Contextual influences on subjective alcohol response.

Dysarthric Sentence Intelligibility

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jslhr.4106.1282 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 41 (6) ◽

pp. 1282-1293 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Jane Mertz Garcia ◽

Paul A. Dagenais

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Presentation Mode ◽

Contextual Influences ◽

Motor Functioning ◽

Video Presentation ◽

Independent Information ◽

Communicative Process ◽

Presentation Formats ◽

Sentence Intelligibility ◽

Audio Video

This study examined changes in the sentence intelligibility scores of speakers with dysarthria in association with different signal-independent factors (contextual influences). This investigation focused on the presence or absence of iconic gestures while speaking sentences with low or high semantic predictiveness. The speakers were 4 individuals with dysarthria, who varied from one another in terms of their level of speech intelligibility impairment, gestural abilities, and overall level of motor functioning. Ninety-six inexperienced listeners (24 assigned to each speaker) orthographically transcribed 16 test sentences presented in an audio + video or audio-only format. The sentences had either low or high semantic predictiveness and were spoken by each speaker with and without the corresponding gestures. The effects of signal-independent factors (presence or absence of iconic gestures, low or high semantic predictiveness, and audio + video or audio-only presentation formats) were analyzed for individual speakers. Not all signal-independent information benefited speakers similarly. Results indicated that use of gestures and high semantic predictiveness improved sentence intelligibility for 2 speakers. The other 2 speakers benefited from high predictive messages. The audio + video presentation mode enhanced listener understanding for all speakers, although there were interactions related to specific speaking situations. Overall, the contributions of relevant signal-independent information were greater for the speakers with more severely impaired intelligibility. The results are discussed in terms of understanding the contribution of signal-independent factors to the communicative process.

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