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Ph.D. Program in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
Student Research Day
3/27/2015
Program & Abstracts
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SCHEDULE
9:30-10:00 Registration & Poster Hanging
10:00-10:05 Welcome
Executive Officer, Professor Klara Marton
10:05-10:45 Invited Speaker: Distinguished Professor Loraine K. Obler:
Can One Lose a First Language?
10:45-11:00 Questions and Answers
Poster Presentations
11:00-11:45 Students with odd-numbered posters present their research to attendees
11:55-12:40 Students with even-numbered posters present their research to attendees
12:40-12:45 Closing Remarks
12:45-2:00 Lunch in Rooms 7102 & 7400
Visit to the Speech, Language, and Hearing Science Laboratories
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1. A Pilot Study of an Electrophysiological Investigation of Aphasic Naming Errors
Susie Barroso-Walker, Janice Rodriguez, Yael Neumann-Werth*
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Queens College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
A common symptom among people with aphasia (PWA) is word-finding problems or
anomia. This project will use event-related potentials (ERPs) during an implicit picture naming
task to assess substages of phonological processing, namely segment vs. syllable retrieval, in a
group of PWA. The research intends to determine whether precise assessment of the impaired
processing stage, and then remediation at the given substage of processing, results in improved
naming, and if so, in what ways do those improvements manifest both in neural processing and
behavioral outcomes. A common symptom among people with aphasia (PWA) is word-finding
problems or anomia. This project will use event-related potentials (ERPs) during an implicit
picture naming task to assess substages of phonological processing, namely segment vs. syllable
retrieval, in a group of PWA. The research intends to determine whether precise assessment of the
impaired processing stage, and then remediation at the given substage of processing, results in
improved naming, and if so, in what ways do those improvements manifest both in neural
processing and behavioral outcomes. Participants will be recruited via referral from neurologists,
SLPs and/or flyer postings in rehabilitation centers, hospitals, nursing homes, aphasia groups,
community centers, etc. in the New York City vicinity. A comprehensive language assessment
will be given in order to obtain reliable information regarding the patient’s aphasic profile and
word retrieval deficits. Each participant will perform two phonological tasks. In task #1,
participants will be instructed to make a segment decision (final /n/ vs. /r/) about the picture name,
e.g. “Go” (press the button) if the name ends with a /n/ sound, “Nogo” (withhold pressing the
button) if the name ends with a /r/ sound. In task #2, participants will be instructed to make a
syllable judgment (one- vs. two-syllables), e.g. “Go” if the name has one-syllable, “Nogo” if the
name has two-syllables. Both reaction time (button-press) and electrophysiological data will be
collected and analyzed for statistically significant differences in processing of the two
phonological substages, segment vs. syllable retrieval.
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2. Case Study Investigating the Use of Codeswitching and Discourse Markers in Bilingual
Aphasia
Susie Barroso-Walker, Janice Rodriguez, Carmit Altman, Joel Walters, Yael Neumann-Werth1,2* 1Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Queens College, CUNY
2Bar-Ilan University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
*Faculty Mentor
Background: Previous research has shown that discourse markers (DM) are used to
promote continuity within a conversation, whereas codeswitching (CS) aids in fluency. Bilinguals
with aphasia often CS when they cannot recall words in their present language. This study
investigated bilingual CS and the use of DMs in a 59-year old bilingual (Yiddish-English)
individual with diagnosed mild-moderate fluent aphasia.
Methods: Sixteen narrative samples in English and Yiddish, using the cue word procedure,
were collected. The cue words were rated on emotional pleasantness, namely, low, high, and
neutral. We then analyzed the data qualitatively (when and where in speech were DMs and CS
used) and quantitatively (the number of linguistic features, e.g., nouns and verbs, and fluency
features, e.g., repetitions and stutters).
Results: The percentage of DMs and ungrammatical sentences was higher in English and
the percentage of CS, which occurred more with nouns (46% - English, 51% - Yiddish), was higher
in Yiddish. An analysis on the motivation for CSes revealed that 99.64% were due to lexical access
difficulties in both languages. Additionally, quantitative analysis indicated the use of DMs,
repetitions, stutters and rephrasing.
Conclusion: Findings support the notion that the study of fluency in bilingual aphasia can
be better understood when multiple sources of data exist, i.e. sessions conducted in both languages.
Since the bilingual participant used different strategies to sound more fluent in each language,
therapy in both languages that focus on these strategies and that acknowledge the different levels
of impairment within each language, should be considered.
