SLHS 312 Exam 3

What is the power source in speech production

respiratory tract (pulmonary system)

what is responsible for sound creation in speech production

larynx and vocal tract

what is responsible for sound modulation in speech production

resonance and articulation (vocal tract —> pharyngeal cavity, oral cavity, nasal cavity)

What is a model?

a purposeful representation of reality

a simplification of a system or any of its parts

models can be used to test theories using experimental approaches

models are constructed so that they can be manipulated in a controlled manner

What is a theory

a conceptualized framework that attempts to explain a phenomenon

researchers set out to test theories, as a result theories are always changing

theory dictates practice

Models can be used to test ____

theories

What is von Bekesy’s model of the traveling wave

Von bekesy developed a mechanical model of the basilar membrane using a sheet of rubber varying thickening in a tank of water (endolymph of the cochlea)

• Wave of different frequencies were introduced into the tank

  • High frequencies, the thinner part of the sheet vibrated at the highest amplitude

  • Low frequencies, the thicker part of the sheet vibrated at the greatest amplitude

Effects of hydration on voicing/phonation

phonation threshold increases with dehydration and then decreases to normal levels with rehydration

what do target models describe

speech production as a physical specification of a planned phonological unit

targets are hypothesized to be ___ (articulatory) or ____ (auditory)

spatial, acoustic

describe a spatial model

internalized motor map of the vocal tract in the brain that allows the speaker to move articulators to specific regions within the vocal tract

describe the goal of an acoustic auditory model

the goal to be achieved is the acoustic output

describe the feedback of the DIVA model

from motor and sensory signals transform error inputs into feedback based motor commands

describe the feedforward of the DIVA model

control system is tuned during attempts to imitate a learned speech sound target

what is acoustic invariance theory

for each distinct phoneem, there is a set of acoustic features

our perception of phonemes is provided by these constant/invariant acoustic cues

therefore, the listener must compare acoustic features heard against a stored template

what is the problem with acoustic invariance theory

speech sounds are not invariant. They change depending on the sounds surrounding them, for example, formant differences in vowels for different talkers, effects of co articulation and speech rate

what is direct realist theory (carol fowler)

speech perception does not rely on specialized processes but is similar to other types of perception (e.g., vision)

we perceive objects directly rather than by reconstructing and interpreting the object from sensory input to the brain

what is the problem with direct realist theory

vastly underestimates complexity of perception

also assumes invariant features in speech and there is a lack of evidence for invariant qualities in speech elements

TRACE Model

suggests there are interactive connections among units in a network at 3 levels (features, phonemes, and words)

poses that units within a level are competing for activation by acoustic stimuli

activation of a set of features gives activation to a set of phonemes, which in turn activates some possible words. The more one word is activated, the more other possible words are inhibited

Motor theory of speech production

hypothesis that people perceive spoken words by identifying the vocal tract gestures with which they are pronounced rather than by identifying the sound patterns that speech generates

link between speech production and speech production

delayed auditory feedback (DAF)

In fluent speakers, DAF affects motor behavior by disrupting the forward flow of speech

contradiction to basic tenet of motor theory

pre-lingual infants up to 10 months of age can discriminate sounds in their language and most of the world’s languages

revised motor theory

listener does not, however percieve the actual movement of the articulators but an abstract articulatory plan (called a gesture)

mirror neuron

a neuron that fires both when an individual performs and motor act and when the individual observes the same motor action being performed by another person

Speech perception is based on

ability to discriminate and identify the acoustic phonetic features of acoustic signal

what is meant by “speech is dynamic”

listeners use dyanmic cues with contextual clues and linguistic knowledge to decode speech

what is the role of redundancy in speech perception

speech perception can be successful with filtered and distorted speech reveals that acoustic cues can be ambiguous or absent

Most perception occurs in ____

Context

Ex. /nd/ expected at end, not beginning of word

What is most helpful for identifying vowels

dynamic spectrotemporal patterns (changing formant patterns)

Ex. cake vs kick show different relative formant shifts

How are most consonants perceieved

Categorically

/f, v, θ, ð, h/ are all: 

non strident fricatives

/s z ʃ ʒ/ are all:

strident fricatives

When transitioning from /k/ to /æ/, F1 and F2 will

*tongue is moving from constriction to a more open position as well as moving forward in the oral cavity

rise, rise

When transitioning from /æ / to /g/, F1 and F2 will

*the tongue is moving further back and into more constriction within the oral cavity

fall, fall

an affricate is a

stop followed by a fricative

The feedback and feedforward subsystems are part of the _______ model

DIVA Model

An F2 transition, for place of articulation tells us

where the tongue has been or where the tongue is going

The affricate /dʒ/ contains:

voiced stop + voiced fricative

history of spasmodic dysphonia

Before 1970 spasmodic dysphonia was thought to be a psychological condition that appeared when people were stressed and could be treated with counseling

