The Role of Speech Perception in Persistent Speech Sound Disorder

Purpose This study explores the role of overt and covert contrasts in speech perception by children with speech sound disorder (SSD). Method Three groups of preschool-aged children (typically developing speech and language [TD], SSD with /s/~/ʃ/ contrast [SSD-contrast], and SSD with /s/~/ʃ/ collapse [SSD-collapse]) completed an identification task targeting /s/~/ʃ/ minimal pairs. The stimuli were produced by 3 sets of talkers: children with TD, children with SSD, and the participant himself/herself. We conducted a univariate general linear model to investigate differences in perception of tokens produced by different speakers and differences in perception between the groups of listeners. Results The TD and SSD-contrast groups performed similarly when perceiving tokens produced by themselves or other children. The SSD-collapse group perceived all speakers more poorly than the other 2 groups of children, performing at chance for perception of their own speech. Children who produced a covert contrast did not perceive their own speech more accurately than children who produced no identifiable acoustic contrast. Conclusion Preschool-aged children have not yet developed adultlike phonological representations. Collapsing phoneme production, even with a covert contrast, may indicate poor perception of the collapsed phonemes.

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Event-Related Potentials Elicited by Phonetic Errors Differentiate Children With Speech Sound Disorder and Typically Developing Peers

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2021_jslhr-21-00203 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Katelyn L. Gerwin ◽

Françoise Brosseau-Lapré ◽

Christine Weber

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Young Children ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Speech Sound Disorder ◽

N400 Effect ◽

Judgment Accuracy ◽

Lexical Meaning ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Phonetic Errors

Purpose A growing body of research suggests that a deficit in speech perception abilities contributes to the development of speech sound disorder (SSD). However, little work has been done to characterize the neurophysiological processes indexing speech perception deficits in this population. The primary aim of this study was to compare the neural activity underlying speech perception in young children with SSD and with typical development (TD). Method Twenty-eight children ages 4;1–6;0 (years;months) participated in this study. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while children completed a speech perception task that included phonetic (speech sound) and lexical (meaning) matches and mismatches. Groups were compared on their judgment accuracy for matches and mismatches as well as the mean amplitude of the phonological mapping negativity (PMN) and N400 ERP components. Results Children with SSD demonstrated lower judgment accuracy across the phonetic and lexical conditions compared to peers with TD. The ERPs elicited by lexical matches and mismatches did not distinguish the groups. However, in the phonetic condition, the SSD group exhibited a more consistent left-lateralized PMN effect and a delayed N400 effect over frontal sites compared to the TD group. Conclusions These findings provide some of the first evidence of a delay in the neurophysiological processing of phonological information for young children with SSD compared to their peers with TD. This delay was not present for the processing of lexical information, indicating a unique difference between children with SSD and with TD related to speech perception of phonetic errors. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16915579

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Measuring Speech Perception Using the Wide-Range Acoustic Accuracy Scale: Preliminary Findings

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-20-00037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 1098-1112

Author(s):

Elaine R. Hitchcock ◽

Kathryn L. Cabbage ◽

Michelle T. Swartz ◽

Thomas D. Carrell

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Acoustic Parameter ◽

Just Noticeable Difference ◽

Speech Sound Disorder ◽

Speech Stimuli ◽

Perceptual Skills ◽

Acoustic Stimuli ◽

Wide Range ◽

Perceptual Assessment

Purpose Speech perception requires individuals to hear and differentiate acoustic signals integral to effective communication. Measuring speech perception in children is challenging because speech perception methodology typically requires lengthy experiments that may fatigue children, resulting in limited knowledge of developmental perceptual skills. In this study, we used an adaptive tracking measure along with a wide range of acoustic stimuli to explore how adults, typically developing (TD) children, and children with speech sound disorder (SSD) perceive small acoustic differences in synthetic speech stimuli. Method Twenty-four adults, 15 TD children, and 15 children with SSD between the ages of 7;0–14;0 (years;months) were administered a newly developed perceptual assessment, the Wide-Range Acoustic Accuracy Scale, to determine the just-noticeable difference in discrimination for three separate syllable contrasts. Each syllable contrast varied along a single acoustic parameter: formant transition duration for /bɑ/–/wɑ/, F3 onset frequency for /dɑ/–/ɡɑ/, and F3–F2 distance for /rɑ/–/wɑ/. Results Findings revealed that adults and TD children did not differ in their discrimination of any syllable contrast, but adults significantly differed from SSD children on all syllable contrasts. TD children and children with SSD differed only on the /rɑ/–/wɑ/ contrast. Conclusions Children with SSD demonstrate less accurate and more variable perception skills relative to adults and TD children for /bɑ/–/wɑ/, /dɑ/–/ɡɑ/, and /rɑ/–/wɑ/ syllable contrasts. Clinical implications of the utility of the Wide-Range Acoustic Accuracy Scale are discussed.

