Influence of analogy instruction for pitch variation on perceptual ratings of other speech parameters

Unpacking the black box of voice therapy: A clinical application and revision of the Motor Learning Classification Framework (MLCF)

PURPOSE

Voice therapy is a complex behavioural intervention. Understanding its components is integral for continued advancement of voice therapy research, translation of evidence into the clinical setting and improved client care. The Motor Learning Classification Framework (MLCF) offers an excellent opportunity for increasing such knowledge, specifically in relation to identifying variables that affect motor learning (ML), an important mechanism hypothesised to bring about voice change during voice therapy. The MLCF has shown promising results in identifying speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) use of ML variables during experimentally controlled voice therapy contexts. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of applying the framework in the clinical context of everyday voice therapy practice.

METHOD

Data consisted of two video-recorded voice therapy sessions representing usual voice therapy care. Classification of ML variables used by SLPs during the recorded sessions was attempted based on the MLCF.

RESULT

Several problematic features of the framework were identified. Based on deliberations between the authors of the current paper, the MLCF was revised using an iterative process. This resulted in the construction of an updated version of the framework (MLCF-V2). The MLCF-V2 organises ML strategies into two broad categories: directly observable behaviours and learning processes. The framework incorporates greater consideration of theory and empirical evidence supporting motivational, attentional focus and subjective error estimation influences on ML. Several examples of each ML variable are included as well as an attempt to provide clearer classification instruction.

CONCLUSION

It is anticipated that the MLCF-V2 will provide a more useful and reliable classification for use in future investigations of SLPs' use of ML variables during usual voice therapy practice.

Development of a Psychometric Measure of the Propensity to Consciously Control and Monitor Speech Production

Purpose A speech-specific reinvestment scale (SSRS) is a psychometric measure of the propensity to consciously control and monitor speech production. This study develops and validates an SSRS as well as examines its relationship with speech performance with the moderating effects of trait social anxieties (i.e., social interaction anxiety, public speaking anxiety, and social phobia). Method Scale development involves the following stages: (a) initial item generation based on relevant literature, (b) item evaluation through cognitive interviews with 24 healthy respondents, (c) scale reliability and validity tests using cross-sectional survey data from 498 healthy respondents, and (d) test-retest reliability assessment using longitudinal survey data from 185 healthy respondents. Respondents' speech performance is quantified using speech examination scores. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses are conducted to examine the moderating effects of trait social anxieties. Results The validated SSRS comprises 35 items, which can be categorized into four subdimensions, namely, speech movement self-consciousness, public consciousness of speech content, speech manner, and speech movement. Results show that respondents with low trait social anxieties indicate a generally positive relationship between public consciousness of speech movement and speech performance, whereas respondents with high trait social anxieties exhibit a nonsignificant relationship. Conclusions SSRS offers a reliable and valid method for assessing the predisposition for conscious speech control and monitoring, which plays a role in speech performance and is moderated by an individual's level of trait social anxiety. SSRS is a potential assessment tool for speech-language pathologists to evaluate the impacts of conscious speech control and monitoring on individuals with speech impairment.

The study of speech naturalness in communication disorders: A systematic review of the literature

The concept of speech naturalness is used widely in clinic and research applications. Unfortunately, the lack of consistency in research methods means that comparing findings between studies is difficult at best. In order to better understand the state of research on speech naturalness in communication disorders and quantify these impressions, this study looks at publications from the last 18 years in a systematic manner. A literature search for the exact phrase "speech naturalness" of the PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCO, and ASHAWire databases was conducted. Articles included in the review were studies of communication and communication disorders published between 1990 and the end of 2014, in English, and in a peer-reviewed journal. 63 articles were selected and coded using a coding sheet adapted from a prior systematic review on intelligibility and cleft palate. Speech naturalness is an object of study in many subfields of communication disorders. Several concerns were raised as a result of the review, including the reliability and validity of measures, inadequate definitions of terminology, lack of detail in method descriptions, and the need to address relationships between naturalness and other variables included in the studies. Future studies should more carefully report methods and operational definitions used and more studies examining the relationship between naturalness and other speech variables in a variety of communication disorders are greatly needed.

Effects of error experience when learning to simulate hypernasality

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of error experience on the acquisition of hypernasal speech.

METHOD

Twenty-eight healthy participants were asked to simulate hypernasality in either an errorless learning condition (in which the possibility for errors was limited) or an errorful learning condition (in which the possibility for errors was not limited). The nasality level of the participants' speech was measured with a nasometer and reflected by nasalance scores (in percentages). Errorless learners practiced producing hypernasal speech with a threshold nasalance score of 10% at the beginning, gradually increasing to a threshold of 50% at the end. The same set of threshold targets were presented to errorful learners but in a reversed order. Errors were defined by the proportion of speech with a nasalance score below the threshold. A retention test and a transfer test were administered.

RESULTS

Relative to errorful learners, errorless learners displayed fewer errors and a higher mean nasalance score during acquisition. Furthermore, errorless learners outperformed errorful learners in both retention and transfer tests.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that errorless learning is more effective than errorful learning in acquiring a novel speech motor task that involves manipulation of the nasality level of speech.