Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Motor theory of speech perception'

Myriad factors influence perceptual processing, but “embodied” approaches assert that sensorimotor information about bodily movements plays an especially critical role. This view has precedence in speech research, where it has often been assumed that the movements of one’s articulators (i.e., the tongue, lips, jaw, etc.) are closely related to perceiving speech. Indeed, previous work has shown that speech perception is influenced by concurrent stimulation of speech motor cortex or by silently making articulatory motions (e.g., mouthing “pa”) when hearing speech sounds. Critics of embodied approaches claim instead that so-called articulatory influences are attributed to other processes (e.g., auditory imagery or feedback from phonological categories), which are also activated when making speech articulations. This dissertation explores the embodied basis of speech perception, and further investigates its ontogenetic development. Chapter 2 reports a study where adults made silent and synchronous speech-like articulations while listening to and identifying speech sounds. Results show that sensorimotor aspects of these movements (i.e., articulatory-motor information) are a robust source of perceptual modulation, independent from auditory imagery or phonological activation. Chapter 3 reports that even low-level, non-speech articulatory-motor information (i.e., holding one’s breath at a particular position in the vocal tract) can exert a subtle influence on adults’ perception of related speech sounds. Chapter 4 investigates the developmental origins of these influences, showing that low-level articulatory information can influence 4.5-month-old infants’ audiovisual speech perception. Specifically, achieving lip-shapes related to /i/ and /u/ vowels (while chewing or sucking, respectively) is shown to disrupt infants’ ability to match auditory speech information about these vowels to visual displays of talking faces. Together, these chapters show that aspects of speech processing are embodied and follow a pattern of differentiation in development. Before infants produce clear speech, links between low-level articulatory representations and speech perception are already in place. As adults, these links become more specific to sensorimotor information in dynamically coordinated articulations, but vestigial links to low-level articulatory-motor information remain from infancy.

The purpose of the research presented here was to systematically investigate the role of speech perception on speech production in speakers of different ages and those with PD and hypokinetic dysarthria. For this, the experimental designs of auditory perturbation and mimicry were chosen. The initial research phase established that the magnitude of compensation to auditory vowel perturbation was reduced in 54 speakers of New Zealand English (NZE) when compared to previous studies conducted with speakers of American (AE) and Canadian English (CE). A number of factors were studied to determine possible predictors of compensation and distinguish between potential changes associated with ageing. However, no predictors of compensation were found for the overall group. Post-hoc analyses established an increased variability in response patterns in NZE when compared to previous studies of AE and CE. Subsequent follow-up analyses focused on the response-dependent categories of (1) big compensators, (2) compensators, (3) big followers, and (4) followers. Linear mixed-effect modelling revealed that in big compensators, the magnitude of compensation was greater in speakers who exhibited larger F1 baseline standard deviation and greater F1 vowel distances of HEAD relative to HEED and HAD. F1 baseline standard deviation was found to have a similar predictive value for the group of compensators. No predictors of compensation were found for the other two subgroups. Phase two was set up as a continuation of phase one and examined whether a subset of 16 speakers classified as big compensators adapted to auditory vowel perturbation. Linear mixed-effect modelling revealed that in the absence of auditory feedback alterations, big compensators maintained their revised speech motor commands for a short period of time until a process of de-adaptation was initiated. No predictors of adaptation were found for the group. Due to the unexpected results from the first two research phases indicating a dominant weighting of somatosensory feedback in NZE compared to auditory-perceptual influences, a different experimental paradigm was selected for phase three - mimicry. The purpose of this study was to determine whether eight speakers with PD and dysarthria and eight age-matched healthy controls (HC) are able to effectively integrate speech perception and speech production when attempting to match an acoustic target. Results revealed that all speakers were able to modify their speech production to approximate the model speaker but the acoustic dimensions of their speech did not move significantly closer to the target over the three mimicry attempts. Although speakers with moderate levels of dysarthria exhibited greater acoustic distances (except for the dimension of pitch variation), neither the perceptual nor the acoustic analyses found significant differences in mimicry behaviour across the two groups. Overall, these findings were considered preliminary evidence that speech perception and speech production can at least to some extent be effectively integrated to induce error-correction mechanisms and subsequent speech motor learning in these speakers with PD and dysarthria.

Perceptual speech and voice analysis is an essential skill for all speech-language pathologists, but it is a difficult skill to teach. Even the reliability for experienced experts is variable. Some training literature and practices in speech-language pathology suggest that imitating pathological voices may be useful for developing perceptual judgment. Evidence from other fields suggests that motor experience influences perception. Until now the link between production and perception of voice quality has not been addressed. The purpose of this pilot study is to test the hypothesis that imitating pathological voice samples would improve the perceptual discrimination abilities of naïve, inexperienced listeners. Three expert listeners rated 25 voice samples using a perceptual voice evaluation scale, the Grade, Instability, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain Scale (GIRBAS) (Dejonckere et al., 1996), and identified anchor samples for the training protocol. These expert ratings were used to develop summary expert ratings that served as a comparison for the naïve listener ratings. Two groups of naïve undergraduate listeners received training in evaluating voice quality and in administering the GIRBAS. They completed a pretest, a training session, a homework session, and a post-test. During each activity, they rated 6 voices and provided a confidence rating for their scores. The experimental group imitated the voice samples during the study, and the control group completed the training without supplemental motor experience. It was hypothesized that both listener groups would have improved accuracy and confidence levels between the pretest and post-test, with a larger improvement for the experimental group. Data suggested that training improved naïve listener accuracy and confidence levels and that this improvement was maintained for at least seven days after the initial training. Post-test accuracy for both groups was approximately the same. Imitation did not improve the accuracy of ratings, although those subjects had higher confidence levels. The data supported previous research that found that training improved the accuracy of perceptual voice evaluations. However, the hypothesis that imitation could improve perceptual ratings was not supported by this study and bears further investigation due to the small sample size.