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3. Comparative Outcomes of New Language Learning in a Multilingual Person with
Mild Aphasia and a Multilingual Healthy Control
Marina Belkina, Olga Iukalo-Tokarski, Katy Borodkin*, Mira Goral*
Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences,
Lehman College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
The present study compares the ability to learn a new language in a multilingual person
with aphasia to that of a multilingual healthy individual. A limited number of studies have
addressed new language learning in persons with aphasia, concentrating mainly in the area of
vocabulary, with results showing some word-form and word-meaning learning abilities (Kelly &
Armstrong, 2009; Tuomiranta et. al, 2011). The current study expanded the range of the language
components under investigation, to include (but not limited to) the analysis of the syntactic
complexity and the grammaticality of the newly acquired language structures in persons with
aphasia. The questions asked by the researchers were: 1. whether persons with aphasia can acquire
complex language components of the new language; 2. what are the differences between such
acquired components when compared to those acquired by healthy controls following a
comparable language learning protocol.
The participants of the study were: a 64-year old multilingual man with mild aphasia and
a 42-year old multilingual healthy woman control. Both participants received a 4-week Russian
language course, comparable in intensity, duration, and teaching methods. Assessments took place
both pre- and post- training to determine the participants’ level of language acquisition. The
healthy control participant was assessed twice post-training, due to the more rapid progression
throughout the course, so that data would be reported on the comparable amount of material
covered.
Performance is reported from the tasks of question generation and answering wh-questions.
Measures reported include: number of code-switched units, sentence grammaticality and sentence
complexity.
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4. Word-Order in Early Child Acquisition of Possessives in Brazilian Portuguese
Ronit Deutsch & Mark Patkowski*
Linguistics Program, Brooklyn College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
This research examined children's early acquisition of possessives in Brazilian Portuguese,
as compared to English. Brown (1973) found that English-speaking children at Stage I (MLU 1.5-
2.0), keep the appropriate English word order when expressing various semantic relations,
including possession (i.e., possessor + possessed, reflecting the structure of the Anglo-Saxon
genitive, e.g., Mary house for Mary’s house). The research question therefore was: Do Portuguese-
speaking children at Stage I similarly express possession in the appropriate word order (possessed
+ possessor, reflecting the structure of the Portuguese prepositional possessive, e.g., casa Maria
for a casa da Maria)?
A review of the literature on child acquisition of possession in Romance languages turned
up scant data involving Portuguese, but more regarding French (e.g., Clark 2001; Collombel &
Morgenstern 2012; Rondal et al. 2000). Overall, the evidence was limited, even contradictory.
Particularly perplexing was the example Papa bic (“daddy’s pen”) provided by Rondal et al. as an
illustration of one type of early possession in French involving the juxtaposition of two nouns
which, however, followed the English, not Romance, word order.
Data in CHILDES from three Portuguese-speaking children at Stage I (mean MLUs
between 1.6 and 1.8) were analyzed. Results indicated that the children followed Portuguese word
order in all of their possessive constructions involving noun-noun juxtapositions, but also made
extensive use of the preposition de and of possessive determiners such as meu. Given Brown’s
claim that functional words are largely absent at Stage I in English, further research is suggested
to determine whether such functional words appear more frequently at Stage I in Romance
languages.
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5. Factors Impacting Topic Maintenance in a Child with High Functioning Autism
Caitlin Donohue, Robin Goldenberg, Cecilia Navarra*
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Communication Sciences Disorders,
Queens College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
This analysis assessed situational factors impacting topic maintenance in a 12-year-old boy
(R.) with high functioning autism. Of particular interest were situational factors that might impact
R’s topic maintenance. To assess these areas of R’s language, the supervising clinician and
graduate clinicians recorded therapy sessions conducted in the context of play over two semesters.
Results revealed that factors such as familiarity with specific types of conflicts, as well as whether
conflicts were environmental or interpersonal in nature, impacted the child’s ability to respond
contingently, as the verbal reasoning necessary for resolving interpersonal conflicts required
greater linguistic complexity. Results suggested that targeting problem solving in the context of
play may enhance topic maintenance while enhancing social skills, as play provides practice for
situations that require problem solving.
