The Impact of Social–Cognitive Stress on Speech Variability, Determinism, and Stability in Adults Who Do and Do Not Stutter

Purpose

This study examined the impact of social–cognitive stress on sentence-level speech variability, determinism, and stability in adults who stutter (AWS) and adults who do not stutter (AWNS). We demonstrated that complementing the spatiotemporal index (STI) with recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) provides a novel approach to both assessing and interpreting speech variability in stuttering.

Method

Twenty AWS and 21 AWNS repeated sentences in audience and nonaudience conditions while their lip movements were tracked. Across-sentence variability was assessed via the STI; within-sentence determinism and stability were assessed via RQA.

Results

Compared with the AWNS, the AWS produced speech that was more variable across sentences and more deterministic and stable within sentences. Audience presence contributed to greater within-sentence determinism and stability in the AWS. A subset of AWS who were more susceptible to experiencing anxiety exhibited reduced across-sentence variability in the audience condition compared with the nonaudience condition.

Conclusions

This study extends the assessment of speech variability in AWS and AWNS into the social–cognitive domain and demonstrates that the characterization of speech within sentences using RQA is complementary to the across-sentence STI measure. AWS seem to adopt a more restrictive, less flexible speaking approach in response to social–cognitive stress, which is presumably a strategy for maintaining observably fluent speech.

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The Relationship Between Relative Fundamental Frequency and a Kinematic Estimate of Laryngeal Stiffness in Healthy Adults

Purpose

This study examined the relationship between the acoustic measure relative fundamental frequency (RFF) and a kinematic estimate of laryngeal stiffness.

Method

Twelve healthy adults (mean age = 22.7 years, SD = 4.4; 10 women, 2 men) produced repetitions of /ifi/ while varying their vocal effort during simultaneous acoustic and video nasendoscopic recordings. RFF was determined from the last 10 voicing cycles before the voiceless obstruent (RFF offset) and the first 10 cycles of revoicing (RFF onset). A kinematic stiffness ratio was calculated for the vocal fold adductory gesture during revoicing by normalizing the maximum angular velocity by the maximum glottic angle during the voiceless obstruent.

Results

A linear mixed effect model indicated that RFF offset and onset were significant predictors of the kinematic stiffness ratios. The model accounted for 52% of the variance in the kinematic data. Individual relationships between RFF and kinematic stiffness ratios varied across participants, with at least moderate negative correlations in 83% of participants for RFF offset but only 40% of participants for RFF onset.

Conclusions

RFF significantly predicted kinematic estimates of laryngeal stiffness in healthy speakers and has the potential to be a useful clinical indicator of laryngeal tension. Further research is needed in individuals with voice disorders.

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Verbal Working Memory in Older Adults: The Roles of Phonological Capacities and Processing Speed

Purpose

This study examined the potential roles of phonological sensitivity and processing speed in age-related declines of verbal working memory.

Method

Twenty younger and 25 older adults with age-normal hearing participated. Two measures of verbal working memory were collected: digit span and serial recall of words. Processing speed was indexed using response times during those tasks. Three other measures were also obtained, assessing phonological awareness, processing, and recoding.

Results

Forward and reverse digit spans were similar across groups. Accuracy on the serial recall task was poorer for older than for younger adults, and response times were slower. When response time served as a covariate, the age effect for accuracy was reduced. Phonological capacities were equivalent across age groups, so we were unable to account for differences across age groups in verbal working memory. Nonetheless, when outcomes for only older adults were considered, phonological awareness and processing speed explained significant proportions of variance in serial recall accuracy.

Conclusion

Slowing in processing abilities accounts for the primary trajectory of age-related declines in verbal working memory. However, individual differences in phonological capacities explain variability among individual older adults.

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Verbal Working Memory in Older Adults: The Roles of Phonological Capacities and Processing Speed

Purpose

This study examined the potential roles of phonological sensitivity and processing speed in age-related declines of verbal working memory.

Method

Twenty younger and 25 older adults with age-normal hearing participated. Two measures of verbal working memory were collected: digit span and serial recall of words. Processing speed was indexed using response times during those tasks. Three other measures were also obtained, assessing phonological awareness, processing, and recoding.