Voir les gestes articulatoires de son interlocuteur permet d’améliorer significativement le décodage et la compréhension du signal acoustique de parole émis. Un premier objectif de cette thèse était de déterminer si les interactions multimodales lors de la perception de parole, en plus d’impliquer classiquement les informations auditives et visuelles transmises par le son et le visage du locuteur, pouvaient être déclenchées par d’autres sources sensorielles moins communément utilisées dans la communication parlée, comme la perception tactile de la parole ou encore la perception visuelle des mouvements de la langue. Parallèlement, nos travaux avaient également pour but de déterminer l’implication possible du système moteur dans ces mécanismes de perception multisensorielle. Enfin, un autre enjeu de nos recherches était de déterminer plus avant le décours temporel et l’organisation neuroanatomique fonctionnelle de ces mécanismes d’intégration à l’aide de différentes techniques comme l’électro-encéphalographie, l’imagerie par résonance magnétique fonctionnelle ou encore la stimulation magnétique transcrânienne. Nos travaux ont permis d’élargir la notion de « multisensorialité de la parole » en mettant en évidence une facilitation des traitements temporels auditifs lors de la perception audio-tactile de la parole et lors de l’observation de nos propres mouvements articulatoires. D’autre part, nos études ont fourni de nouveaux arguments en faveur d’un rôle fonctionnel du système moteur lors de la perception de parole en montrant une activation plus importante des régions motrices lors de l’observation de mouvements de la langue ainsi qu’un recrutement plus bilatéral du cortex prémoteur ventral au cours du vieillissement. Pris ensemble, nos résultats renforcent l’idée d’un couplage fonctionnel, d’une co-structuration des systèmes de perception et de production de la parole. Les études présentées dans cette thèse appuient ainsi l’existence de connexions entre régions sensorielles, intégratives et motrices permettant la mise en œuvre de processus et traitements multisensoriels, sensorimoteurs et prédictifs lors de la perception et compréhension des actions de parole
Seeing the speaker’s articulatory gestures significantly enhances auditory speech perception. A key issue is whether cross-modal speech interactions only depend on well-known auditory and visual inputs from the speaker’s voice and face or, rather, might also be triggered by other sensory sources less common in speech communication, such as tactile information or vision of the tongue movements. Another goal of the present research was to determine the possible role of the motor system in these multisensory processes. Finally, we used electro-encephalographic, functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques in order to better understand the time course and the functional neuroanatomical organization of these integration mechanisms. Our results extent the concept of “multisensory speech perception” by highlighting a facilitation of auditory processes during audio-haptic speech perception as well as during the observation of our own articulatory movements. They also provide new evidence in favor of a functional role of the motor system in speech perception by demonstrating an increase of motor activity during visuo-lingual speech perception and a more bilateral ventral premotor cortex recruitment during speech perception across aging. Taken together, our results reinforce the idea of a functional coupling and a co-structuring of speech perception and production systems. Our work support the existence of connections between sensory, integrative and motor regions allowing the implementation of multisensory, sensorimotor and predictive processes in the perception and understanding of speech actions

