participants produced text in their native language compared to text production in their second language. No main effect of language of background speech was found, and no interaction between these two factors was revealed.

Ce travail de recherche répond à un besoin exprimé par des médecins et des orthophonistes travaillant auprès de patients souffrant de troubles pathologiques de production de la parole (TPPP). Le suivi et la prise en charge des patients impliquent de disposer de méthodes d’évaluation fiables et valides permettant de quantifier leurs performances de communication verbale. Aujourd’hui les méthodes généralement utilisées à cette fin sont les tests de retranscription orthographique (tests d’intelligibilité).Malgré le fait que cette utilisation soit très répandue en pratique, peu d’auteurs ont étudié la relation entre les scores de retranscription orthographique et l’aptitude des patients à être compris par des tiers (Beukelman, 1979 ; Hustad, 2008). Notre travail s’inscrit dans la continuité directe de ces études. Nous avons élaboré une méthode permettant d’évaluer la compréhension de la parole en observant les réactions comportementales des auditeurs à des énoncés verbaux. Cette méthode, réalisée sous la forme d’un logiciel baptisé « EloKanz », nous a permis d’étudier plus en avant la relation existant entre l’intelligibilité et la compréhension de la parole en situation de communication, et de proposer un nouvel outil d’évaluation.Nos résultats montrent que les scores de retranscription orthographique ne sont pas des indicateurs fiables de la performance de communication verbale. Les implications cliniques de ce résultat sont importantes, dans la mesure où les scores d’intelligibilité sont non seulement utilisés pour suivre les progrès des patients dans le temps — et donc juger de l’efficacité de thérapies ou d’interventions — mais aussi pour prendre des décisions aussi importantes que la prise en charge d’une personne ou, au contraire, de l’arrêt d’un traitement. / This research is a direct answer to a need that has been shown within the field of speech pathology. In order to assess their patients' skills and to follow their progress over time, speech pathologists need reliable and valid methods for quantifying communicative performance. Today speech intelligibility tests are the most widely used tools for this purpose.Despite this fact, few authors have studied the relationship between speech intelligibility scores and a patient's ability to be understood by others (Beukelman, 1979 ; Hustad, 2008). Our research work directly builds on these previous studies. We created a method to assess speech comprehension by observing the listener's reactions to speech. This method — implemented in a software program called ‘EloKanz‘ — allowed us to study the relationship between speech intelligibility and speech comprehension in a more precise manner.Our results show that speech intelligibility scores are not valid predictors of communicative performance. Clinical implications matter greatly, since speech intelligibility scores are used not only to evaluate the effectiveness of speech therapies and treatments, but also to make enrollment or dismissal decisions.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-08-30T12:55:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Andréa Paz-Oliveira.pdf: 1976530 bytes, checksum: 4a5fa3eadd3b24eaae5cb952e5c38cf8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T12:55:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andréa Paz-Oliveira.pdf: 1976530 bytes, checksum: 4a5fa3eadd3b24eaae5cb952e5c38cf8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-24 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Introduction: basic audiological field evaluation, syllables and words have been used to measure the individual's auditory performance in speech recognition tasks. Increasingly, however, increases the number of searches that claim that the test for the recognition of sentences in noise is the best instrument to evaluate the communication in your daily life. This way, elaborate sentences in noise tests is of extreme importance to clinical practice. Objective: Develop a material of sentences in noise for Brazilian Portuguese. Method: to achieve the objective of this research, we developed a study of prospective, descriptive, exploratory, quantitative and qualitative. The survey was conducted in three experiments: 1: Material development process development of judgments and application without noise in subjects without hearing loss. 2: examining the influence of different signal-to-noise ratios on the performance of subjects visually-listeners 3: analyze the performance of subjects visually-listeners in the application of sentences with selected noise in experiment 2. Results: 23 lists were made with six sentences each (total of 138 sentences) phonetically balanced, with five words each target, and content is not predictable. From the application, in the silence, in subjects without hearing loss, the equivalent lists with each other were selected and applied with noise to analyze which background noise should be inserted in the search. The noises were selected 0dB, -5 dB,-10dB, + 5dB, + 10dB to + 15dB. The relationship signal-noise 0dB,-5dB and -10 the proportion of hits is greater in mixed lists and other signal-to-noise ratios there is no difference between the mixed lists or (+5, +10, +15). Conclusion: the sentences developed are phonetically balanced, equivalent to each other, and rapid facies are applied / Introdução: Na avaliação audiológica básica, sílabas e palavras têm sido utilizadas para medir o desempenho auditivo do indivíduo em tarefas de reconhecimento de fala. Porém, cada vez mais aumenta o número de pesquisas que afirmam que o teste de reconhecimento de sentenças no ruído é o melhor instrumento para avaliar a comunicação do indivíduo no seu dia-adia. Desta forma, elaborar testes de sentenças no ruído é de extrema importância para prática clínica. Objetivo: Elaborar um material de sentenças no ruído para o português brasileiro. Método: Para alcançar o objetivo desta pesquisa, foi desenvolvido um estudo de natureza prospectiva, descritiva, exploratória, quanti-qualitativa. A pesquisa foi realizada em três experimentos: - 1: Processo de desenvolvimento do material - Desenvolvimento de sentenças e aplicação sem ruído em sujeitos sem perda auditiva. 2: analisar a influência das diferentes relações Sinal/Ruído no desempenho de sujeitos normo-ouvintes 3: Analisar o desempenho de sujeitos normo-ouvintes na aplicação das sentenças com os ruídos selecionados no experimento 2. Resultados: Foram elaboradas 23 listas com seis sentenças cada (total de 138 sentenças) foneticamente balanceadas, com cinco palavras alvo cada, e conteúdo não previsível. A partir da aplicação, no silêncio, em sujeitos sem perda auditiva, as listas equivalentes entre si foram selecionadas e aplicadas com ruído de fala para analisar quais ruídos de fundo deveriam ser inseridos na pesquisa. Os ruídos selecionados foram 0dB, -5 dB, -10dB, +5dB, +10dB e +15dB. Nas relações sinal-ruído 0dB, -5dB e -10 a proporção de acertos é maior nas listas mistas e nas demais relações sinal-ruído não há diferença entre as listas mistas ou completas (+5, +10, +15). Conclusão: As sentenças desenvolvidas são foneticamente balanceadas, equivalentes entre si, fácies e rápidas de serem aplicadas

