Speech and Hearing Science Exam 3 Other Flashcards

What is acoustic resonance and what is a resonator?

• occurs when an air-filled cavity is forced to vibrate by a driving frequency.

• a structure that vibrates most strongly at specific frequencies.

How is the vocal tract modeled acoustically and why is it variable?

As a quarter-wave resonator (closed at one end, open at the other). It is variable because its shape changes during speech.

Why is the vocal tract broadly tuned?

Because its irregular shape allows a wide range of frequencies to resonate.

What are formants and what causes them?

They are specific frequency ranges where a sound is acoustically amplified and are caused by the resonance of the vocal tract.

What are the components of Source-Filter theory?

• Source = glottal sound

• Filter = vocal tract shape/resonance

• Vowel Production/Output = sound at lips

How are vowels classified?

By tongue height (high/mid/low) and tongue advancement (front/centra/back).

What does F1 represent and how does it relate to vowel height?

It reflects pharyngeal cavity size and vowel height. Higher vowels have lower F1.

What does F2 represent and how does it relate to vowel advancement?

It reflects oral cavity length. Front vowels have higher F2, back vowel have lower F2.

What are monophthongs vs diphthongs?

• Monophthongs = steady tongue position

• Diphthongs = tongue movement

What are onglide and offglide in dipthongs?

• Onglide = starting position

• Offglide = ending position

What are the key vowel rules for exams?

Higher —> low F1; Front vowel —> high F2

How are consonants classified?

Place, Manner, and Voicing.

What do place, manner, and voicing mean?

• Place = WHERE constriction occurs

• Manner = HOW MUCH constriction

• Voicing = vocal fold vibration

What are cognates?

Consonants differing only in voicing (ex. /p/-/b/).

What are the six manners of articulation?

• Stops (p,b,t,d,k,g)

• Fricatives (f,v,s,z)

• Affricates

• Nasals (m,n,ng)

• Glides

• Liquids

What are the acoustic features of stop consonants?

• Silent gap

• release burst

• voice onset time (VOT).

What is frication and what defines fricatives?

A turbulent noise from narrow constriction';

• Continuous

• Low-intensity spectrum over wide frequency range

Why do fricatives develop later than stops?

They require more precise motor control.

What characterizes nasal consonants?

Open velopharyngeal port with airflow throuh nasal cavity.

What are the four velopharyngeal closure patterns?

• Coronal

• Sagittal

• Circular

• Circular with Passavant’s ridge

How do the four velopharyngeal closure patterns differ?

• Coronal = mostly velum movement

• Sagittal = mostly LPW (Lateral Pharyngeal Wall) movement

• Circular - equal velum +LPW

• Circular w/ Passavant’s ridge = adds posterior pharyngeal wall movement

What is the role of intrinsic tongue muscles?

Primarily change shape and deal with fine movements.

What is the role of extrinsic tongue muscles?

Primarily responsible for positioning changes.

What are the intrinsic tongue muscles?

• Superior longitudinal

• Inferior longitudinal

• Transverse

• Vertical

What are the extrinsic tongue muscles?

• Genioglossus

• Hyoglossus

• Styloglossus

• Palatoglossus

What is coarticulation and why is it important?

Movements related to sequentially occurring sounds overlap. It explains variability of speech and increases efficiency.

How does coarticulation affect articulation?

Adjacent sounds influence each other’s production (ex. /k/ in “key” vs ”coat” vs ”kite”).

What is speaking rate and how does it change with development?

Speed of speech (syllables/phonemes per time). It increases over time.

What is prosody and what are its main features?

Rhythm and melody of speech; includes stress, intonation, breath groups, and duration.

What is stress?

Emphasis using pitch, loudness, and duration.

What is intonation?

Pitch variation across speech.

What are breath groups?

Speech segments produced between breaths.

What is duration?

Length of time a sound or utterance lasts.

What is articulation vs intelligibility?

• Articulation = production of speech sounds (phonemes)

• Intelligibility - how easily speech is understood; influenced by articulation accuracy, rate, voice quality, prosody, and resonance

What are the two main methods for evaluating articulation and intelligibility?

Perceptual assessment and instrumental assessment.

What does perceptual assessment include?

Standardized articulation tests, rating scales, listener transcriptions (SLP or other listeners), and identification of errors.

What are limitations of perceptual assessment?

Subjectivity and inter-rater reliability issues; difficult to standardize.

What does instrumental assessment include?

Objective measurement of speech using acoustic and kinematic tools (mostly research-based, limited clinical use).

Why do we still care about instrumental measurements if they’re not widely clinical?