Si la parole est une faculté dont l'usage nous semble parfaitement naturel,il reste toutefois beaucoup à comprendre sur la nature des représentations et des processus cognitifs qui la gouvernent. Au cœur de cette thèse se trouve la question des interactions entre perception et action dans la production et la perception de syllabes. Nous adoptons le cadre rigoureux de la programmation bayésienne au sein duquel nous définissons mathématiquement le modèle COSMO (pour "Communicating Objects using Sensori-Motor Operations"), qui permet de formaliser les théories motrice, auditive et perceptuo-motrice de la communication parlée et de les étudier quantitativement. Cette approche conduit à un premier résultat théorique fort : nous démontrons un théorème d'indistinguabilité d'après lequel, lorsque l'on pose certaines hypothèses de conditions idéales d'apprentissage, les théories auditive et motrice font des prédictions identiques pour des tâches de perception, et sont de ce fait indistinguables. Pour s'éloigner de ces conditions, nous proposons un algorithme original d'apprentissage sensori-moteur “par accommodation”, qui permet de s'adapter au bain acoustique ambiant tout en développant des idiosyncrasies. Cet algorithme d'apprentissage par imitation de ciblesacoustiques permet l'apprentissage de compétences motrices à partir d'entrées perceptives uniquement, avec la propriété remarquable de se focaliser sur les régions d'intérêt pour l'apprentissage. Nous utilisons des syllabes synthétisées grâce au modèle de conduit vocal VLAM pour analyser les dynamiques d'évolution des modèles appris ainsi que leur robustesse aux dégradations
While speech communication is a faculty that seems natural, a lot remainsto be understood about the nature of the cognitive representations and processes that are involved. Central to this PhD research is the study of interactions between perception and action during production or perception of syllables. We choose Bayesian Programming as a rigorous framework within which we provide a mathematical definition of the COSMO model ("Communicating Objects using Sensori-Motor Operations"), which allows to formalize motor, auditory and perceptuo-motor theories of speech communication and to study them quantitatively. This approach first leads to a strong theoretical result:we prove an indistinguishability theorem, according to which, given some ideal learning conditions, motor and auditory theories make identical predictions for perception tasks, and therefore cannot be distinguished empirically. To depart from these conditions, we introduce an original “learning by accommodation” algorithm, which enables to adapt to the ambient acoustic environment as well as to develop idiosyncrasies. This algorithm, which learns by mimicking acoustic targets, allows to acquire motor skills from acoustic inputs only, with the remarkable property of focusing its learning on the adequate regions. We use syllables synthesized by a vocal tract model (VLAM ) to analyse how thedifferent models evolve through learning and how robust they are to degradations

La communication parlée peut être vue comme un processus interactif impliquant un couplage fonctionnel entre les systèmes moteur et sensoriel. L’objectif de ce travail de thèse est de tester ces possibles liens perceptivo-moteurs, aussi bien lors de la perception que de la production de la parole, au travers de multiples paradigmes comportementaux et auprès de différentes populations de participants. Le protocole expérimental mis en place est composé de trois paradigmes expérimentaux classiques : un premier paradigme de close-shadowing,visant à explorer le format partiellement moteur de stimuli auditifs et audiovisuels de parole ; un second paradigme permettant de mettre en évidence des corrélations entre la production et la perception de voyelles ; et enfin, un dernier paradigme d’imitation consciente et inconsciente de fréquence fondamentale.Suite à la validation de notre protocole expérimental auprès d’une population contrôle de jeunes adultes normo-entendants, nous avons étudié une seconde population constituée d’adultes normo-entendants séniors, et ceci afin d’évaluer la conséquence d'un déclin des fonctions cognitives et langagières. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de suggérer une activation fonctionnelle des liens perceptivo-moteurs lors de la perception et de la production de parole chez l’ensemble des participants. La troisième population testée était constituée de patients sourds post-linguaux puis implantés, afin de déterminer l'impact d'une déprivation sensorielle ainsi que les éventuels réapprentissages liés à leur implantation sur ces liens perceptivo-moteurs. De manièresurprenante, les résultats ont mis en évidence des relations sensori-motrices actives chez ces participants, et ce même très peu de temps après l’implantation. Pris ensemble, les résultats observés avec ces trois paradigmes expérimentaux et auprès de ces trois groupes de participants attestent de la nature perceptivo-motrice de la parole. De manière importante, malgré des performances dégradées, ces interactions entre systèmes sensoriels et moteur lors de la perception et de la production de parole resteraient fonctionnelles auprès des deux populations, celle des adultes normo-entendants séniors etcelle des patients sourds post-linguaux porteurs d’un implant cochléaire
Speech communication can be considered as an interactive process involving afunctional coupling between sensory and motor systems. The aim of this thesis was to test possible perceptuo-motor linkages during both speech perception and production, using distinct behavioral paradigms and populations. The experimental protocol was made of three classic experiments: a first paradigm of close-shadowing, aiming at exploring the partially motor format of audio and audiovisual stimuli; a second paradigm allowing to correlate production and perception of vowels; and a third paradigm of conscious and unconscious imitation of pitch. The experimental protocol was validated with a first group of young hearing adults. The second population studied was composed of elderly normal-hearing participants, in order to evaluate the consequences of both cognitive and linguistic declines. Results allowed us to suggest a functional activation of perceptuo-motor linkage during speech production and perception.The third population we tested comprised post-lingually deaf patients wearing acochlear implant. Our objective was to determine the impact of the sensorial deprivation and the re-learning processes, associated with their implantation, on perceptuo-motor linkages. Unexpectedly, results showed an active sensori-motor relationship in those participants, even shortly after the cochlear implantation. Altogether, our results confirmed the perceptuo-motor nature of speech. Importantly, in spite of degraded performances, these interactions between the sensory and the motor systems during speech production and perception remained functional in both the elderly normal-hearing population and the post-lingually deaf patients, wearing a cochlear implant

