Auditory Processing in Children's Speech Perception

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan E. Sussman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Selective Adaptation ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Acoustic Processing ◽  
Processing Differences ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
The Continuum ◽  
Adaptation Effects

Five- to six-year-old children and adults participated in discrimination and selective adaptation speech perception tasks using a synthetic consonant-vowel continuum ranging from [bal to Ida]. In one condition of selective adaptation, attention was focused on the adapting stimulus, the continuum-endpoint ba], with a whispering task. In another condition, attention was focused away from the continuum-endpoint [da] adaptor to contralaterally presented syllables " she " and " see ." Results, compared with two more typical adaptation conditions, indicated that focused attention did not augment selective adaptation effects, particularly for children who showed smaller effects with focused attention on the adaptor. In contrast to adults, children did not significantly change labeling responses after exposure to endpoint-[ba] adaptors, results matching those of Sussman and Carney (1989). However, children did significantly change labeling following exposure to endpoint-[da] adaptors. Discrimination findings with five-formant consonant-vowel and single-formant stimuli supported the importance of acoustic processing for the selective adaptation tasks performed. Together, results support hypotheses of sensory processing differences in younger, normally developing children compared with adults and show that such abilities appear to be related to speech perception skills.

scholarly journals Going beyond rote auditory learning: Neural patterns of generalized auditory learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon L.M. Heald ◽  
Stephen C. Van Hedger ◽  
John Veillette ◽  
Katherine Reis ◽  
Joel S. Snyder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Auditory Evoked Potential ◽  
Cortical Processing ◽  
Rote Learning ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Auditory Learning

AbstractThe ability to generalize rapidly across specific experiences is vital for robust recognition of new patterns, especially in speech perception considering acoustic-phonetic pattern variability. Behavioral research has demonstrated that listeners are rapidly able to generalize their experience with a talker’s speech and quickly improve understanding of a difficult-to-understand talker without prolonged practice, e.g., even after a single training session. Here, we examine the differences in neural responses to generalized versus rote learning in auditory cortical processing by training listeners to understand a novel synthetic talker using a Pretest-Posttest design with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were trained using either (1) a large inventory of words where no words repeated across the experiment (generalized learning) or (2) a small inventory of words where words repeated (rote learning). Analysis of long-latency auditory evoked potentials at Pretest and Posttest revealed that while rote and generalized learning both produce rapid changes in auditory processing, the nature of these changes differed. In the context of adapting to a talker, generalized learning is marked by an amplitude reduction in the N1-P2 complex and by the presence of a late-negative (LN) wave in the auditory evoked potential following training. Rote learning, however, is marked only by temporally later source configuration changes. The early N1-P2 change, found only for generalized learning, suggests that generalized learning relies on the attentional system to reorganize the way acoustic features are selectively processed. This change in relatively early sensory processing (i.e. during the first 250ms) is consistent with an active processing account of speech perception, which proposes that the ability to rapidly adjust to the specific vocal characteristics of a new talker (for which rote learning is rare) relies on attentional mechanisms to adaptively tune early auditory processing sensitivity.Statement of SignificancePrevious research on perceptual learning has typically examined neural responses during rote learning: training and testing is carried out with the same stimuli. As a result, it is not clear that findings from these studies can explain learning that generalizes to novel patterns, which is critical in speech perception. Are neural responses to generalized learning in auditory processing different from neural responses to rote learning? Results indicate rote learning of a particular talker’s speech involves brain regions focused on the memory encoding and retrieving of specific learned patterns, whereas generalized learning involves brain regions involved in reorganizing attention during early sensory processing. In learning speech from a novel talker, only generalized learning is marked by changes in the N1-P2 complex (reflective of secondary auditory cortical processing). The results are consistent with the view that robust speech perception relies on the fast adjustment of attention mechanisms to adaptively tune auditory sensitivity to cope with acoustic variability.

Discriminability and Perceptual Weighting of Some Acoustic Cues to Speech Perception by 3-Year-Olds

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Developmental Shift ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Perceptual Weighting

Studies of children’s speech perception have shown that young children process speech signals differently than adults. Specifically, the relative contributions made by various acoustic parameters to some linguistic decisions seem to differ for children and adults. Such findings have led to the hypothesis that there is a developmental shift in the perceptual weighting of acoustic parameters that results from experience with a native language (i.e., the Developmental Weighting Shift). This developmental shift eventually leads the child to adopt the optimal perceptual weighting strategy for the native language being learned (i.e., one that allows the listener to make accurate decisions about the phonemic structure of his or her native language). Although this proposal has intuitive appeal, there is at least one serious challenge that can be leveled against it: Perhaps age-related differences inspeech perception can more appropriately be explained by age-related differences in basic auditory-processing abilities. That is, perhaps children are not as sensitive as adults to subtle differences in acoustic structure and so make linguistic decisions based on the acoustic information that is most perceptually salient. The present study tested this hypothesis for the acoustic cues relevant to fricative identity in fricative-vowel syllables. Results indicated that 3-year-olds were not as sensitive to changes in these acoustic cues as adults are, but that these age-related differences in auditory sensitivity could not entirely account for age-related differences in perceptual weighting strategies.