Von Bekesy’s model of the traveling wave represents

reaction of the basilar membrane to different sound frequencies

an affricate is

alveolar stop + palatal fricative

what cue would not be used to identify an affricate on a spectrogram

antiformant

Infants learning sounds primarily use the _______ subsystem to learn sounds. Once they gain experience with speech and language they gain internalized representations of the sounds, thus using the more efficient ________ subsystem

auditory feedback, feedforward

one hallmark of fricatives on a spectrogram is the

frication noise

The purpose of the research conducted through the Jiang, Ng, & Hanson model of dehydrated canine larynges was: 

To demonstrate that hydrating the larynx did indeed facilitate phonation

the history of spasmodic dysphonia demonstrates

a change in practice based on a change in theory

all strident fricatives have

intense energy noise

When transitioning from the voiceless alveolar stop /t/ to the vowel /i/, F1 and F2 will:

rise, rise

When transitioning from /u/ to /d/, F1 and F2 will 

fall, rise

True of false: Fricatives can have a voice bar

true

identify types of feedback used by the brain to regulate fine movements and correct errors during speech production

auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, proprioceptive

/s/ has intense frequency energy above

4000 Hz

A _____________ is a purposeful representation of reality, the simplification of system or subsystem, created in a way that we can understand how something functions

model

a cochlear implant

electrically stimulates the auditory nerve

a cochlear implant must

detect and transmit a wide range of frequencies, resolve small frequency differences, convert acoustic energy into electrical energy

True or False: Each vowel has specific F1 and F2 formant frequencies that do not change across speakers

false

During production of /æ/, the F1 and F2 frequencies obtained for a female speaker were 510 Hz and 1525 Hz, respectively.  The F2/F1 ratio would be:

2.99

What is the F2/F1 ratio for the vowel /i/ when a male speaker produces an F1 of 340 Hz and an F2 of 2300 Hz

6.76

hearing loss

reduces the amount of acoustic information available

recurring otitis media cna put kids at risk of

language problems, poor academic performance

For a speech-language pathologist, what is NOT a main focus in therapy when working with a cochlear implant user

writing

For a speech-language pathologist, what ARE main focuses in therapy when working with a cochlear implant user

learning how to interpret environmental and speech sounds, the temporal order of sounds, recognizing minimal pairs, perceiving pitch/prosody

In speech therapy, the early treatment focus for dyslexia will include

working on the temporal order of sounds

stuttering may be the result of

over reliance on the auditory feedback system

*because the individual is relying more on the less efficient feedback pathway (i.e. the auditory feedback command) 

the trace model has 3 levels of processing

The word layer, phoneme layer, and feature layer

The DIVA model supports the notion that

Infants use the feedback subsystem and transition to the feedforward subsystem once speech is mastered

the lower level of the trace model includes the

feature layer

the trace model includes

top down processing, bottom up processing, inhibitory and excitatory pathways

Von Bekesy’s model of the traveling wave represents

the frequency response of the basilar membrane

Listeners perceive consonants categorically. As a part of categorical perception, listeners have a/an

inability to hear differences between members within a category

How do listeners distinguish vowels if speakers differ in their pronunciation and/or speaking rate?

the ratio of F2 to F1 is hypothesized to normalize interspeaker differences

a person with dyslexia

will have difficulty perceiving vowels that are closer together in the vowel space area

does not have decreased general intelligence

may have difficulty preserving the temporal order of speech sounds

In working with children who have a high frequency hearing loss, a speech-language pathologist will often target the sound ____ because of its impact on language comprehension and expression

/s/

A _______ is a neuron that fires both when an animal (or person) acts and when the animal (or person) observes the same action performed by another

mirror neuron

the motor theory of speech production says

There is a link between speech production and perception

In order to perceive a consonant as an affricate, we listen for which of these acoustic cues

SBR, frication noise, silent gap

Listeners perceive diphthongs based on

the rate of change of the formant transitions

Jiang, Ng, & Hanson studied the effects of rehydration on phonation in excised canine __________

larynges

according to the segmentation problem, in order to segment continuous speech listeners rely on

linguistic knowledge, dynamic cues, contextual cues