Research on clear speech has shown that the type of clear speech produced can vary depending on the speaker, the listener and the medium. Although prior research has suggested that clear speech is more intelligible than conversational speech for normal-hearing listeners in noisy environments, it is not known which acoustic features of clear speech are the most responsible for enhanced intelligibility and comprehension. This thesis focused on investigating the acoustic characteristics that are produced in clear speech to foreigners and infants. Its aim was to assess the utility of these features in enhancing speech intelligibility and comprehension. The results of Experiment 1 showed that native speakers produced exaggerated vowel space in natural interactions with foreign-accented listeners compared to native-accented listeners. Results of Experiment 2 indicated that native speakers exaggerated vowel space and pitch to infants compared to clear read speech. Experiments 3 and 4 focused on speech perception and used transcription and clarity rating tasks. Experiment 3 contained speech directed at foreigners and showed that speech to foreign-accented speakers was rated clearer than speech to native-accented speakers. Experiment 4 contained speech directed at infants and showed that native speakers rated infant-directed speech as clearer than clear read speech. In the fifth and final experiment, naturally elicited clear speech towards foreign-accented interlocutors was used in speech comprehension tasks for native and non-native listeners with varying proficiency of English. It was revealed that speech with expanded vowel space improved listeners’ comprehension of speech in quiet and noise conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the Lindblom’s (1990) theory of Hyper and Hypoarticulation, an influential framework of speech production and perception.

Contexte et objectif:C’est presque une banalité que de dire qu’une des caractéristiques principales de la parole est sa variabilité : variabilité inter-sexe, inter-locuteur, mais aussi variabilité d’un contexte à un autre ou d’une répétition à une autre pour un même sujet. C’est cette variabilité qui fait à la fois la beauté de la parole mais aussi la complexité de son traitement par les technologies vocales, et la difficulté pour en comprendre les mécanismes. Dans cette thèse nous étudions certains aspects de cette variabilité, avec comme point de départ la variabilité observée chez un locuteur dans la répétition d’un même son dans les mêmes conditions, que nous appelons variabilité intrinsèque.Les modèles de contrôle moteur de la parole abordent principalement la variabilité contextuelle de la parole mais prennent rarement en compte sa variabilité intrinsèque, alors même que l’on sait que c’est cette variabilité qui donne à la parole tout son caractère naturel. Dans le contexte général du contrôle moteur, l’origine précise de la variabilité intrinsèque reste peu comprise et controversée. Cependant, une hypothèse courante est que la variabilité intrinsèque serait essentiellement due à du bruit neuronal dans la chaine d’exécution.L’objectif principal de cette thèse est d’aborder la variabilité intrinsèque et contextuelle de la production de la parole dans un cadre formel intégrateur. Pour cela nous faisons l’hypothèse que la variabilité intrinsèque n’est pas que le résultat d’un bruit d’exécution, mais qu’elle résulte aussi d’une stratégie de contrôle où la variabilité inter-répétition fait partie intégrante de la représentation de la tâche.Méthodologie:Nous formalisons cette idée dans un cadre computationnel probabiliste, la modélisation Bayésienne, où l’abondance de réalisations possibles d’un même item de parole est représentée naturellement sous la forme d’incertitudes, et où la variabilité est donc manipulée formellement. Nous illustrons la pertinence de cette approche à travers trois contributions.Résultats:Dans un premier temps, nous reformulons un modèle existant de contrôle optimal de la parole, le modèle GEPPETO, dans le formalisme probabiliste et démontrons que le modèle Bayésien contient GEPPETO comme un cas particulier. En particulier, nous illustrons comment l’approche Bayésienne permet de rendre compte de la variabilité intrinsèque tout en incluant les mêmes principes d’émergence et de structuration de la variabilité contextuelle proposés par GEPPETO.Dans un deuxième temps, le formalisme nous permet de dépasser le cadre de GEPPETO en y intégrant une composante somatosensorielle dans la représentation des buts. Cela permet d’introduire une variabilité interindividuelle sur la préférence sensorielle, c’est-à-dire la modulation des poids relatifs des cibles auditives et somatosensorielles, et permet d’expliquer la variabilité de compensation observée dans les études de perturbation sensorielle. Cette étape a nécessité l’élaboration d’hypothèses sur l’intégration des retours sensoriels dans la planification, dont nous avons cherché à évaluer la pertinence en concevant une expérience originale de production-perception de parole.Dans un troisième temps, nous exploitons le formalisme pour réinterpréter des données expérimentales récentes qui mettent en évidence un changement perceptif consécutif à un apprentissage moteur induit par une altération du retour auditif. Cela est rendu possible grâce à la représentation unifiée des connaissances dans le modèle, qui permet d’intégrer la production et la perception dans un cadre formel unique.L’ensemble de ces travaux illustre la capacité du formalisme Bayésien à proposer une démarche systématique et structurée pour la construction des modèles. Cette démarche facilite le développement des modèles et leur complexification progressive en précisant et explicitant les hypothèses formulées
Context and goal:It is almost a truism to affirm that one of the main features of speech is its variability: variability inter-gender, inter-speaker, but also variability from one context to another, or from one repetition to another for a given subject. Variability underlies at the same time the beauty of speech, the complexity of its treatment by speech technologies, and the difficulty for understanding its mechanism. In this thesis we study certain aspects of speech variability, our starting point being the variability characterizing the repetitions of a given utterance by a given subject, in a given condition, which we call intrinsic variability.Models of speech motor control have mainly focused on the contextual aspects of speech variability, and have rarely considered its intrinsic component, even though it is this fundamental component of variability that gives speech it naturalness. In the general context of motor control, the precise origin of the intrinsic variability of our movements remains controversial and poorly understood, however, a common assumption is that intrinsic variability would mainly originate from neural and muscular noise in the execution chain.The main goal of this thesis is to address the contextual and intrinsic component of speech variability in an integrative computational framework . To this aim, we postulate that the main component of the intrinsic variability of speech is not just execution noise, but that it results from a control strategy where intrinsic variability characterizes the abundance of possible productions of the intended speech item.Methodology:We formalize this idea in a probabilistic computational framework, Bayesian modeling, where the abundance of possible realizations of a given speech item is naturally represented as uncertainty, and where variability is thus formally manipulated. We illustrate the pertinence of this approach with three main contributions.Results:Firstly, we reformulate in Bayesian terms an existing model of speech motor control, the GEPPETO model, and demonstrate that this Bayesian reformulation, which we call B-GEPPETO, contains GEPPETO as a particular case . In particular, we illustrate how the Bayesian approach enables to account for the intrinsic component of speech variability while including the same principles proposed by GEPPETO for the emergence and structuration of its contextual component.Secondly, the Bayesian framework enable us to go beyond and extend B-GEPPETO in order to include a multisensory characterization of speech motor goals, with auditory and somatosensory components. We apply this extension to explore variability in the context of compensations to sensory-motor perturbation in speech production. We account for differences in compensation as sensory preferences implemented by modulating the relative contribution of each sensory modality in the model . The somatosensory characterization of speech motor goals involved a certain number of hypotheses that we intended to evaluate with two experimental studies.Finally, in our third contribution we exploit the formalism for the reinterpretation of recent experimental observations concerning perceptual changes following speech motor adaptation to auditory perturbations. This original analysis is made possible thanks to the unified representation of knowledge in the model, which enables to account for production and perception processes in a single computational framework.Taken together, these contributions illustrate how the Bayesian framework offers a structured and systematic approach for the construction of models in cognitive sciences . The framework facilitates the development of models and their progressive complexification by specifying and clarifying underlying assumptions

