Biomaterial Database

Synthetic speech comprehension: a comparison of children with normal and impaired language skills. 1998

M E Reynolds, and D Fucci

Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755-2675, USA. reynoldm@marshall.edu

This study compared the ability of children with normal language (NL) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) to comprehend natural speech and DECtalk synthetic speech by using a sentence verification task. The effect of listening practice on subjects' ability to comprehend both types of speech also was investigated. Subjects were matched for age and sex. Mean nonverbal intelligence scores of the groups did not differ significantly. Results showed that DECtalk was significantly more difficult for all subjects to comprehend than was natural speech and false sentences were significantly more difficult to comprehend than were true sentences. Response latencies shortened significantly from time 1 to time 2 for all subjects. Subjects with SLI had significantly more difficulty comprehending both natural and synthetic speech than did subjects with NL. Implications these results might have for theories of the underlying cause of specific language impairment are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007805	Language Development Disorders	Conditions characterized by language abilities (comprehension and expression of speech and writing) that are below the expected level for a given age, generally in the absence of an intellectual impairment. These conditions may be associated with DEAFNESS; BRAIN DISEASES; MENTAL DISORDERS; or environmental factors.	Language Delay,Speech Delay,Auditory Processing Disorder, Central,Central Auditory Processing Disorder,Developmental Disorder, Speech or Language,Developmental Language Disorders,Language Disorders, Developmental,Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder,Speech or Language, Developmental Disorder,Delay, Speech,Delays, Speech,Development Disorder, Language,Developmental Language Disorder,Disorder, Language Development,Disorders, Language Development,Language Delays,Language Development Disorder,Language Disorder, Developmental,Semantic Pragmatic Disorder,Semantic-Pragmatic Disorders,Speech Delays
D008297	Male		Males
D011930	Reaction Time	The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.	Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002663	Child Language	The language and sounds expressed by a child at a particular maturational stage in development.	Child Languages,Language, Child,Languages, Child
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000704	Analysis of Variance	A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.	ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses
D013067	Speech Perception	The process whereby an utterance is decoded into a representation in terms of linguistic units (sequences of phonetic segments which combine to form lexical and grammatical morphemes).	Speech Discrimination,Discrimination, Speech,Perception, Speech
D013071	Speech, Alaryngeal	Methods of enabling a patient without a larynx or with a non-functional larynx to produce voice or speech. The methods may be pneumatic or electronic.	Voice Production, Alaryngeal,Alaryngeal Speech,Alaryngeal Voice Production,Alaryngeal Voice Productions,Production, Alaryngeal Voice,Productions, Alaryngeal Voice,Voice Productions, Alaryngeal