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6. Effect of Clear Speech on Vowel Formats and Intelligibility in Spanish-Accents Speakers
of American English
Laima Efremenkova & Allison Behrman*
Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Lehman College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
Clear speech is a hyperarticulated speaking style used to enhance intelligibility in adverse
listening conditions. The current study is a partial replication of Rogers, DeMasi, & Krause (2010),
which compared intelligibility of seven target English vowels produced in clear and habitual style
by native (L1) English talkers and by L1 Spanish talkers who were either early or late learners of
English. Vowel intelligibility was judged by L1 English talkers. Late learners achieved
significantly lower clear speech benefit compared to the other two talker groups. However, the
native language of the listener can influence intelligibility judgments (Smiljanić & Bradlow,
2007). Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to obtain preliminary data on differences in
vowel intelligibility in clear speech as a function of the listener’s native language. Eight L1 Spanish
speakers of English (late learners) produced eight vowels in a “bVd” context embedded in a carrier
phrase (“I see a ___ again”). Mean duration and frequency of the first and second formants were
measured. Listeners with a language background similar to that of the speakers assessed vowel
intelligibility in two signal-to-noise levels using multi-talker babble. Findings will be compared to
Rogers et al. (2010). At present, acquisition of speaker data is complete and vowel measurements
have been calculated. Acquisition of listener data is underway.
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7. Implementing Play-based Developmental Assessments with Children Functioning in the
Prelinguistic Stages of Development
Elizabeth Ferrara, Mary Napolitano, Sima Gerber*
Department of Linguistic and Communication Disorders, Queens College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
Many assessment resources are inadequate for children functioning in prelinguistic stages of
development since they may not provide information relevant to the children’s ‘true’
developmental levels or necessary for developing effective intervention. The relationship between
ideas, symbolic representation, and language, exhibited in play, is well-researched; thus,
observations of play aligned to developmental paradigms such as Linder’s Transdisciplinary Play-
based Assessment, was alternatively used in assessing a non-verbal 5-year-old client with autism.
Implementation of the play-based developmental language assessment demonstrated a) the
benefits of developmental language assessments, and b) how to evaluate children functioning in
prelinguistic stages of development via play.
Developmental language assessments are viable ways of assessing nonverbal children
functioning in early developmental stages, providing information about their ‘true’ developmental
levels to establish effective intervention. The relationship between ideas, symbolic representation,
and language, exhibited in play, led to the implementation of a play-based developmental language
assessment with a non-verbal 5-year-old client with autism using Linder’s Transdisciplinary Play-
based Assessment. This assessment demonstrated the benefits of evaluating non-linguistic
domains in children functioning in prelinguistic developmental stages.
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8. Bilingual Advantage in Children with Specific Language Impairment
Alexandra Gill1, Naila Khatri1, Jessica Scheuer2* 1Communication Disorders and Deafness, Kean University 2Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, The Graduate Center
*Faculty Mentor
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that can impair speech function and intelligibility in
children with cerebral palsy (CP). While studies have shown improvements with 16 hours of
treatment, treatment intensity of pediatric dysarthria has been little explored. According to
Schmidt’s motor learning principles, higher treatment intensity (e.g. more hours) increases post-
treatment gains. These principles also apply to the treatment of motor speech disorders such as
dysarthria. A speech camp creates a model setting for delivering more intensive treatment.
The aim of this study is to design a 90-hour speech camp for children with dysarthria due
to CP, including treatment and testing protocols, and to subsequently begin to investigate the
effects of intensive treatment on speech function and intelligibility.
Participants will be recruited through the Center for Cerebral Palsy for the camp, taking
place June-July 2014. The Speech Systems Intelligibility Treatment (SSIT) (Levy, in press) will
be used, targeting the subsystems of speech using motor learning principles. A treatment protocol
will be designed to train student clinicians to treat participants 6 hours/day, 5 days/week for 3
weeks. A testing protocol will be designed to assess speech function and intelligibility by means
of listener ratings, transcriptions and articulation scores.
Anticipated results at 90 hours include increased gains across child outcome measures
relative to previous studies.
This camp is expected to provide greater improvements and more data regarding the effects
of intensive treatment for pediatric dysarthria due to CP, contributing to this area of research where
more information is greatly needed.
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9. Stability of the P1-N1-P2 and T-complex Waveforms in 48 Single Subjects Tara Griffiths, Kevin Kiprovski, Katherine Blankemeier, Caitlin Shea, Monica Wagner*
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, St. John’s University
*Faculty Mentor
P1-N1-P2 and T-complex of the auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) were found to reflect
the spectral and temporal characteristics within the spoken words (Wagner et al., in preparation).