LES CARTES SENSORIMOTRICES DE LA PAROLE : Corrélats neurocognitifs et couplage fonctionnel des systèmes de perception et de production des voyelles du Français --- La parole est construite sur un jeu de correspondances entre représentations sensorielles et articulatoires, notamment lors de l'acquisition du langage les premières années de vie. Par l'utilisation de l'imagerie par résonance magnétique fonctionelle, l'objectif premier de nos travaux était de déterminer, chez l'adulte, un possible couplage fonctionnel des systèmes de perception et de production des voyelles du Français, considérées comme unités élémentaires de la parole. En parallèle, nos travaux devaient permettre de clarifier les structures cérébrales liées au contrôle moteur orofacial de mouvements simples supralaryngés et, à l'aide de la technique de stimulation magnétique transcrânienne, de déterminer une possible implication causale des régions sensorielles et motrices lors de la perception de la parole. Nos travaux ont permis de souligner l'implication des régions sensorielles et motrices aussi bien lors de la réalisation des gestes orofaciaux que lors de la production et de la perception des voyelles. La mise en évidence d'un effet d'adaptation pour ces régions motrices, auditives et somatosensorielles lors de l'écoute ou de la réalisation répétée d'une même voyelle ou d'un même geste suggère de plus l'existence de boucles sensorimotrices communes, impliquées dans des mécanismes adaptatifs de contrôle en ligne des gestes de parole perçus et produits. Enfin, nous avons pu démontrer le rôle causal et fonctionnel des régions sensorielles et motrices de la voie dorsale lors de la catégorisation de sons de parole. Pris ensemble, nos travaux soulignent la nature distribuée sensorimotrice des représentations cérébrales des unités de parole. Mots clés: perception et production de la parole, voyelles, contrôle moteur orofacial, interactions sensorimotrices, représentations et cartes neurocognitives, IRMf, TMS.