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 46-48. / by Michael Alan Picheny. / Sc.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 116-117. / by Francine Robina Chen. / M.S.

The motivation of this study was to examine the effects of intensive speech treatment on the conversational intelligibility of Spanish speakers with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). It also aimed at investigating several acoustic variables in the speech of this population. Sixteen speakers with a medical diagnosis of PD participated in this study and their voice recordings were analyzed pre- and post-treatment. The intelligibility measures of transcription accuracy and median ease-of-understanding ratings increased significantly immediately post-treatment and gains were maintained at the one-month follow-up. The acoustic variables of vowel space and voice onset time did not change significantly pre-to-post treatment, whilst the prosodic targets of intensity and mean fundamental frequency increased significantly as a result of treatment. These findings support the implementation of intensive voice intervention to improve intelligibility in Spanish dysarthria. Clinical and theoretical considerations are discussed.

O aspecto temporal da fala é um dos fatores que interferem na inteligibilidade de fala, assim, o presente estudo teve como objetivo estudar a percepção das vogais do português brasileiro (PB) em diferentes taxas de elocução por meio de análise acústica e metodologia psicofísica. Na análise acústica foi averiguado a duração das frases contendo as vogais alvo e, posteriormente, apenas as vogais. No experimento I - a ANOVA mostrou que existe diferença significativa apenas entre a duração das frases nas duas taxas de elocução normal e rápida, enquanto na análise da duração das vogais há diferença estatística entre as taxas de elocução e também entre as vogais. No experimento II- o resultado da ANOVA mostrou que as frases são estatisticamente diferentes em relação a taxa de elocução, normal e mais rápida, mas não difere quanto as diferentes vogais alvo das frases, entretanto, o resultado das vogais na taxa de elocução mais rápida mostrou que há diferença entre as mesmas. A análise dos três conjuntos de vogais dos dois experimentos anteriores, mostrou que há diferença estatisticamente significativa nas taxas de elocução e também nas 7 vogais do PB. O julgamento psicofísico da fala comprimida foi realizado por meio de 28 frases aleatorizadas quanto as 7 vogais do PB, duas taxas de locução (normal e rápida) e duas apresentações para fidedignidade do teste. A amostra foi composta de 32 sujeitos, distribuídos em dois experimentos. No experimento I (n=16) os sujeitos não perceberam qualquer dificuldade na inteligibilidade de fala. No segundo experimento (n=16) a taxa de elocução das frases rápidas foi modificada em torno de 30% da taxa normal. O resultado mostrou que os sujeitos perceberam diminuição na inteligibilidade de fala devido a taxa de elocução, entretanto não encontraram qualquer dificuldades devido as vogais. Os resultados sugerem a taxa de elocução interfere na inteligibilidade de fala. / The temporal aspect of speech is one of the factors that affect the intelligibility of speech. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the perception of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowels in different speech rates through acoustic analysis and psychophysical tests. In the acoustic analysis, we investigated the sentences duration containing target vowels and, subsequently, only the vowels. In Experiment I, there was a significant difference between the duration of sentences in both speech rates (normal and fast), and in the duration of the vowels there was a significant difference between the speech rates and between the vowels. In Experiments II, the results showed differences between the sentences concerning the speed rate, normal and 'faster', but not between the target vowels in the sentences. However, in the 'faster' speech rate showed difference between the vowels. The analyses of the 3 sets of vowels in both experiments revealed a significant difference in speed rates as well as in the 7 vowels of the BP. The psychophysical judgment of compressed speech was done using 28 randomized sentences with 7 BP vowels, 2 speed rates (normal