Thus, the P1-N1-P2 and T-complex may be useful for probing detection of acoustic characteristics
of speech at cortical stages in individuals with auditory processing deficits. It has been suggested
that stability in cortical responding to speech might also underlie dysfunction in speech processing
(Gilley & Sharma, 2010; Hornickle & Kraus, 2013). Therefore, in the current study, we examine
the association between half of the cortical sensory responses (approximately 70 trials) to the
remaining half of the cortical sensory responses to spoken nonsense words in each of 48 single
subjects. Nonsense words began with the phoneme sequences /pt/, /pet/, /st/, and /set/ and varied
in rhyme. Stimulus trials were presented randomly. Pearson correlation coefficients (r), graphs,
and the root mean square of waveforms from each participant were analyzed to assess associations.
Stability in response in both amplitude and waveform morphology was found. For all participants,
single response trials showed almost perfect correlations at fronto-central electrode sites (P1-N1-
P2) and less association at posterior temporal sites (T-complex). These findings have implications
for clinical assessment and studies of neuroplasticity following auditory training.
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10. A Methodological Approach in the Analysis of Narratives Produced by Persons with
Aphasia and Neuro-typical Individuals
Emma Harriman, Lauren Poggi, Ann Jablon*
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Marymount Manhattan College
*Faculty Mentor
This research project is part of an overarching study (Lendaris, et. al, 2014) that is
analyzing narratives produced by persons with aphasia (PWAs) when provided different stimuli—
a short silent video depicting a doctor examination and static pictures. The question that fuels this
study is: does the stimulus used to elicit oral narratives affect the quality of the narrative? In this
case, does the silent video serve as a better stimulus than the static picture?
The ‘story goodness’ metric proposed by Lê, Coelho, Mozeiko, and Grafman (2011) was
used to measure the quality of the narratives. Story goodness comprises story grammar and story
completeness. Story grammar, an organization measure of narratives, contains episodes, which are
thought to be cognitive in nature. The story completeness component refers to the presence of key
critical elements (characters and events) of the narratives.
Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) students recruited and tested non-brain damaged
participants from the faculty and staff of the College. Subsequent to testing, the MMC team
transcribed, analyzed, and segmented the narratives produced by the non-brain damaged
participants as well as those produced by PWAs. The control narratives were used to determine
the key episodes and the critical elements of the stimuli used.
First, narratives were transcribed from audio recordings and segmented into T-units, “main
clauses with any subordinate clauses attached to or embedded in the main clause” (Hunt 1965,
1970), following the rules established by Nicholas and Brookshire (1993), Strong and Shaver
(1991), and Hunt (1965, 1970). These rules provided a foundation for segmentation. However,
problems with extraneous speech arose as the transcribed narratives were segmented. To remain
consistent, an extraction rule was created stating that only spontaneous speech pertaining directly
to the visual prompts would be extracted from the narrative and segmented into T-units. After all
narratives were segmented, differences in the verbs between the stimuli were noted. After a verb
analysis was performed, it was observed that the verb forms produced in the video clip stimulus
were more varied in tense than that of the static picnic scene stimulus.
Results from the overarching study suggest that the short silent film elicited more fruitful
narratives within the PWA group when measured by the story ‘goodness’ metric. Next steps
include further analyses of the narratives by means of SALT, QPA, additional verb analyses and/or
type-token ratio to determine whether a dynamic stimulus elicits a better quality narrative.
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11. Accent Modification Priorities of Second Language Speakers of English:
Comprehensibility, Intelligibility, and Nativeness Arielle Mayer and Hia Datta*
Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Molloy College
*Faculty Mentor
Accent, intelligibility and comprehensibility are factors that contribute substantially to
verbal communication. An accent is considered the “degree to which the pronunciation of an
utterance sounds different from an expected pronunciation pattern.” (Derwing & Munro, 2005).
Intelligibility on the other hand has been defined as, “the extent to which a speaker’s message is
actually understood by a listener, but there is no universally accepted way of assessing it.”