Children with pronunciation difficulties are at risk of consequences later on, such as reading and writing difficulties. Problems with pronunciation could make a child less intelligible and affect their ability to discriminate between different speech sounds. To facilitate the assessment of pronunciation difficulties it is necessary to use appropriate and updated assessment tools suitable to analyze the children’s phonological development. The Swedish pronunciation test, Bedömning Av Fonologi (B.A.F.), has therefore been developed. This new test can be used by professionals to evaluate the phonological realisations of children. The purpose of this study was to gather normative data of 4 and 5 year olds for B.A.F. and to investigate if girls and boys performed differently concerning the pronunciation of the words in B.A.F. Furthermore, the intention was to investigate if there was any correlation in the performance of the words in B.A.F. with oral motor precision (by oral motor movements tasks), oral motor speed (by repeating syllables) as well as auditory perception (by repetition of nonwords). 63 children (36 girls and 27 boys) in the ages of 48 to 71 months participated in the study. The results showed that by using B.A.F. it is possible to see that the number of correctly pronounced words increases with age. Further, the results indicated that children in the ages of four and five had established /p, t, k, d, f, v, j, h, l, m, n/ and /ŋ/ and all the vocals except /y:/ and /Y/. The only speech sound that did not prove to be established was /r/. Neither the 4 nor the 5 year olds had established consonant clusters containing /r/. A significant correlation was found between oral motor speed and correctly pronounced words in B.A.F. The children’s auditory perception also correlated with the number of correctly pronounced words in B.A.F. This study suggests that skills concerning auditory perception and oral motor speed have more effect on pronunciation skills than oral motor precision. The results gave no indication of a difference in pronunciation between girls and boys.
Barn med uttalssvårigheter löper risk för senare konsekvenser, som exempelvis läs- och skrivsvårigheter. Problem med uttal kan göra ett barn svårförståeligt för omgivningen och kan påverka förmågan att särskilja mellan språkljud. För att underlätta bedömningen av uttalssvårigheter behövs uttalstest som är aktuella och anpassade efter barns utveckling. Därför har det nya uttalstestet Bedömning Av Fonologi (B.A.F.) producerats. Med hjälp av B.A.F. kan barns fonologi undersökas genom uttal av språkljud i ord. Denna studie syftade till att ta fram normativa data för testet hos 4- och 5-åringar. Studien syftade även till att undersöka om några skillnader mellan könen gällande prestationen på B.A.F. fanns samt om något samband mellan uttal av orden i B.A.F. och ett antal uppgifter som mätte oralmotorisk precision (oralmotoriska rörelser) och snabbhet (upprepning av stavelser), samt auditiv perception (repetition av nonord) kunde påvisas. I studien deltog 63 barn (36 flickor och 27 pojkar) i åldrarna 4;0 år till 5;11 år. Under analysen delades barnen in i grupper av halvårsintervall. Resultaten visade att man i B.A.F. kan se att antal korrekt uttalade ord ökar i linje med stigande ålder. Det påvisades även att barn i fyra- och fem årsåldern etablerat /p, t, k, d, f, v, j, h, l, m, n/ och /ŋ/ samt alla vokaler utom /y:/ och /Y/. Det enda konsonantfonem som ej visade sig vara etablerat i dessa åldrar var /r/. Ingen av åldersgrupperna hade heller etablerat kluster innehållandes /r/. Ett signifikant samband kunde påvisas mellan oralmotorisk snabbhet och antal korrekt uttalade ord i B.A.F. Även barnens auditiva perception korrelerade signifikant med antal korrekt uttalade ord i B.A.F. Föreliggande studie tyder på att auditiv perception och oralmotorisk snabbhet har ett större samband med uttalet än oralmotorisk precision. Inga uttalsskillnader mellan könen framkom.

The Hard Lesson of Life: A Study of /Re/construction of Life in School from a Religious Educational Perspective

The overriding aim of this dissertation is to examine the understanding of life that young people /re/construct, and in this sense learn, in the discursive practices of school, and to describe how such a /re/construction takes place.

The theoretical frame of the study is a critical theory perspective. Potentially problematic aspects and findings are therefore given priority over good examples. The three main concepts used were generated through the interaction of theory and empirical material. These conceptual tools are: ‘understanding of life’, ‘discursive practice’, and ‘language’. The first concept refers to the young learners’ collectively /re/constructed perceptions of how life works and of what gives life value and meaning. Discursive practice is the concept used for the context and the way in which learning takes shape. Language is an important resource in the shaping of the collective interpretation, negotiation and /re/construction of an understanding of life.

Two empirical studies are presented, a main study and a complementary one. The main study, which is regionally limited, is a group interview with 51 youths from five schools divided into ten groups. The second is a study of the most frequently used high school Religion textbook, Religion and Life, and the analysis draws on the results from the group interview study.

The institutional frames, the large-sized schools, and the tasks of school to educate pupils and to differentiate between them, are risk factors that may lead to stereotypical, instrumental, and competitive relationships in education. The group interview study indicates that there are grounds for concern since it shows that victimization works as a teaching tool in the /re/construction of a hegemonic discourse of understanding life. The empirically identified hegemonic discourse of understanding life is termed “Life as adjustment for the benefit of individual competition”. Victimization is shown to be both the cause and effect of this discourse. The hegemonic life discourse also lends contextual legitimacy to victimization. The study of the school textbook suggests that the subject Religion may reinforce such a hegemonic understanding of life if it fails to balance the book’s objective and descriptive accounts of abuse of power.