Results

Forward and reverse digit spans were similar across groups. Accuracy on the serial recall task was poorer for older than for younger adults, and response times were slower. When response time served as a covariate, the age effect for accuracy was reduced. Phonological capacities were equivalent across age groups, so we were unable to account for differences across age groups in verbal working memory. Nonetheless, when outcomes for only older adults were considered, phonological awareness and processing speed explained significant proportions of variance in serial recall accuracy.

Conclusion

Slowing in processing abilities accounts for the primary trajectory of age-related declines in verbal working memory. However, individual differences in phonological capacities explain variability among individual older adults.

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The Impact of Social–Cognitive Stress on Speech Variability, Determinism, and Stability in Adults Who Do and Do Not Stutter

Purpose

This study examined the impact of social–cognitive stress on sentence-level speech variability, determinism, and stability in adults who stutter (AWS) and adults who do not stutter (AWNS). We demonstrated that complementing the spatiotemporal index (STI) with recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) provides a novel approach to both assessing and interpreting speech variability in stuttering.

Method

Twenty AWS and 21 AWNS repeated sentences in audience and nonaudience conditions while their lip movements were tracked. Across-sentence variability was assessed via the STI; within-sentence determinism and stability were assessed via RQA.

Results

Compared with the AWNS, the AWS produced speech that was more variable across sentences and more deterministic and stable within sentences. Audience presence contributed to greater within-sentence determinism and stability in the AWS. A subset of AWS who were more susceptible to experiencing anxiety exhibited reduced across-sentence variability in the audience condition compared with the nonaudience condition.

Conclusions

This study extends the assessment of speech variability in AWS and AWNS into the social–cognitive domain and demonstrates that the characterization of speech within sentences using RQA is complementary to the across-sentence STI measure. AWS seem to adopt a more restrictive, less flexible speaking approach in response to social–cognitive stress, which is presumably a strategy for maintaining observably fluent speech.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2hdvtMV
via IFTTT

The Relationship Between Relative Fundamental Frequency and a Kinematic Estimate of Laryngeal Stiffness in Healthy Adults

Purpose

This study examined the relationship between the acoustic measure relative fundamental frequency (RFF) and a kinematic estimate of laryngeal stiffness.

Method

Twelve healthy adults (mean age = 22.7 years, SD = 4.4; 10 women, 2 men) produced repetitions of /ifi/ while varying their vocal effort during simultaneous acoustic and video nasendoscopic recordings. RFF was determined from the last 10 voicing cycles before the voiceless obstruent (RFF offset) and the first 10 cycles of revoicing (RFF onset). A kinematic stiffness ratio was calculated for the vocal fold adductory gesture during revoicing by normalizing the maximum angular velocity by the maximum glottic angle during the voiceless obstruent.

Results

A linear mixed effect model indicated that RFF offset and onset were significant predictors of the kinematic stiffness ratios. The model accounted for 52% of the variance in the kinematic data. Individual relationships between RFF and kinematic stiffness ratios varied across participants, with at least moderate negative correlations in 83% of participants for RFF offset but only 40% of participants for RFF onset.

Conclusions

RFF significantly predicted kinematic estimates of laryngeal stiffness in healthy speakers and has the potential to be a useful clinical indicator of laryngeal tension. Further research is needed in individuals with voice disorders.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2guyfiN
via IFTTT

Verbal Working Memory in Older Adults: The Roles of Phonological Capacities and Processing Speed

Purpose

This study examined the potential roles of phonological sensitivity and processing speed in age-related declines of verbal working memory.

Method

Twenty younger and 25 older adults with age-normal hearing participated. Two measures of verbal working memory were collected: digit span and serial recall of words. Processing speed was indexed using response times during those tasks. Three other measures were also obtained, assessing phonological awareness, processing, and recoding.

Results

Forward and reverse digit spans were similar across groups. Accuracy on the serial recall task was poorer for older than for younger adults, and response times were slower. When response time served as a covariate, the age effect for accuracy was reduced. Phonological capacities were equivalent across age groups, so we were unable to account for differences across age groups in verbal working memory. Nonetheless, when outcomes for only older adults were considered, phonological awareness and processing speed explained significant proportions of variance in serial recall accuracy.

Conclusion

Slowing in processing abilities accounts for the primary trajectory of age-related declines in verbal working memory. However, individual differences in phonological capacities explain variability among individual older adults.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2hdzNMe
via IFTTT