and fast) and 2 repetitions (test and retest) to evaluate the test reliability. The sample was composed by 32 subjects distributed in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1 (n=16) the subjects did not have difficulty in the speech intelligibility In Experiment II (n=16) the speed rate of 'faster' sentences was increased in 30% in relation to the normal rate. The results showed that the subjects noticed that there was a decrease in the speech intelligibility due to the speed; however, they did not find difficulties due to the vowels. Taken together, our results suggest that the speech rate interferes in the speech intelligibility.

O objetivo principal deste estudo foi avaliar a influência da adaptação da prótese rebaixadora de palato na inteligibilidade e na ressonância de fala, e nas características acústicas espectrográficas dos três primeiros formantes das vogais orais do português brasileiro de pacientes submetidos à glossectomia. Participaram 36 pacientes, 33 do sexo masculino e 3 do sexo feminino, com idades entre 30 e 80 anos (Média=53,91±10,53 anos), sendo 14 submetidos à glossectomia total, 12 à glossectomia total e mandibulectomia parcial, 6 à hemiglossectomia e, 4 à glossectomia subtotal. Amostras de fala (conversa espontânea e repetição de 18 sílabas) de pacientes com e sem prótese foram randomizadas e a ressonância e inteligibilidade de fala foram julgadas por 2 fonoaudiólogos. Também foi realizada a análise espectrográfica dos formantes das 7 vogais do português brasileiro com e sem prótese, extraindo-se as médias dos três primeiros formantes. Houve melhora significante na inteligibilidade de fala e de sílabas após adaptação da prótese rebaixadora de palato (p < 0,001). Não houve diferença estatística nos julgamentos da ressonância com e sem prótese. Existiu diferença significante na situação com e sem prótese para o primeiro formante nas vogais /a/, /e/, /u/ (p < 0,001) e tendência estatística na vogal /o/ (p = 0,09); para segundo formante nas vogais /o/, / /, /u/ (p < 0,001), e tendência estatística nas vogais /e/ (p = 0,058) e /i/ (p = 0,080) e para o terceiro formante nas vogais /a/ e / / (p < 0,001). A prótese rebaixadora de palato melhorou a inteligibilidade da fala espontânea e das sílabas dos pacientes glossectomizados. Também aumentou os valores de F2 e F3 para todas as vogais e, de F1 para as vogais /o/, / /, /u/. Isto gerou uma aproximação dos valores dos formantes da maioria das vogais junto aos valores de normalidade. / The main objective of this study was to assess the influence of the palatal augmentation prostheses on speech intelligibility, ressonance and acoustic spectrographic characteristics of the first three formants of oral vowels in Brazilian Portuguese, in patients submitted to glossectomy. Thirty-six (33 men and 3 women), aged 30 to 80 years (mean = 53.9 ±10.5 years) underwent glossectomy (14 = total glossectomy; 12 = total glossectomy associated partial mandibulectomy; 6=hemiglossectomy, and 4 = subtotal glossectomy) constituted the study sample. Speech samples (spontaneous conversation and repetition of 18 syllables) from the patients with and without prosthesis were randomly distributed and the resonance and speech intelligibility were judged by 2 speech language pathologist. A spectrographic assessment of formants of the 7 vowels of Brazilian Portuguese, with and without prosthesis, was performed. The mean values of the first three formants were extracted. There was a statistically significant improvement of the spontaneous speech intelligibility and of the average number of correctly identified syllables with the use of the prosthesis (p<0.05). The speech resonance results have not demonstrated a significant reduction in hypernasality with the palatal augmentation prostheses in place. Statistically significant differences occurred in F1 values for the vowels /a/, /e/, /u/, for F2, there was a significant difference in the vowels /o/, / /, /u/; and for F3, there was a significant difference in the vowels /a/, / / (p < 0.001). Palatal augmentation prosthesis improved intelligibility of spontaneous speech and syllables in glossectomized patients. It also increased F2 and F3 values for all vowels and F1 values for the vowels /o/, / /, /u/. This effect has brought the values of many vowel formants closer to normality.