Research Forum on Changes in Sensory Perception in Middle-Aged Adults: A Summary of a Special Session at Hearing Across the Lifespan (HEAL) 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry E. Humes
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Sensory Perception ◽  
Special Session ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Purpose The purpose of this article is to introduce the special research forum on sensory-processing changes in middle-aged adults. Method This is a brief written introduction to the special session, which included five presentations, each emphasizing a slightly different aspect of sensory perception. Conclusion The effects of aging on sensory processing, including auditory processing and speech perception, are not confined to older adults but begin in middle age in many cases.

Sensory processing and organisational abilities in children with inattentive-hyperactive behaviours

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Pavithra R Iyer ◽  
Shashidhar Rao Chavan ◽  
Sumita Rege
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Multisensory Processing ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Teacher Rating ◽  
Sensory Profile ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Potential Factors ◽  
Processing Differences ◽  
Temporal Organisation

Background/Aims Sensory processing has been theorised to contribute to object and temporal organisation. Sensory processing and organisational abilities in children with inattention-hyperactivity was assessed, and investigated if there was a relationship between the two. Methods A community sample of children aged 9–12 years was categorised into inattentive-hyperactive (n=20) and non-inattentive-hyperactive groups (n=56) using the Vanderbilt Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Parent and Teacher Rating Scales. The Sensory Profile, Child Organisation Scale and Child Organisation Parent Perception Scale were used to collect additional data. Results Sensory processing and organisational abilities differed significantly between the groups. Object organisation correlated significantly with multisensory processing; temporal organisation failed to correlate with sensory processing. Conclusions Results suggest there is a need to screen children with informant-reported inattention-hyperactivity for sensory processing differences and organisational deficits. Sensory processing and object organisation may be associated; further research on potential factors underlying this association is needed.

Preschool impairments in auditory processing and speech perception uniquely predict future reading problems

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 560-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Boets ◽  
Maaike Vandermosten ◽  
Hanne Poelmans ◽  
Heleen Luts ◽  
Jan Wouters ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Reading Problems

scholarly journals Speech perception capabilities in children a few years after initial diagnosis of auditory processing disorder

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Padilla ◽  
Thierry Morlet ◽  
Kyoko Nagao ◽  
Rachel Crum ◽  
L. Ashleigh Greenwood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Initial Diagnosis ◽  
Auditory Processing Disorder

On the ontogeny of combination-sensitive neurons in speech perception

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-281
Author(s):  
Athanassios Protopapas ◽  
Paula Tallal
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Processing Mechanisms ◽  
Output Constraint

The arguments for the orderly output constraint concern phylogenetic matters and do not address the ontogeny of combination-specific neurons and the corresponding processing mechanisms. Locus equations are too variable to be strongly predetermined and too inconsistent to be easily learned. Findings on the development of speech perception and underlying auditory processing must be taken into account in the formulation of neural encoding theories.

scholarly journals A Survey of Occupational Therapists on a New Tool for Sensory Processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Caroline J. Mills ◽  
Elisabeth Michail ◽  
Rosalind A. Bye
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Planning Tool ◽  
Processing Differences ◽  
Further Development

Occupational therapy is the leading profession with regard to supporting children who experience difficulties with occupations as a result of sensory processing differences. However, there are mixed reports with regard to the efficacy of various sensory interventions and approaches, leaving little clear guidance for occupational therapists supporting children with these difficulties. The Sensory Form is a planning tool developed in 2017 to guide occupational therapists in their professional reasoning for assessment and intervention of sensory processing differences. To date, no research has been conducted on its use. Researchers introduced the tool to 20 occupational therapists with relevant experience and conducted an online survey of their perceptions about The Sensory Form. Findings were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Therapists reported that they found the tool acceptable for use, described key strengths and weaknesses of The Sensory Form, and outlined changes to improve the tool. The Sensory Form may have an application in guiding the practice of therapists supporting children with sensory processing differences. Further development of associated resources may be warranted.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document