abstract: Speech sound disorders (SSDs) are the most prevalent type of communication disorder in children. Clinically, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) rely on behavioral methods for assessing and treating SSDs. Though clients typically experience improved speech outcomes as a result of therapy, there is evidence that underlying deficits may persist even in individuals who have completed treatment for surface-level speech behaviors. Advances in the field of genetics have created the opportunity to investigate the contribution of genes to human communication. Due to the heterogeneity of many communication disorders, the manner in which specific genetic changes influence neural mechanisms, and thereby behavioral phenotypes, remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify genotype-phenotype associations, along with perceptual, and motor-related biomarkers within families displaying SSDs. Five parent-child trios participated in genetic testing, and five families participated in a combination of genetic and behavioral testing to help elucidate biomarkers related to SSDs. All of the affected individuals had a history of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) except for one family that displayed a phonological disorder. Genetic investigation yielded several genes of interest relevant for an SSD phenotype: CNTNAP2, CYFIP1, GPR56, HERC1, KIAA0556, LAMA5, LAMB1, MDGA2, MECP2, NBEA, SHANK3, TENM3, and ZNF142. All of these genes showed at least some expression in the developing brain. Gene ontology analysis yielded terms supporting a genetic influence on central nervous system development. Behavioral testing revealed evidence of a sequential processing biomarker for all individuals with CAS, with many showing deficits in sequential motor skills in addition to speech deficits. In some families, participants also showed evidence of a co-occurring perceptual processing biomarker. The family displaying a phonological phenotype showed milder sequential processing deficits compared to CAS families. Overall, this study supports the presence of a sequential processing biomarker for CAS and shows that relevant genes of interest may be influencing a CAS phenotype via sequential processing. Knowledge of these biomarkers can help strengthen precision of clinical assessment and motivate development of novel interventions for individuals with SSDs.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Communication Disorders 2020

abstract: Language and music are fundamentally entwined within human culture. The two domains share similar properties including rhythm, acoustic complexity, and hierarchical structure. Although language and music have commonalities, abilities in these two domains have been found to dissociate after brain damage, leaving unanswered questions about their interconnectedness, including can one domain support the other when damage occurs? Evidence supporting this question exists for speech production. Musical pitch and rhythm are employed in Melodic Intonation Therapy to improve expressive language recovery, but little is known about the effects of music on the recovery of speech perception and receptive language. This research is one of the first to address the effects of music on speech perception. Two groups of participants, an older adult group (n=24; M = 71.63 yrs) and a younger adult group (n=50; M = 21.88 yrs) took part in the study. A native female speaker of Standard American English created four different types of stimuli including pseudoword sentences of normal speech, simultaneous music-speech, rhythmic speech, and music-primed speech. The stimuli were presented binaurally and participants were instructed to repeat what they heard following a 15 second time delay. Results were analyzed using standard parametric techniques. It was found that musical priming of speech, but not simultaneous synchronized music and speech, facilitated speech perception in both the younger adult and older adult groups. This effect may be driven by rhythmic information. The younger adults outperformed the older adults in all conditions. The speech perception task relied heavily on working memory, and there is a known working memory decline associated with aging. Thus, participants completed a working memory task to be used as a covariate in analyses of differences across stimulus types and age groups. Working memory ability was found to correlate with speech perception performance, but that the age-related performance differences are still significant once working memory differences are taken into account. These results provide new avenues for facilitating speech perception in stroke patients and sheds light upon the underlying mechanisms of Melodic Intonation Therapy for speech production.
Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Communication Disorders 2015

A universal speech facilitation program was developed based on the principles, methods and long-term goals of an existing program, the Speech Motor Learning Program (Van der Merwe, 1985). The development of such a program was indicated because, to date, no systematized intervention program with the aim of general speech facilitation has been attempted to overcome the tremendous challenges of the current rehabilitative scenario in South Africa (shortage of services, untrained staff in the community and multiple language barriers to name a few). The suitability of the SMLP as a starting point for the compilation of a Speech Facilitation Program is illustrated by its clinical success in treating a variety of speech disorders and secondly because it is firmly based on normal speech development and motor learning principles. Based on the SMLP, the SFP was developed and applied to two paired subjects who exhibited general speech and language delay, to determine if the speech facilitation program would facilitate and indeed enhance speech development in the Subjects. The clinical application of the SFP was conducted in an alternating treatment design study using speech facilitation and language treatment respectively. During the treatment phase of the study, probe tests, consisting of ten selected aspects of speech and language, were conducted to determine the effect of the two treatment approaches on these aspects. Three of the aspects showed improvement following treatment with the Speech Facilitation Program. Four aspects showed gradual development throughout the duration of the study, irrespective of the type of treatment and it could possibly be attributed to general development by the subjects as well as regular intervention. Three aspects showed no change during the study. The obtained results seemed to indicate that the SFP influenced speech development positively and that it could be developed into a valuable clinical tool for the treatment of certain speech disorders.
Dissertation (MA (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007.
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
unrestricted