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Speech production and speech perception in children with speech sound disorder

Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics ◽

10.1080/02699206.2021.1948609 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Larissa Cristina Berti ◽

Mayara Ferreira de Assis ◽

Elissa Cremasco ◽

Ana Cláudia Vieira Cardoso

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Speech Production ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Speech Sound Disorder

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Perception of Medial Consonants by Preschoolers With and Without Speech Sound Disorders

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00146 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (11) ◽

pp. 3600-3610

Author(s):

Françoise Brosseau-Lapré ◽

Jennifer Schumaker ◽

Keith R. Kluender

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Language Skills ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Speech And Language ◽

Speech Sound Disorders ◽

Speech Sound Disorder ◽

Perceptual Accuracy ◽

Language Measures ◽

Speech And Language Development ◽

Production Accuracy

Purpose This study compared perception of consonants in medial position by preschoolers, with and without speech sound disorder (SSD), with similar vocabulary and language skills. In addition, we investigated the association between speech perception and production skills. Method Participants were 36 monolingual English-speaking children with similar vocabulary and language skills, half with SSD and half with typical speech and language development (TD). Participants completed a speech perception task targeting phonemes /p, k, s, ɹ/ in /aCa/ disyllables and a comprehensive battery of speech and language measures. Results Children with SSD were significantly less accurate in perceiving speech sound distinctions relative to peers with TD. The phoneme /p/ was perceived significantly more accurately than the three other target phonemes. The correlation between overall perceptual accuracy and overall production accuracy was significant. Furthermore, perceptual accuracy of targets /k, s, ɹ/ was significantly correlated with production accuracy of these phonemes. Conclusions Many children with SSD have greater difficulty perceiving the specific speech sounds they misarticulate. Nonetheless, most children with SSD present with broader perceptual difficulties than peers with TD with similar vocabulary and language skills.

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The role of the right hemisphere in processing phonetic variability between talkers

Neurobiology of Language ◽

10.1162/nol_a_00028 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-39

Author(s):

Sahil Luthra

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Careful Consideration ◽

Apparent Paradox ◽

Right Hemisphere Damage ◽

The Right ◽

Identity Processing

Neurobiological models of speech perception posit that both left and right posterior temporal brain regions are involved in the early auditory analysis of speech sounds. However, frank deficits in speech perception are not readily observed in individuals with right hemisphere damage. Instead, damage to the right hemisphere is often associated with impairments in vocal identity processing. Herein lies an apparent paradox: The mapping between acoustics and speech sound categories can vary substantially across talkers, so why might right hemisphere damage selectively impair vocal identity processing without obvious effects on speech perception? In this review, I attempt to clarify the role of the right hemisphere in speech perception through a careful consideration of its role in processing vocal identity. I review evidence showing that right posterior superior temporal, right anterior superior temporal and right inferior / middle frontal regions all play distinct roles in vocal identity processing. In considering the implications of these findings for neurobiological accounts of speech perception, I argue that the recruitment of right posterior superior temporal cortex during speech perception may specifically reflect the process of conditioning phonetic identity on talker information. I suggest that the relative lack of involvement of other right hemisphere regions in speech perception may be because speech perception does not necessarily place a high burden on talker processing systems, and I argue that the extant literature hints at potential subclinical impairments in the speech perception abilities of individuals with right hemisphere damage.

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Reading Risk in Children With Speech Sound Disorder: Prevalence, Persistence, and Predictors

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00108 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (11) ◽

pp. 3714-3726

Author(s):

Sherine R. Tambyraja ◽

Kelly Farquharson ◽

Laura Justice

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Sound Production ◽

Speech Therapy ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Reading Difficulties ◽

School Age Children ◽

Speech Sound Disorder ◽

Word Decoding ◽

School Year ◽

School Based

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which school-age children with speech sound disorder (SSD) exhibit concomitant reading difficulties and examine the extent to which phonological processing and speech production abilities are associated with increased likelihood of reading risks. Method Data were obtained from 120 kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade children who were in receipt of school-based speech therapy services. Children were categorized as being “at risk” for reading difficulties if standardized scores on a word decoding measure were 1 SD or more from the mean. The selected predictors of reading risk included children's rapid automatized naming ability, phonological awareness (PA), and accuracy of speech sound production. Results Descriptive results indicated that just over 25% of children receiving school-based speech therapy for an SSD exhibited concomitant deficits in word decoding and that those exhibiting risk at the beginning of the school year were likely to continue to be at risk at the end of the school year. Results from a hierarchical logistic regression suggested that, after accounting for children's age, general language abilities, and socioeconomic status, both PA and speech sound production abilities were significantly associated with the likelihood of being classified as at risk. Conclusions School-age children with SSD are at increased risk for reading difficulties that are likely to persist throughout an academic year. The severity of phonological deficits, reflected by PA and speech output, may be important indicators of subsequent reading problems.

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