(Derwing & Munro, 2005) Finally, the term comprehensibility refers to the “listener’s perception
of how easily he or she understand an utterance.” (Kennedy & Trofimovich, 2008) Prior studies
have suggested that either accurate transcription or a listener’s ability to paraphrase speech are
indicative of good intelligibility. Comprehensibility is related to a listener’s consideration of
complication interpreting an utterance. (Kennedy & Trofimovich, 2008)
In order to examine the long term goals for accent modification in second language (L2)
speakers of English, I will assess whether L2 speakers of English desire increased intelligibility
over comprehensibility; or to modify their accent to be perceived as native-like. Additionally, a
survey will be administered in order to explore whether listeners of L2 speakers seek increased
intelligibility or comprehensibility; or prefer listening to speakers that sound native-like. L2
speakers of English will complete a survey to determine their goals in terms of the three
aforementioned factors. Accented speakers of English will also read a brief passage, which will be
phonetically transcribed and rated by a group of native English listeners in order to assess the
comprehensibility, intelligibility, and nativeness of each L2 speaker.
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12. Characteristics of Language Production and Comprehension in a Spanish-English
Bilingual with Mild Aphasia
Carmen Mustelier, Cristi Espada, Mira Goral1&2*, Katy Borodkin*
¹Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Lehman College, CUNY
²Speech-Language Hearing Sciences, The Graduate Center, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
In this study, we examine the state of the languages spoken by a 50-year-old Spanish -
English bilingual participant with mild aphasia 27 years post cerebral vascular accident (CVA). In
addition, we aim to discuss some of the variables that may contribute to any differences in the
recovery patterns of both languages. The participant reported high proficiency in both Spanish and
English prior to sustaining the CVA. She learned Spanish as her native language and English at 4
years old. Following the CVA, both languages were severely impaired, with English gradually
becoming her dominant language at 3 years post onset, and Spanish remaining mildly impaired.
The participant attributes the differential pattern of recovery to limited use of Spanish. Although
we are currently in the preliminary stages of the study, data from four assessment sessions in both
Spanish and English revealed more instances of word retrieval difficulty in Spanish with very
minimal struggle in English.
Assessment procedures included four 1-hour sessions in English and four 1-hour sessions
in Spanish. The tasks employed for testing were: Object and Action Naming, Sentence
Construction, Sequences Description, Verb Conjugation, Verb, Noun and Sentence
Comprehension, Adjective-Noun Agreement, Wh Question Responses, Lexical Judgment,
Narrative Production and Read Aloud. Performance will be reported from the naming and
comprehension tests. Measures reported include the number of accurately produced items in each
task in contrast with the number of errors, in both languages.
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13. Influence of L2 Metalinguistic Awareness in the Acquisition and Comprehension of L1
Vocabulary
Nicole Oestricher¹ and Isabelle Barriere²&³*
1Department of Speech Communication Arts & Sciences, Brooklyn College, CUNY 2Yeled V’Yalda Research Institute
³Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Long Island University
*Faculty Mentor
In this study the research question was “Can the metalinguistic awareness of L2 patterns
influence L1 of students, perhaps increasing their knowledge of vocabulary or grammatical
patterns?” This study analyzed how the acquisition of Latin as a second language could have
influenced the increased acquisition and comprehension of vocabulary and understanding of
grammatical rules in English, the first language of the students. Three college level classes at
CUNY Brooklyn College were chosen: one was taught elementary Latin, the second was taught
advanced Latin, the third was taught Latin morphology and where it can be seen in English. I chose
these classes because one places more emphasis on the morphological aspects of the Latin words
while the others place more emphasis on grammar and vocabulary building than analyzing the
morphemes but all three encourage memorization as a study method. All classes were tested in
one sitting, using a hand out that was a dual questionnaire and quiz, consisting of different
exercises focused on filling in morphological elements, recognizing and defining different
morphological elements, and recognizing when to apply those definitions or tactics used to define
them previously to different forms of words. My results showed a larger correlation between the
number of languages studied and the number of questions answered correctly than the number of
semesters studying Latin or the number of studying hours. In conclusion the exposure to multiple
languages not just one influences how well a person can interpret different parts of a language as
they are able to relate previous knowledge to the present translation or definition.
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14. An Investigation of the Effects of Breakfast on Cognitive Function and Academic
Performance Among College Students
Kaitlin Pescitelli, Hia Datta*
Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Molloy College
*Faculty Mentor
Adolescence is a period of rapid development, when proper nutritional intake is essential.
There has been substantial research suggesting that breakfast consumption and composition
directly affects cognitive function and academic performance amongst children, adolescents, and
adults (Muthayya et al., 2007;Cooper et al., 2011). Preserving enhanced cognitive functioning is
crucial in college students, who are under great amounts of academic pressure. Therefore, the
objective of my present study is to investigate the effects of breakfast consumption and
composition on college-aged students cognitive functions (i.e., attention and memory) and
academic performances.
