Purpose: The purpose of this study was to synthesize the methodological variability in the speech perception literature for school-age children with residual speech sound disorder (RSSD), with the primary intention of using the existing knowledge to inform clinical decisions and optimize treatment outcomes for children. Method: Ten electronic…

The majority of research examining early auditory-semantic processing and organization is based on studies of meaningful relations between words and referents. However, a thorough investigation into the fundamental relation between acoustic signals and meaning requires an understanding of how meaning is associated with both lexical and non-lexical…

Language has a rhythmic structure, but little is known about the mechanisms that underlie how it is planned. Traditional models of language production assume that metrical and segmental planning occur independently and in parallel (Roelofs & Meyer, 1998). We test this claim in three experiments. In Experiment 1, participants completed an…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate whether human auditory frequency tuning can be influenced by tonal language experience. Method: Perceptual tuning measured via psychophysical tuning curves and cochlear tuning derived via stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emission suppression tuning curves in 14 native speakers of a tonal language…

Purpose: Age-related declines in auditory temporal processing and cognition make older listeners vulnerable to interference from competing speech. This vulnerability may be increased in older listeners with sensorineural hearing loss due to additional effects of spectral distortion and accelerated cognitive decline. The goal of this study was to…

Understanding speech in adverse conditions is affected by experience--a familiar voice is substantially more intelligible than an unfamiliar voice when competing speech is present, even if the content of the speech (the words) are controlled. This familiar-voice benefit is observed consistently, but its underpinnings are unclear: Do familiar…

We tested the ability to recognise speech-in-noise and its relation to the ability to discriminate vocal pitch in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developed adults (matched pairwise on age, sex, and IQ). Typically developed individuals understood speech in higher noise levels as compared to the ASD group.…

Purpose: This study evaluated whether outcomes from treatment, which includes ultrasound visual feedback (UVF), would be more or less effective when combined with auditory perception training for children with residual /[voiced alveolar approximant]/ errors. Method: Children ages 8-16 years with /[voiced alveolar approximant]/ distortions…

This study explored the impact of mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss on auditory, social, and behavior skills in early school-aged children. Thirty-two children (aged 5-9 years) were evaluated with parent and teacher questionnaires. Most outcomes were within the range of expected scores. However, functional auditory skills were below…

There is no one-to-one mapping between speech acoustics and individual speech sounds; instead, the acoustic cues produced for individual speech sounds show wide variability both within and across talkers. Nonetheless, listeners perceive the speech of familiar and novel talkers with ease. It is theorized that listeners achieve this feat by…

Listeners selectively tune in to the most relevant cues for contrasting sounds, and this process impacts their perceptual sensitivity to these cues (Nosofsky, 1986; Pisoni, 1991). For bilingual listeners, recent work suggests a shared L1/L2 phonology system with the phonetic properties of each sound established in a language-specific way…

This dissertation examines whether and how psycholinguistic priming, and social knowledge are integrated in the identification of sociolinguistic variants. Using the English variable (ING), the alternation between -ing and -in' (e.g. thinking vs. thinkin') as a testing ground, this dissertation probes whether and how individuals utilize…

English has become an international language (EIL) as speakers around the world use it as a universal means of communication. Accordingly, scholars have investigated different aspects of EIL affecting communicative success. Speech scholars have been interested in speech constructs like accentedness, comprehensibility, and acceptability (e.g., Kang…

With the rapid growth of digital education, e-learning has become essential for offering accessible and flexible learning opportunities. This paper investigates strategies to achieve long-term learning outcomes and reduce study time in e-learning. It explores various techniques, including self-testing, spaced repetition, and the serial position…

This study tested infants' ability to segregate target speech from a background of ecologically valid multi-talker speech at a 10 dB SNR. Using the Headturn Preference Procedure, 72 English-learning 5-, 9-, and 12-month-old monolinguals were tested on their ability to detect and perceive their own name. At all three ages infants were able to…