The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the SPAR test (Sensitivity Prediction by the Acoustic Reflex) on a sample of older adults who professed negative otologic histories. Twenty-seven subjects, ranging in age from sixty-four to eighty-three years of age (54 ears) were ultimately chosen as subjects. A young adult group, ranging in age from eighteen to thirty years of age, with normal audiometric hearing levels served as controls. Reflex threshold levels were obtained using 500 Hz., 1000 Hz., and 2000 Hz. pure tones and noise stimuli. Assessment of hearing loss was calculated on the difference between measures to ascertain hearing loss category and slope of loss according to a formula developed by Jerger (1974). The following conclusions were made on the basis of data collected in this investigation: The SPAR test was significant in assessing hearing sensitivity levels among the sample of geriatric subjects. The SPAR test was not statistically significant in assessing slope of loss in this sample of geriatric subjects. Reflex thresholds were consistently higher for aging than for a sample of young adults with normal hearing. This was true even among elderly subjects with average pure tone thresholds in the normal range. A significant portion of this carefully screened older adult sample displayed abnormal middle-ear function (as measured by tympanometry) in the absence of conventional audiometric indications of this. A significant portion of this older adult sample provided audiometric evidence of middle-ear pathology.

This study was designed to validate the Preschool Speech and Language Screening Test. The PSLST was designed to quickly identify those preschool children who appear to be in need of speech and/or language evaluation or intervention. Specifically, the present investigation sought to determine the proportion of children with speech and/or language problems not detected by the screening test and the proportion of children without speech and language problems who failed the PSLST.

Previous studies show that pure tone thresholds are strongly correlated with distortion product otoacoustic emission amplitudes when evaluating the frequency range from 1 to 8 kHz (Avan & Bonfils, 1993). Little is known about correlations between these two measures at higher frequencies from 9-16 kHz. This study compared pure tone thresholds and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) in this high frequency range for 29 normal hearing subjects ages 18-30. Pure tone thresholds were obtained at 250-16 kHz and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) 2,211-17,675 were measured in the same ears. DPOAE amplitudes were measured using a constant F1/F2 ratio of 1.2, with F2 values ranging from 2,211-17,675 Hz. Data obtained from 50 ears showed a decline in DPOAE amplitude with increasing frequency of the F1 and F2 primary stimulus tones. Behavioral thresholds demonstrated an increase with increasing frequency of the pure tone stimulus. Pearson r-correlation analysis demonstrated a weak relationship between measures. Further investigation revealed that equipment variables prevented accurate readings.

This investigation attempted to determine the relationship of the site of contact ulcers and subject’s handedness. Literature concerned with contact ulcers has indicated that cerebral dominance tends to determine the site of the lesion. Four research questions were posed, two questions were presented in the form of the null hypothesis. The questions were: (1) Is the proportion of right-handed subjects with left-sided ulcers equal to the proportion of left-handed subjects with left-sided ulcers? (2) Is the proportion of right-handed subjects with right-sided ulcers equal to the proportion of left-handed subjects with right-sided ulcers? (3) Will the site of contact ulcers be able to be predicted from subject’s handedness? And (4) Is there a significant relationship between the factors of age, sex and occupation of the sample studied and the occurrence of contact ulcers?

The auxiliary verb obligatory-do is used in forming questions, negative and emphatic sentences. Currently there is no test or norms established for the acquisition of obligatory-do. The purpose of this study was to establish age trends, via elicited imitation for the acquisition of obligatory-do according to the sentence type in which it expressively occurs i.e., negative sentences, emphatic sentences, interrogative reversals and wh-questions. This study addressed the following question: At what ages do children expressively demonstrate, via elicited imitation, the auxiliary verb obligatory-do in negative sentences, emphatic sentences, interrogative reversals and wh-questions? A secondary question was: In what manner does age and MLU, mean length of utterance, of 25 utterances correlate with the acquisition of obligatory-do?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in the vowel [ӕ] produced by normal male and female speakers. In a previous investigation by Wendahl (1963) it was found that when listening to two synthesized vowels, of equal aperiodicity, judges tended to rate the lower pitched vowel as being more vocally rough. If this is true for listeners’ perception of human vowel productions as well then it might be advantageous for voice clinicians, when making vocal roughness assessments, to regard male and female speakers as two separate populations in view of the inherent pitch differences between the sexes. In this current investigation, pairs of vowels produced by normal adult male and female speakers were presented to 10 speech pathologists (5 males and 5 females). Each vowel pair contained one male and one female production of the vowel [ӕ] which had been assigned equal roughness ratings in a previous judging task. The 50 vowel pairs contained 10 pairs of vowels at each of five roughness rating levels. The 10 judges were required to listen to each of the 50 pairs and to make a forced choice selection of the most vocally rough production within each pair. The findings in this study revealed that for the 50 vowel pairs the judges selected the vowels produced by males as being more vocally rough a significantly greater proportion of the time. With respect to the five roughness rating levels, judges chose the male produced vowels as being rougher a significantly greater proportion of the time at rating levels one, three and five but illustrated no significant preference between the sexes at rating levels two and four. Further analysis revealed that the five male judges selected the vowels produced by males as being the rougher a significantly greater proportion of' the time for all 50 pairs at each of the five roughness rating levels. The five female judges, on the other hand, illustrated no significant preferences between the sexes for the 50 vowel pairs. They did show a significant preference for the males at rating level one, a significant preference for the females at rating level two but no significant at rating levels three, four and five. In addition, male judges illustrated substantially greater inter-judge agreement and intra-judge reliability for this judging task than did the female judges.

This study examined the means and standard deviations for the Auditory Memory Test Battery (Burford, 1976) using a sample of normal second, third, and fourth grade children. The study also compared span and sequence scores, low and high SES scores, and an individual's test scores with teacher judgment of intelligence group. A brief examination of the AMTB as used with LD children was also performed but not included in the statistical analysis.

Screening has been suggested as the most efficient method to find students with potential language problems (Neidecker, 1980). Based on the need for a standardized adolescent language screening tool, Prather, Breecher, Stafford, and Wallace (1980) developed the Screening Test of Adolescent Language (STAL). This is a six to eight minute test with twenty-three items which examine vocabulary, auditory memory span, language processing, and proverb explanation. Following an item analysis of the STAL, Prather, Brenner, and Hughes (1981) derived the Mini-Screening Test of Adolescent Language (M-STAL). This test contains five items from the STAL and requires one minute to administer.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the time it takes to complete a phonological test was significantly different than the time it takes to complete a phonetic test. It was hoped this study would identify an instrument that the public school speech-language pathologist could use more effectively and efficiently to analyze phonologically-impaired children.

With commercial availability of non-real and real-time spectrum analyzers, the speech-language pathologist has the means to objectively extract and measure pitch taken from speech samples. Though both types of spectrum analyzers provide the clinician with viable methods of measuring fundamental frequency and frequency range values, pitch extraction using real time allows for greater efficiency in acoustic measurements. The Kay Elemetrics Visi-Pitch is one such real-time spectrum analyzer that is less expensive and more accessible than other real time speech science hardware. The purpose of this study was to investigate the capability of a computerized Visi-Pitch to reflect elevation of fundamental frequency and expansion of frequency range by female adults.