For duration of two weeks, each participant will keep track of every meal he or she
consumes for breakfast using a food log. The food log will display specific food groups: protein,
complex carbohydrates, fruit, vegetables, milk, and other. Next, the participants will engage in
an experiment in which they will be divided into three groups: nutritional breakfast consumption,
unhealthful breakfast consumption, and no breakfast consumption. They will be required to
consume the entire test meal each morning for two-weeks.
Once this two-week experiment is over, each participant will complete a visual recall task
assessing his or her attention and memory skills (cognitive function).The results from my study
will be able to suggest that daily intake of nutritional foods for breakfast is beneficial for cognitive
performance in college students. Indicators of diet quality will be correlated with academic
achievement amongst the students. Regular breakfast consumption ought to be encouraged among
college students.
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15. The Effects of Bilingualism on Executive Control Functions in Auditory Selective
Attention
Sara Seweid, Mairim Melecio-Vazquez, Yasmine Ouchikh Robert D. Melara*
Department of Psychology, City College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
Bilingual children and older adults show gains in performance on executive control tasks
compared to monolingual. The effect is known as the bilingual advantage. Relatively little
research has studied the bilingual advantage in college aged populations, and the research that
exists has examined the effects of bilingualism on visual perception. The current study evaluated
the bilingual advantage in auditory perception in college-aged students by using tones to control
for language intelligibility effects. Previous research has shown that bilinguals are worse than
monolinguals at detecting speech in noisy environments. Spanish-English bilingual and English
monolingual participants were tested in an auditory version of the Simon task, an auditory version
of the flanker task, a task to detect speech signals in noise (QuickSin), and several personality
inventories. Language proficiency was established with an objective test. In the auditory Simon
task, participants identified the pitch of tones in lateral positions, ignoring the spatial location of
the target sound. In the auditory flanker task, participants judged the pitch of the second of three
sequential tones, ignoring the pitch of the two flanking tones. We found a bilingual advantage in
the auditory Simon task, replicating results from the traditional visual version of this task. We
also found a trend for a bilingual advantage in the auditory flanker task. The results indicate that
bilinguals are better able to suppress irrelevant spatial and auditory frequency information,
suggesting that the effects of bilingualism on executive control functions extend across sensory
modalities.
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16. Perception of Vocal Fry
Nicole Sgambati and Hia Datta*
Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Molloy College
*Faculty Mentor
A number of studies have shown that individuals presenting with vocal fry come across as
“less hirable” (Anderson, Klofstad, Mayew & Venmatachalam, 2014). However, other studies
suggest that vocal fry is perceived as dominant (Anderson & Klofstad, 2012). My study is designed
to examine how the presence of vocal fry influences the hiring process. Specifically, the purpose
of my study is to determine whether vocal fry production in young female adults, ages 20-25, is
perceived as dominant and more professional when compared to a typical speaking individual with
a very similar resume. The speakers will include two young female adults, one presenting with
vocal fry and one presenting with a typical voice. Each person will have one recording of low and
another of high frequency. Both of the speakers will have extremely similar qualifications and
personal strengths, the only difference being presented will be the vocal quality. After hearing the
four recordings, 20 participants, 10 males and 10 females will use a Likert scale to rate the
speakers’ voices focusing on which candidate presented as more dominant, professional and
hirable. This experiment will help determine whether vocal fry production in young female adult
females is perceived as dominant in the workplace.
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17. Piloting an Experimental Design to Assess Working Memory in Children with SLI and
Dyslexia
Caitlin Shea and Monica Wagner*
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, St. John’s University
*Faculty Mentor
Research has shown a reduced N400m effect to repetition of a spoken word, relative to the
response to a single presentation of a word (Helenius et al., 2009; 2014). This effect of repetition
within the N400m response was found to be smaller in children with Specific Language
Impairment (SLI) and dyslexia relative to typically developing peers, suggesting limited short term
maintenance during processing (Helenius et al., 2014). However, it may be that children with
language impairment show equally poor short term maintenance for phoneme sequences of
nonsense words, as well as for real words. Therefore, the aim of the current project is to analyze
pilot data to determine an appropriate experimental design for determining whether children with
SLI and dyslexia show poor short term maintenance for the phoneme sequences that constitute
words. An older and younger group of typically developing children performed a syllable
identification task to same and different nonsense words, while we recorded event-related
potentials. The children in the younger group were between 8 and 9 years of age and the children
in the older group were between 10 and 12 years of age. A two second interval occurred between
the nonsense word pairs and a 250 ms interval occurred between words within the pairs. A
comparison of the intermediate stage cortical response around 400 ms to the second word within
the different pairs relative to the second word within the same pairs will be examined from
electrode sites overlying fronto-central and posterior temporal brain regions in the younger and
older children. This will allow us to identify appropriate interstimulus intervals appropriate for
comparison in younger and older children and in children with SLI and dyslexia.
