Voice Cognitive-Linguistic Motor Speech Hyperlexia
Perception of vocal femininity
The validation of appropriate subjective and objective measures for determining vocal femininity will guide the development of more effective clinical practice for transgender voice treatment. Our data support the use of acoustic and perceptual targets and the TSEQ in vocal feminization treatment. Speakers and listeners rated voices as more feminine as pitch increased and semitone range decreased. Perturbation measures (indicative of voice quality) were not correlated with femininity ratings for this sample of healthy voices. Scores on the TSEQ strongly correlated with scores from the VHI and V-QOL and self ratings of vocal femininity and likability. Test-retest reliability for the psychosocial measures was excellent (.85-.97). Portions of this research have been presented at the Voice Symposium (Philadelphia, USA) and World Professional Association for Transgender Health Conference (Oslo, Norway).
WPATH 2009: Presentation
Effect of voice and diction training on
public speaking apprehension (Hancock, Regnell, Brundage).
Several questionnaires about speaking apprehension and confidence are
administered at the beginning and end of my Voice and Diction classes.
Comparisons have demonstrated significant improvement after the course.
Data from a more traditional public speaking course taught by
colleagues at Florida State University was also collected and
preliminary analyses suggest equitable improvements in indirect (GWU)
and direct (FSU) treatment approaches to apprehension of public
speaking.
Article is published in the May 2009 issue of Journal of Voice
2008 Voice Symposium: Presentation
Language features of American men and women in the 21st Century
*** will commence in Fall 2009 ***
There is a lack of studies measuring gender language differences. Most research examines perceptual gender observations, rather than analyzing differences at the linguistic level. Additionally, due to changes in society, much of this information about gender differences may be no longer accurate. This study will collect and analyze conversational samples of American men and women to explore gender differences. By quantifying language characteristics and determining what differences truly exist, future studies can compare perceptions to reality and guide treatment aimed for “passing” as a certain gender (e.g., transgender communication treatment). There are multiple potential implications of this study. First, do we need to address language when training feminine communication? If so, which linguistic measures would be good goals? Also, do we need to control for language context in research/clinic addressing femininity? If no differences are found between men and women in this study, we will be less concerned about controlling for language context in clinical services and research for transgender communication. Holly Wilder is conducting this study for her Masters thesis, directed by Dr. Hancock.
Attention and language performance in
patients with right hemisphere brain damage
***now open for participant
enrollment***
Recent evidence suggests that some aspects
of attentional selection may be subserved by two distinct anatomical
sites within the parietal cortex: one to mediate top-down attentional
orienting (superior parietal lobe; SPL) and the other to mediate
bottom-up capture of attention (temporo-parietal junction; TPJ). Most
reports of language impairment caused by right hemisphere damage are
not specific to lesion are; patients with damage to the right
hemisphere may have non-aphasic, or extralinguistic, communication
impairments. One aspect of this study will compare picture
description and conversation abilities of individuals with damage in
the SPL to those with damage to the TPJ and explore the relationship
between attentional orientation and language. This research
is in collaboration with Dr. Sarah Shomstein of GWU's Psychology
department.
Cognitive-linguistic and executive function performance in the real
world (Hancock, Bamdad).
In each of three environments,
participants perform tasks of executive function, working memory, and
reading comprehension and provide two language samples. Performance
profiles will be compared across the conditions of quiet, somewhat
distracting environment, and very distracting environment (i.e., food
court). Recruitment is ongoing via collaboration with the Stroke
Comeback Center Oakton, Virginia and the GWU Hospital. Persons with
aphasiaf or traumatic brain injury (TBI) are eligible to participate.
Initial findings were presented at the American Speech and Hearing
Association in November, 2007.
2007 ASHA Conference:
Presentation
Longitudinal study of cognitive-linguistic performance in
distraction. (Hancock, LaPointe, Maitland, Stierwalt, Heald)
Participant groups included persons
with Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and age-matched healthy
individuals. In a computerized continuous performance test (CPT), tests
of visual attention and working memory were performed in conditions of
quiet, 4-talker babble (ambient distraction), word repetition
(dual-task condition), and a combination of babble and word repetition.
Differences were documented across conditions and groups. Current
analysis focuses on participants who were tested again 12-18 months
later.
2005 ASHA Conference: Presentation
Computerized measures of verbal working memory
performance in parkinson’s disease. (Hancock, LaPointe,
Stierwalt, Bourgeois, Zwaan)
Effects of stimulus modality and
interstimulus interval (ISI) are important when comparing reports of
computerized cognitive measures, although no standards are established
in the literature yet. Simple response time (SRT) and n-back tests were
administered using two stimulus modalities (visual and auditory) and
three levels of interstimulus interval (ISI; 800, 1600, 3200 ms) to
individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and a matched comparison
group.
Editor’s Award in Contemporary Issues in Communication Sciences and
Disorders.
Hancock, A.B., LaPointe, L.L., Stierwalt, J.A.G., Bourgeois, M.S.,
& Zwaan, R.A. (2007). Stimulus modality and interstimulus
intervals as variables in computerized assessment. Contemporary Issues
in Communication Disorders.
Effects of postventral pallidotomy (PVP) and deep brain
stimulation (DBS) on language. (Hancock, Schulz, Braun)
Linguistic measures
(e.g., MLU, CIU, cohesion) were collected from language samples
provided by individuals with Parkinson’s disease before and after PVP
or in four conditions of DBS settings. PVP data was reported at the
American Speech, Language, and Hearing Convention in 2006.
2008
ASHA Convention Presentation
What
is Motor Learning and How Can it Help Speech?
A motor learning approach to treatment of apraxia of speech (Friedman,
Hancock, Schulz, Bamdad).
Principles of motor
learning were applied in a programmatic treatment protocol for a
29-year-old man with moderate-severe apraxia of speech as a result of
Traumatic Brain Injury. Initial progress shows improvement but
generalization and maintenance will be investigated. This data will be
reported in a Masters thesis next Spring.
2008 DCSHA Winter Conference: "Motor
Learning Guided" Handout
Script Training (Youmans, Youmans, Hancock)
The purpose of this
study is to examine the effectiveness of phrase-by-phrase script
training in reinstituting islands of personally relevant, automatic
speech. A single-subject multiple baseline design is used to analyze
performance of three individuals with aphasia and apraxia resulting
from stroke or traumatic brain injury. Results were reported at the
2007 American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association Convention.
Printed words in language treatment of a
child with hyperlexia (Jackson, Hancock).
In collaboration with clinical
supervisor Irene Jackson, I treated a 4 year old boy diagnosed with
autism and hyperlexic characteristics at the GWU Speech and Hearing
Center for almost 2 years. Language goals addressed with written
prompts achieved mastery and maintenance at a better rate compared to
similar goals treated without words or untreated. A manuscript is
currently in preparation.
2008
ASHA Convention Presentation
Write Away! Using Written Support for
Hyperlexia