This study investigated the relationship of auditory short-term memory and articulation ability of eight-year-old children to determine if a relationship existed between auditory short-term memory ability and articulation ability. The specific question posed was: Is there a statistically significant difference in the auditory short-term memory ability of eight-year-olds with three or more phoneme errors and eight-year-olds with no phoneme errors?

Primarily this study sought to investigate growth of syntactical skills in language delayed children enrolled in the Monterey Language Program (MLP) (Gray and Ryan, 1973a) in several Portland Public Schools during the 1974-75 school year. The Programmed Conditioning for Language Test (PCLT) (Gray and Ryan, 1973a) and the Northwest Syntax Screening Test (NSST) (Lee, 1970) were administered and pretest scores compared to posttest scores. A comparison group was administered the same test; their growth in syntactical skills as measured by the PCLT and NSST was compared with the growth of the experimental group. A secondary purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between short-term auditory memory span and syntactical skills.

Auditory short-term memory (STM) is important for speech and language development and for learning new information presented auditorily. Research has shown that auditory STM ability is of a developmental nature in the 5 through 8 year age range for a variety of auditory stimuli. Many tests and subtests are available to measure auditory STM ability, however one test, the Auditory Memory Test Battery (AMTB) measures auditory memory span and memory for sequence for 5 types of stimuli. The purpose of this study was to collect normative data on the AMTB scores of normal 9 through 13 year old students and young adults ages 20 through 30 years. The main experimental question was: What are the means and standard deviations of the AMTB scores from samples of normal children 9 through 13 years of age and normal young adults 20 through 30 years of age. A secondary question was: Are the differences between the performance scores statistically significant?

This study was designed to determine whether varying criterion for pass/fail on the Mini-Screening Language Test for Adolescents (Mini-STAL) would increase accuracy of predicting outcome of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language (STAL). The Mini-STAL was developed by Prather et al. (1981) to identify rapidly those students between grades six through twelve who are in need of language intervention. Using Prather's established criterion (one or more errors equal failure), the Phoenix school district (Prather, 1981) found too many of their school population (20 percent) were failing the Mini- STAL. Thus, they established an experimental criterion (two or more errors equal failure) to identify those students with language problems. The present study sought to determine what proportion of students with language disorders was not detected by the Mini-STAL and what proportion of students without language disorders failed the Mini-STAL using the two criteria.

Recently, there have appeared in the literature treatment approaches for the disorder of developmental apraxia of speech in children. These treatment approaches make use of the visual modality, and specifically use reading stimulus materials to improve articulation skills. Several authors have endorsed this use of reading materials in the treatment of developmental apraxia of speech in children including: Morley (1965); Rosenthal (1971); Rosenbek and Wertz (1972); and Rosenbek et al. (1974). These treatment approaches have been offered via the literature without the benefit of empirical verification that children with DAS will make fewer articulation errors while reading aloud than they would speaking spontaneously. The primary purpose of this investigation was to provide empirical support for the treatment approaches to DAS in children which make use of reading stimuli to improve the articulation performance of these children. A secondary purpose was to present a possible treatment approach through the increasing of oral reading speed in children with DAS.

This clinical project sought to examine two different approaches to the treatment of functional articulatory disorders and to implement these two approaches in the actual management of two articulation disordered clients. The two approaches selected were the traditional auditory-stimulus method (Van Riper, 1972) and the sensory-motor approach (McDonald, 1964b) to testing and treatment. It was the intention of this project to compare the results of articulation intervention of the two methods.

This study proposed to determine if male and female esophageal voices were rated in the same manner by naïve listeners. Answers to the following questions were sought: Is there a difference in the social acceptability ratings given to female esophageal voices compared to male esophageal voices, when the speakers are matched for speaking ability? Does a relationship exist between the fundamental frequencies of female esophageal voices and ratings of social acceptability given by naïve listeners? Does a relationship exist between the fundamental frequencies of male esophageal voices and ratings of social acceptability given by naïve listeners? Do male and female naïve listeners rate female esophageal voices similarly?

Prepositions are not only important in functional syntax; they also relate meanings associated with the concepts of place and time (Washington & Naremore, 1978). Furthermore, prepositions are critical in such everyday activities as producing and comprehending directions, using maps and diagrams, and in the fields of mathematics and music (Cox & Richardson, 1985). Inefficient use or misuse of prepositional spatial terms may hinder a child's progress in many areas. Expressive acquisition of function words, which include prepositions, has been described as significantly delayed in the hearing impaired populations (Cooper & Rosenstein, 1966). The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative preposition analysis between hearing impaired children using two different modes of communication. The question this researcher sought to answer was: Do 54 severely-to-profoundly hearing impaired children in this study using total communication differ in the expressive acquisition of 17 locative and directional prepositions from 35 hearing impaired children in a previous study (Warlick, 1983) using oral/aural communication?

An interest in understanding the aging processes, as they relate to voice, has prompted research investigating physiological, acoustical, and perceptual attributes of the aging vocal mechanism. Recently, it has been demonstrated that perceptual parameters, in older male voices, differentiate speakers according to age estimations, as determined by a group of listeners. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptual characteristics of the female voice which are associated with perceived age, as contrasted to chronological age.

The purpose of the present study involved the investigation of the significance of wind noise as a contributing factor toward temporary threshold shifts among a select sample of motorcycle riders. Five ' normal-hearing, helmeted, female subjects were administered pure-tone air-conduction hearing tests immediately before and within 2 minutes after exposure to three noise-related aspects of motorcycle riding. The amount of ,hearing loss present at 3k, 4k and 6k Hz after each 20 minute exposure condition was recorded as the TTS for that subject. The three conditions consisted of motorcycle noise only, wind noise only and motorcycle and wind noise combined. A statistical analysis of the data revealed that motorcycle noise alone produced significantly less TTS than the wind only or the wind and motorcycle noise. These findings support the hypothesis that wind noise is a significant factor in the production of TTS and possible noise-induced hearing loss among motorcycle riders.