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18. Reliability of an Original Coding System for Measuring Disfluencies
Thaila Sosa, Lara Sugatan, Christina Askew, Julia Morgan, Naomi Eichorn*
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Pace University
*Faculty Mentor
Deriving reliable measures of observable stuttering behavior is critical in both fluency
research and clinical intervention but remains an ongoing challenge, with very low levels of
agreement even among experienced clinicians and researchers performing stutter counts (Ingham
& Cordes, 1992; Cordes & Ingham, 1995). Several computer-based tools for quantifying stuttering
are available but have important limitations. For example, the Stuttering Management System
(Ingham et al., 1999) generates simple syllable and stuttering counts without providing any detail
related to the type, category, or location of disfluencies in speech output. A more detailed system
based on Codes for the Human Analysis of Transcripts (CHAT) conventions is described by Ratner
and colleagues (1996) but is not very intuitive for users without prior CHAT experience and is not
widely used in other laboratories or clinical settings. The present study examined the reliability of
an original fluency coding system that used simple conventions consistent with accepted stuttering
typologies and was based on a customized script in R. Four trained undergraduate students used
the system to generate, among other output, frequency counts of syllables and individual
disfluency types. Each listener orthographically transcribed and coded ten 1-minute samples
recorded from 10 stuttering adults, then repeated the process one week later. Intra- and inter-rater
reliability were calculated to (1) determine the overall level of agreement within and between
judges, and (2) compare reliability for different categories and types of disfluency. Based on the
results, specific benefits and applications of this system for research and clinical intervention are
considered.
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19. The Effect of Attention on the Cortical Sensory Components, P1-N1-P2 and T-complex
Evis Haxhari, Karen Sung, Caitlin Shea, Kevin Kiprovski, Monica Wagner*
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, St. John’s University
*Faculty Mentor
Researchers have shown that cortical sensory waveforms, the P1-N1-P2 and T-complex,
of the Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEPs) represent the spectro-temporal features of spoken words
(Giraud et al., 2005; Wagner et al., 2013; Wagner et al., in preparation). These waveforms have
clinical significance for probing detection of acoustic features of spoken words at cortical levels
in individuals with auditory processing deficits. In the current study, we determine whether
acoustic features of spoken words are similarly represented within the P1-N1-P2 and T-complex
sensory waveforms for two experimental conditions. AEPs were recorded to the first word in same
and different word pairs from native English and native Polish participants during two
experimental sessions. During one testing session, participants listened to nonsense words pairs
while performing a syllable identification task to the second word in the word pairs and, in another
session, participants listened to the stimuli without engaging in a behavioral task. Experimental
testing sessions were counterbalanced so that one group of English and one group of Polish
participants performed the behavioral task during the first session and listened passively during
the second session and a second group of English and Polish participants listened passively during
the first session and performed the behavioral task during the second session. A processing
negativity for the behavioral task condition relative to the passive listening condition was found,
consistent with an effect of selective attention, More importantly, spectro-temporal features of the
spoken words appear unchanged.
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20. Written Language Outcomes for an Adolescent with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Matthew Turk and Megan Dunn Davison*
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Queens College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
The purpose of this case study is to examine the written language of a middle-school
student identified with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Predictors of expressive writing in typical
populations include visual imagery, memory, perceptual-motor skill, and verbal intelligence
(Wheeler, Nickerson, Long, & Silver, 2014). For students with TBI, writing domains of efficiency,
completeness, general readability, error, and vocabulary are all significantly correlated with injury
severity (Yorkston, Jaffe, Polissar, Liao & Fay, 1997). This case study explores these domains in
a pre- and post- written language sample. The student participated in a larger study investigating
the impact of a self-regulated strategy development persuasive writing intervention for students
identified with language impairment. From this data, we will discuss the implications of
completeness, errors, and vocabulary in written language in a TBI population.