They help understand disorder characteristics and underlying mechanisms, even if not patient-specific in routine practice.

What are acoustic vs kinematic measures?

• Acoustic = sound-based analysis (ex. spectrograms)

• Kinematic = movement-based analysis (articulator motion)

What does ultrasound show in speech?

Tongue shape and movement (sagittal and coronal views).

What are the pros and cons of ultrasound?

• Pros = safe, non-invasive, real-time

• Cons = distorted images; limited visibility of tongue tip and palate

What is Electropalatography (EPG)?

A pseudopalate with electrodes that shows tongue-to-palate contact in real time.

What is glossometry?

Uses light sensors to measure tongue distance from palate every ~10ms with visual feedback.

What is optopalatography?

Advanced glossometry measuring light reflection and contact pressure for tongue tracking.

What are the pros and cons of EPG?

• Pro - real-time visual feedback

• Cons = cost, bulky pseudopalate, limited vowel information

What is Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA)?

Uses magnetic sensors on articulators to track 3D movement of tongue, lips, jaw, velum.

What are the pros and cons of EMA?

• Pros: 3D movement data, non-invasive

• Cons = expensive, may affect natural speech

What is acoustic analysis used for in articulation?

Examining vowel space, consonant production, and speech patterns.

What is articulatory undershoot?

When articulators fail reach target positions.

What are speech sound errors in SSD evaluation?

Substitutions, omissions, distortions (including nasalization).

What is the difference between articulation disorders and phonological processes?

• Articulation = motor production errors

• Phonological - rule-based patterns (ex. final consonant deletion)

What is coarticulation?

Overlap of speech movements between adjacent sounds.

Why is coarticulation important?

Enables fast, efficient speech and explains variability in sound production.

How is stress produced acoustically?

Changes in pitch, loudness, and duration.

What is dysarthria?

Neurological speech disorder affecting execution of movement (weakness, paralysis, incoordination).

What systems can dysarthria affect?

Respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance (any or all).

What is apraxia of speech?

Motor planning/programming disorder affecting sequencing of speech (not due to weakness).

What is the difference between dysarthria and apraxia?

Dysarthria is an execution problem, and apraxia is a planning/programming problem.

What is hearing impairment’s effect on speech?

Reduced auditory feedback affects vowels, consonants, and prosody (“deaf speech”).

What vowel pattern is common in hearing impairment?

Vowel neutralization (centralized vowel space).

What consonant errors are common in hearing impairment?

Substitutions and omissions; place of articulation errors (alveolars/velars).

What is the main intervention goal in hearing impairment speech therapy?

Provide visual feedback and improve intelligibility (start with segmentals).

What outcomes of cochlear implants are of note?

Improves speech outcomes, especially if implanted early, but feedback is still not normal and must be learned.

What is the velopharyngeal port?

Valves between oral and nasal cavities controlling resonance.

When is the velopharyngeal port open vs closed?

Closed for most speech sounds; open for nasal sounds /m, n, ng/).

What is hypernasality?

Excess nasal resonance due to incomplete velopharyngeal closure.

What is hyponasality?

Reduced nasal resonance due to blocked nasal cavity (ex. congestion, obstruction).

What is velopharyngeal inadequacy (VPI)?

General term for abnormal velopharyngeal function.

What are the types of VPI?

• Insufficiency = structural problem

• Incompetence = neurological problem

• Mislearning = functional/behavioral

What is velopharyngeal insufficiency?

Structural inability to close (ex. cleft palate, short velum).

What is velopharyngeal incompetence?

Neurological inability to achieve closure (ex. stroke, TBI, CP).

What is velopharyngeal mislearning?

Learned incorrect closure pattern (non-structural, phonological origin).

What does a See-Scrape measure?

Airflow pressure through nostrils (indirect measure of nasal emission).

What is nasometry?

Measures nasalance (ratio of nasal vs oral acoustic energy).

What is normal nasalance range?

~0-20%.

What is nasopharyngoscopy?

Endoscopic visualization of velopharyngeal movement.

What are the speech characteristics of cleft palate?

Hypernasality, articulation errors, nasal emissions, reduced pressure consonants.

What is Velocardiofacial syndrome?

Genetic syndrome with palate, heart, cognitive, and speech/language involvement.

Speech features: Hypernasality, articulation issues, language delay, feeding problems.

When is EPG most useful clinically?

When traditional therapy fails because it provides visual feedback for tongue placement.

What is main limitation of instrumental methods clinically?

Cost, accessibility, and limited real-world availability.

What is the general treatment principle for articulation/resonance disorder?

Combine perceptual and instrumental measures for best understanding of the disorder.