Developmental Acoustic Analysis of the /r/ Phoneme

• Other Authors: Becvar, Brittany Patricia (Author)
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Speech therapy; Acoustic Markers; /r/ articulation; Signal Processing
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.44268

abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify acoustic markers that correlate with accurate and inaccurate /r/ production in children ages 5-8 using signal processing. In addition, the researcher aimed to identify predictive acoustic markers that relate to changes in /r/ accuracy. A total of 35 children (23 accurate, 12 inaccurate, 8 longitudinal) were recorded. Computerized stimuli were presented on a PC laptop computer and the children were asked to do five tasks to elicit spontaneous and imitated /r/ production in all positions. Files were edited and analyzed using a filter bank approach centered at 40 frequencies based on the Mel-scale. T-tests were used to compare spectral energy of tokens between accurate and inaccurate groups and additional t-tests were used to compare duration of accurate and inaccurate files. Results included significant differences between the accurate and inaccurate productions of /r/, notable differences in the 24-26 mel bin range, and longer duration of inaccurate /r/ than accurate. Signal processing successfully identified acoustic features of accurate and inaccurate production of /r/ and candidate predictive markers that may be associated with acquisition of /r/. === Dissertation/Thesis === Masters Thesis Communication Disorders 2017