abstract: Speech intelligibility measures how much a speaker can be understood by a listener. Traditional measures of intelligibility, such as word accuracy, are not sufficient to reveal the reasons of intelligibility degradation. This dissertation investigates the underlying sources of intelligibility degradations from both perspectives of the speaker and the listener. Segmental phoneme errors and suprasegmental lexical boundary errors are developed to reveal the perceptual strategies of the listener. A comprehensive set of automated acoustic measures are developed to quantify variations in the acoustic signal from three perceptual aspects, including articulation, prosody, and vocal quality. The developed measures have been validated on a dysarthric speech dataset with various severity degrees. Multiple regression analysis is employed to show the developed measures could predict perceptual ratings reliably. The relationship between the acoustic measures and the listening errors is investigated to show the interaction between speech production and perception. The hypothesize is that the segmental phoneme errors are mainly caused by the imprecise articulation, while the sprasegmental lexical boundary errors are due to the unreliable phonemic information as well as the abnormal rhythm and prosody patterns. To test the hypothesis, within-speaker variations are simulated in different speaking modes. Significant changes have been detected in both the acoustic signals and the listening errors. Results of the regression analysis support the hypothesis by showing that changes in the articulation-related acoustic features are important in predicting changes in listening phoneme errors, while changes in both of the articulation- and prosody-related features are important in predicting changes in lexical boundary errors. Moreover, significant correlation has been achieved in the cross-validation experiment, which indicates that it is possible to predict intelligibility variations from acoustic signal. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Speech and Hearing Science 2019

Background: Limited access of oral language caused by hearing loss poses a risk for the development of reading problems. A functional overlap in outcomes between children fit with hearing aids (HAs) and children provided with cochlear implants (CIs) results in a gray area in pediatric CI candidacy criteria. This gray area makes it more difficult to determine which device will provide the best developmental outcomes for children with borderline CI eligibility. Objective: In an effort to gain outcome data that could inform decision-making regarding CI versus HA candidacy, the question posed in this study concerned the speech intelligibility index (SII) levels of children with HAs that were comparable to children with CIs based upon reading outcomes of both groups. Methods: The study sample comprised of 77 children between the ages of 6;10 and 9;6 with hearing loss: 58 children with HAs and 19 children with CIs. Reading performance data was obtained using the Word Attack and Passage Comprehension subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests. SII information was obtained for the HA group. To allow a comparison of reading performance relative to SII between children with CIs and children with HAs, multiple imputation was used to estimate a functional SII for the CI group based off the available reading information. Results: Children in the HA and CI groups demonstrated overall similar reading performance. The relationship between aided SII and reading in the HA group was found to be three times as large as that found for unaided PTA and reading. Children in the CI group were found to have reading abilities similar to children in the HA group with known SIIs of 0.73. Functional SII was imputed for the CI group with strong relative efficiency, but because confidence intervals were rather large, more data is needed in order to make statements with greater levels of confidence regarding implications for CI candidacy criteria.