Lecture 7

Question 1

Why do we need to know about speech acoustics for individuals with hearing loss?

Answer 1

to know:
- what information is available through hearing
- how to make sounds more audible for listener
- when to compliment audition with other senses
- why someone speaks the way they do
- be able to provide better feedback to audiologist

Question 2

What are the components that affect the acoustics of speech communication?

Answer 2

talker/speech production
- age
- gender
- accent
- language proficiency

environment/acoustic transmission
- distance
- noise
- room acoustics (reverberation)

listener/speech perception
- age
- hearing status
- language proficiency
- sensory aids
- non-acoustic cues

Question 3

What is f0?

Answer 3

fundamental frequency

depends on mass, length, and tension of vocal cords

bigger/longer/less tense = lower (adult male)

smaller/shorter/more tense = higher (adult female or child)

Question 4

What are harmonics?

Answer 4

multiples of f0

Question 5

What are the important formants for speech perception?

Answer 5

F1 = first formant

F2 = second formant

different vocal tract shapes are created by different formants, therefore creating different sounds

Question 6

What are segmentals?

Answer 6

vowels
- tongue high or low
- lips rounded or spread
- mouth opening

diphthongs
- vowel combinations, first gliding to second

consonants
- manner, place, voicing

Question 7

What are suprasegmentals?

Answer 7

duration
intensity
pitch/frequency

must detect all 3 features to understand speech

carried by vowels

mostly found in F0 and F1

first features perceived by children learning how to listen - before consonants/vowels differentiated

Question 8

At what frequencies are F1 and F2 information most accessible?

Answer 8

F1 most available below 1000 Hz
- most acoustic energy of speech

F2 most available above 1000 Hz
- major contribution to understanding of speech

Question 9

How do F1 and F2 contribute to speech perception?

Answer 9

need both to identify a phoneme

F1 = required to be able to detect a phoneme
F2 = required to be able to identify a phoneme

Question 10

How do vowels and consonants differ in suprasegmentals?

Answer 10

vowels are longer duration, louder, and lower pitch

Question 11

How is whispering used as a tool in AVT?

Answer 11

can lower vowel intensity and allow better perception of consonants

loudness of vowels can mask consonants, whispering highlights them

Question 12

What is the half square rule?

Answer 12

each time you half the distance between ear and sound source, sound power increases by 6 dB

each time you double the distance, sound power diminishes by 6 dB

when learning to listen, closer is better
- don’t just raise your voice

Question 13

What are the 3 anchor vowels in AVT?

Answer 13

/u/, /a/, and /i/

different F1 and F2 combinations

Question 14

What is the hierarchy of listening from basic to complex?

Answer 14

detection
- awareness of presence of a sound

discrimination
- determine whether 2 sounds are same or different

identification
- identify what sound is/naming

comprehension
- understanding meaning

Question 15

What is the key difference between detection and identification?

Answer 15

detection = presence vs absence
- requires F1

identification = naming
- requires F2

Question 16

How can we tell if someone can detect or identify vowels?

Answer 16

knowing where hearing loss is can determine if they have access to F1/F2 of different vowels, which can then determine if they can detect or identify them

Question 17

Based on formants, what would happen for someone with higher frequency hearing loss? What information do we need to remember to determine this?

Answer 17

may have trouble telling vowels apart, especially if they have similar F1s

know the anchor vowels and and accompanying F1/F2, as well as the acoustic order of the vowels

Question 18

Why is a speech acoustics cheat sheet important?

Answer 18

different segmental and suprasegmental features are heard at certain frequencies

manner cues, place cues, voicing cues, nasality, suprasegmentals, etc. all heard at different frequencies

Question 19

How easily are acoustic cues of consonants heard?

Answer 19

manner and voicing = low frequency = easy to hear

place = high frequency = difficult to hear

Question 20

What are the effects of co-articulation on speech perception?

Answer 20

transitions between sounds can make speech perception easier

Question 21

What does it mean if formant transitions are larger?

Answer 21

make a place difference more audible

bigger = better

more contrast between formants makes sounds easier to perceive
- ex. in AVT, enhance perception of high frequency consonants by pairing with lower frequency vowels

Question 22

What are the easiest and hardest to hear fricatives?

Answer 22

easiest/lowest = sh

highest = s

softest = f and voiceless th

Question 23

How does distance affect ability to hear?

Answer 23

sounds will be softer and less clear

Question 24

Which phoneme type is more important for speech perception?

Answer 24

consonants

Question 25

How does noise affect ability to hear?

Answer 25

sound of target speaker will be drowned out

Question 26

How does reverberation affect ability to hear?

Answer 26

sound of target speaker will be drowned out

Question 27

How do we accommodate for distance, noise, and reverberation?

Answer 27

get closer or use an assistive listening device (ex. FM)

Question 28

Should we focus on speech development or correction?

Answer 28

developmental approach for children <3 years

speech correction for children > 3 years

Question 29

How can we enhance speech development in a child <3 years with hearing loss (beginning listener)?

Answer 29

lay a good speech foundation through listening
- then less likely to need to do speech correction later

sit right beside child, speak close to better ear
- at very close distance, whisper or use soft voice

do not emphasize lipreading

sing

use learning to listen sounds

bombard target sound
- no more than 1-3 speech targets at a time

say before see (so they hear before they see)

correct gently by highlighting the correct sound in the word

Question 30

How can we enhance speech development in a child >3 years with hearing loss?

Answer 30

same techniques as for under 3’s

teach through audition as much as possible

if you need to use visual or tactile cues, bring sound into hearing awareness by repeating it using audition alone at least a couple times