abstract: The activation of the primary motor cortex (M1) is common in speech perception tasks that involve difficult listening conditions. Although the challenge of recognizing and discriminating non-native speech sounds appears to be an instantiation of listening under difficult circumstances, it is still unknown if M1 recruitment is facilitatory of second language speech perception. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of M1 associated with speech motor centers in processing acoustic inputs in the native (L1) and second language (L2), using repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) to selectively alter neural activity in M1. Thirty-six healthy English/Spanish bilingual subjects participated in the experiment. The performance on a listening word-to-picture matching task was measured before and after real- and sham-rTMS to the orbicularis oris (lip muscle) associated M1. Vowel Space Area (VSA) obtained from recordings of participants reading a passage in L2 before and after real-rTMS, was calculated to determine its utility as an rTMS aftereffect measure. There was high variability in the aftereffect of the rTMS protocol to the lip muscle among the participants. Approximately 50% of participants showed an inhibitory effect of rTMS, evidenced by smaller motor evoked potentials (MEPs) area, whereas the other 50% had a facilitatory effect, with larger MEPs. This suggests that rTMS has a complex influence on M1 excitability, and relying on grand-average results can obscure important individual differences in rTMS physiological and functional outcomes. Evidence of motor support to word recognition in the L2 was found. Participants showing an inhibitory aftereffect of rTMS on M1 produced slower and less accurate responses in the L2 task, whereas those showing a facilitatory aftereffect of rTMS on M1 produced more accurate responses in L2. In contrast, no effect of rTMS was found on the L1, where accuracy and speed were very similar after sham- and real-rTMS. The L2 VSA measure was indicative of the aftereffect of rTMS to M1 associated with speech production, supporting its utility as an rTMS aftereffect measure. This result revealed an interesting and novel relation between cerebral motor cortex activation and speech measures.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Speech and Hearing Science 2018

PURPOSE: Vocal hyperfunction (VH) is considered a functional voice disorder, resulting in voice complaints of hoarseness and fatigue; however, recent work suggests that voice changes in VH may result from impairments in the neural control of voice (specifically, how voice perception is integrated into voice production). This study sought to clarify whether impaired auditory acuity of vocal pitch and the temporal production of voice, two known impairments in speakers with VH, were correlated. METHOD: The current study included 29 adults with VH. Vocal auditory perception was assessed via acuity to self-produced vocal pitch (quantified using an adaptive two-forced-choice paradigm). To investigate temporal acoustic measures of voice production, voice onset time (VOT) variability of voiced and voiceless stop consonants in a carrier phrase were separately assessed using a coefficient of variation (CoV). Two Pearson product-moment correlations were completed to assess the relationship between these measures of vocal perception and vocal production of either voiced or voiceless VOTs. RESULTS: No statistically significant correlations were observed between auditory acuity and CoV of VOT for neither voiced nor voiceless stop consonants. CONCLUSION: The current findings suggest that impairments in vocal pitch acuity and VOT production in VH are not governed by the same underlying mechanism. Further investigation is recommended to determine the etiology driving these vocal perception- and production-based impairments observed in prior work.

This dissertation adresses the issue of preparation and readiness of a preschool child before his/her entrance to elementary school. The theoretical part is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is concerned with the definitions of basic terms, such as school maturity and school readiness. The second chapter is dedicated to developmental psychology of a preschool child. The third chapter is concerned with diagnosis of a preschool child from the position preschool education, and the last chapter is centered on a child at risk in elementary school. The practical part is dedicated to qualitative experimental investigation which obser- ves the advancement of teak parts in selected sample of children from normal and spe- cial class of kindergarten school and it is supported by an intervention program.

Η παρούσα εργασία διερευνά την αντιληπτικότητα δύο κατηγοριών διμελών συμφωνικών συμπλεγμάτων του τύπου [φρακτικό + φρακτικό] και [φρακτικό + υγρό] σε αρχικές και ενδιάμεσες, τονισμένες ή άτονες συλλαβές λέξεων της ελληνικής από 26 πληροφορητές, φυσικούς και αλλόγλωσσους (με μητρική γλώσσα την αλβανική και βουλγαρική) ομιλητές της ΚΝΕ. Η εκτεταμένη ποικιλία που χαρακτηρίζει τα εμπειρικά δεδομένα συντελεί στην υιοθέτηση της Θεωρίας του Βέλτιστου σε συνδυασμό με το μοντέλο των Πολλαπλών Παράλληλων Γραμματικών. Μετά την ολοκλήρωση της πειραματικής διαδικασίας κατέστη εμφανές ότι το σύστημα της εκάστοτε μητρικής γλώσσας των αλλόγλωσσων ασκεί επιρροή στην επίτευξη του υψηλότερου δυνατού επιπέδου γλωσσομάθειας της ΚΝΕ είτε ως μητρικής - στην περίπτωση των δίγλωσσων ομιλητών - είτε ως δεύτερης / ξένης γλώσσας.
This paper examines the perception of two-member [obstruent + obstruent] and [obstruent + liquid] consonant clusters in word-initial and word-medial, stressed or non stressed syllables in Modern Greek words by 26 informants, native speakers and Albanian and Bulgarian [as L1] speakers of Greek. Due to the extensive variation of the experimental data we use the frame work of Optimality Theory in combination with the model of Multiple Parallel Grammars. At the end of the experimental process it became obvious that the phonological system of L1 influences the acquisition or learning at the highest possible level (that of an adult native speaker) of Greek either as L1 – in the case of bilingual speakers - either as L2, second / foreign language learning.

The diploma thesis consists of theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part deals with a definition of important concepts such as philosophy for children, historical development of this program, personality of a child, communication and thinking of pre-school children. The practical part is conceived as a controlled dialogue with children in preschool education, with a great emphasis on expressing their emotions and experiencing a given situation.