Masters Theses

Date of Award

6-1983

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Speech Pathology

Major Professor

Ellen I. Hamby

Committee Members

Patrick J. Carney, Harold A. Peterson

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether different stimulus presentation modalities differently influenced the accuracy of verbal apraxic responses according to the characteristics of the words used in the stimulus presentations. Eight adult subjects having apraxia of speech participated in this investigation. They each met the following criteria; a medically diagnosed history of nonprogressive left hemisphere brain damage incurred no less than three months prior to this investigation; articulatory characteristics consistent with a diagnosis of mild to moderate apraxia of speech (LaPointe and Johns, 1975); moderate to no detectable comprehension impairment; minimal anomia; no reported premorbid communication impairments nor structural speech mechanism anomalies; no discernible dysarthria; and an ability to read single words.

The subjects were required to produce 45 words presented through three modalities. These words were divided into three groups with 15 words in each group. The characteristics of the words within the groups were as follows: group I: consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) containing easy phonemes; group II: monosyllabic containing difficult consonants, clusters, or blends; group III: polysyllabic containing easy phonemes. The three presentation modalities included: the auditory: subjects repeated words presented from a tape recorder; the visual: subjects read aloud single words presented to them on 3" by 5" cards; the auditory-visual: subjects repeated words after they saw and heard the examiner produce them. The production of every word was tape-recorded and later transcribed and scored by a speech pathologist according to a scale devised by the author.

The results and subsequent conclusions of this study were as follows:

1. Errors were produced least frequently by the verbal apraxic speakers in CVC words containing easy phonemes and the most frequently in polysyllabic words. Errors were also produced more often in phonemically complex words than in CVC easy phoneme words, but less often than in polysyllabic words. Thus, it was concluded the length of words influenced the verbal apraxics' productions more than the phonemic complexity of the words.

2. No significant differences resulted among the apraxic speakers responses to the three presentation modalities. Therefore, one presentation modality (the auditory, the visual, or the auditory-visual) did not facilitate the accuracy of the verbal apraxics' responses more than another.

3. The results and conclusions of this study have implications for management, however, further research is indicated to provide more information concerning verbal apraxics' responses and what influences their accuracy.

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