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Speech deterioration in postlingually deafened adults
1Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|February 1, 1991
Summary
Adults deafened after learning to speak produced speech with more pitch variation and slower timing. They also showed less precise consonant articulation, impacting models of speech production without self-hearing.
Area of Science:
- Speech acoustics
- Auditory neuroscience
- Linguistics
Background:
- Acquired deafness can impact speech production.
- Understanding the role of auditory feedback is crucial for speech elaboration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate acoustic and temporal speech differences in postlingually deafened adults compared to hearing individuals.
- To apply findings to models of speech production reliant on auditory self-monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Participants read the Rainbow Passage and Phonetic Inventory Sentences.
- Acoustic analyses measured pitch variability, mean pitch, temporal parameters, and consonant articulation.
- Comparison between deafened adults and hearing controls.
Main Results:
- Deafened adults exhibited greater pitch variability and mean pitch, increased pitch fluctuations, and slower temporal parameters.
- Reduced correlation between intrinsic pitch and vowel height was observed.
- Less differentiation in the place of articulation for fricative and plosive consonants was found.
Conclusions:
- Postlingual deafness significantly alters prosodic and segmental speech features.
- Findings suggest a critical role for auditory feedback in refining speech production and articulation.