Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S S Drummond.
10 adults' performances on visual training through recognition of speech spectrograms were examined. All subjects completed the training within eight 1-hr. sessions. Success and retention of training were also evident in the subjects' performances on two posttests.
With 8 men, two methods of alaryngeal speech production, tracheoe-sophageal and electrolaryngeal, were compared on perceptual and acoustic measures of speech intelligibility. Measures consistently identified the tracheoesophageal speech as superior to electrolaryngeal speech.
Connected speech samples were elicited from 10 nonfluent and 10 fluent dysphasic subjects utilizing two contexts, picture and pictogram descriptions. Incidences of word retrieval problems were identified and assigned to nine word retrieval categories. Results revealed pictogram elicited a greater incidence of word retrieval problems, and therefore, proved as a more informative context for identifying word retrieval problems in mild dysphasia. Also, certain word retrieval categories were selectively used by specific dysphasic classification categories and severity levels.
Comprehensive speech examinations of 10 equally affected subjects with moderate, treated Parkinson's disease were performed before and 4 weeks following initiation of treatment with selegiline (deprenyl), with other drug therapies unchanged. Forty different measures relating to the speech processes of respiration, phonation, resonation, articulation and prosody were examined to measure changes in performance due to selegiline. Significant improvements were noted for 8 of the 40 measures, with these improvements relating to the speech processes of articulation and respiration. The potential interactive effects of comedication are discussed. In addition, previously undescribed comprehensive speech characteristics of moderate Parkinson's disease are presented and discussed.
Phonemic paraphasias produced by nonfluent and fluent dysphasic adults during connected speech elicitations were examined using four perceptual and two acoustical variables. Results revealed important findings for each of the examined variables. The acoustical variables, however, were more helpful for differentiating the two dysphasic categories. The findings obtained also relate to factors such as phoneme frequency, suprasegmental feature of stress placement, anatomicophysiological characteristics of phonemes, and the interaction between the linguistic parameters of phonology and semantics. These factors have implications for the treatment of verbal dyspraxia in nonfluent and fluent dysphasia.
Quantitative and qualitative differences between two word retrieval tasks were examined using nonfluent and fluent dysphasic and nondysphasic subjects. Additional variables examined included scoring criteria, trial effects, response trends, and inaccurate responses. Results revealed that the word fluency task was significantly more sensitive than the picture-naming context. Similarly, the variable of response time was identified as the more discriminating response scoring procedure. In addition to these two variables, the data on response trends and inaccurate responses provided significant information for differentiating nonfluent and fluent dysphasias. Discussion relates to the implications of the obtained findings for differential diagnosis and measuring language recovery in dysphasia.
Nonfluent dysphasic utterances for pictogram or sequential picture descriptions were compared against those elicited in a standard stative single-picture description task. Elicited utterances were also compared to identify the availability of different variables within phonologic, syntactic, and semantic levels. Descriptive data revealed that Pictograms yielded a relatively greater frequency of occurrence for the variables examined under the parameters of phonology, syntax, and semantics. Of the different variables examined for each parameter, a significantly greater incidence of phonemic paraphasias than neologistic paraphasias were obtained for the parameter of phonology. For the parameter of syntax, significantly more verb phrases were in error than noun phrases; and significantly more syntactic complexity levels 1 and 3 were produced than were levels 2, 4, or 5. Data for the parameter of semantics revealed a significantly greater occurrence of hesitations than circumlocutions, verbal paraphasias, or revisions. Discussion of the obtained findings relate to language assessment and linguistic characterization of nonfluent dysphasia.
Five linguistic variables were investigated to characterize the irrelevant speech typically associated with the language of confusion. A longitudinal, single subject experimental design was used. Connected speech samples were elicited utilizing two different stimuli contexts. Results indicated that two of the four variables were important for the identification of linguistic irrelevancy. Discussion of the findings also relate to the variables of time post-onset, stimuli context in the characterization of irrelevant speech, and etiology of cerebral damage.
The availability of different semantic relations between mild anomic dysphasic and nondysphasic subjects was investigated using a picture description task. Results of the analyses revealed statistically nonsignificant differences between the two groups for the variables of total utterances and mean length of utterances. Of the different cases examined, a significant difference between the two groups of subjects was revealed in their use of the "other" case relation category. Also, within the dysphasic group maximum verbal paraphasias occurred for the object case. Discussion of the obtained results relate the selective availability of specific cases to the possible differences in linguistic coding between the two groups. Also, the interrelationship between quantity of verbal output and incidence of verbal paraphasia is discussed.
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The comprehension and production of idioms was investigated in 10 dysphasic adults. Two different tasks, one comprehension and the other production, were developed. The production task required the subject to verbally explain 15 idioms. The comprehension task necessitated the selection of the correct figurative representation of the idiom from four illustrations: a literal, a literal variation, a figurative, and an unrelated picture. Results indicated no significant correlation between overall comprehension and production performances. No significant difference was found between the comprehension or the production of idioms when type or severity of dysphasia was considered. A significant difference was found, however, in the type of incorrect response, in that subjects selected the literal depiction more often than other foil representations for the comprehension.
The effectiveness of visual--gestural cueing as compared with traditional auditory--verbal cueing was investigated using a time-series design. Eight dysphasic adults equally divided into a control and an experimental group were the subjects for this study. Results indicated no significant improvement in response times after an intensive 2-wk treatment period. Similarly, no single cue was observed to be more effective than others in eliciting dysphasic word-retrieval responses. In contrast, there was a significant difference in the order in which different cues were presented. Findings indicated that regardless of cue type, the cue presented first was the most effective. The present discussion relates current findings to previous observations and reviews implications of the data for language rehabilitation in dysphasia.
Performance of aphasic subjects in adjective recognition and production tasks in which adjectives varied in semantic feature and markedness complexity was investigated. Twelve pairs of adjectives were examined in three experimental tasks; viz., picture recognition, antonym production, and sentence completion. Subjects were eight nonfluent and eight fluent aphasics. The results indicate significant differences in performance were dependent upon semantic features, markedness, experimental tasks, and type of aphasia. The discussion related semantic complexity to cognitive processes.
A survey of communications problems among elderly persons was conducted to determine the perceived incidence, the number of agencies that provide various services, provision/nonprovision of speech and hearing services, and need for in-service training in the area of communications disorders. Results indicate that older persons with communications disorders are underestimated and underserved. A majority of the additional in-service training in the areas of communications and communications disorders.