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21. A Young Adult Texting Language Profile
Megan Valentin and Megan Dunn Davison*
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Queens College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
Over the past few years texting has increased in popularity. As of 2009, 66% of teens, age
12-17, text using a mobile phone and 54% text daily, up from 27% in 2006 (PEW 2010). A number
of studies have attempted to create texting language profiles for both typically-developed and
language-impaired populations. Previous studies have gathered information about the average
number of texts per day, the types and frequency of textisms (novel creative or shorthand words
used in texting) used, and the function and length of text messages (De Jonge & Kemp, 2012;
Grinter & Elridge, 2003. This study aims to continue to build the texting language profile. In
addition to collecting data on textism type and proportion, average text length in words, mean
length utterance by measure of words and number of texts. This study will monitor the number of
texts adolescents send to their parents in one day and the number of “correction” texts (texts used
to self-correct previous texts). The data will include 30 mobile texts by 30 18-24 year olds sampled
from a 24-hour period. The participants will be sampled from City University of New York Queens
College. The texts will be transcribed and input into SALT Transcription Software. The variables
in this study were chosen based on implications of potential areas of difference for language
impaired populations and typically-developed populations. Although the outcome of this study
will be solely based on a typically-developed population, the data provides an opportunity for
comparison by potential future research on texting in language–impaired populations.
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22. Native Spanish and English Speakers’ Judgments for Causative and Intransitive
Constructions Using Manner-of-motion Verbs
Ibana Vargas2, Shintia Manzanares2, Stephanie Perez1,2, Eve Higby 1,2* 1Department of Psychology, Queens College, CUNY
2Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences Doctoral Program, The Graduate Center, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
This study compared acceptability judgments on three syntactic constructions by native
Spanish and native English speakers. Two constructions are thought to differ in their acceptance
by speakers of these two languages. The first construction, induced motion causatives, is
grammatical in English but ungrammatical in Spanish. The second construction, intransitive
motion events using manner-of-motion verbs, has a form that is preferred in English and another
preferred in Spanish. The third construction, transitive constructions using uncontrolled motion
verbs, is ungrammatical in both languages. In order to see whether English knowledge influenced
Spanish ratings among Spanish speakers, we investigated whether living in the U.S. or level of
English proficiency affect judgments of Spanish speakers for the causative construction. We asked
21 native Spanish speakers and 24 native English speakers to rate 164 sentences in their native
language for naturalness on a scale from 1 to 7. Results showed that Spanish and English speakers
significantly differed in their mean judgments for causatives (p < .001) and intransitive
constructions (p < .001), but not for constructions with uncontrolled motion verbs (p = .279). There
was no significant difference between Spanish speakers living in the U.S. and those living in
Spanish speaking countries, nor did English proficiency predict judgments for Spanish speakers.
In conclusion, we found the expected pattern that Spanish speakers find causative constructions
with manner-of-motion verbs less acceptable than English speakers, and each group showed the
expected preference patterns for intransitive constructions. Neither English proficiency nor
language of the environment affected Spanish speakers’ judgments.
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22. Neurophysiology of Auditory Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Jasmine William1,2, Sophie Molholm2, Neha Uppal2, Suzanne Thompson1* 1Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, St. John’s University
2Albert Einstein College of Medicine
*Faculty Mentor
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined by deficits in social communication with
narrow and stereotyped interests. Individuals with ASD often report sensitivity to sound, which
may interfere with language and communication development. To examine the integrity of
auditory processing in children with autism, high- density recordings of electrical brain activity
were used to understand the neural underpinnings of auditory sensitivity in children with autism.
Event related potentials (ERPs) of 7 high-functioning participants with autism (HFA: IQ>70), 7
low-functioning participants with autism (LFA: IQ<70) and 6 age-matched neurotypical (NT)
controls were measured in response to two different auditory stimuli, tones and phonemes. Stimuli
were presented in separate blocks in an ‘oddball’ configuration. During the oddball task,
participants listen to a frequent sound called the standard, with an infrequent sound called the
deviant. Electroencephalography recordings were used to measure the mismatch negativity
(MMN), a component of ERPs that gives a cortical index of sound discrimination between the
standard and deviant, indicating the participant identified the deviant as distinct from the standard.
The results show that NT, HFA and LFA have similarly strong MMN responses to tones, but not
phonemes, as HFA and LFA have reduced MMN response compared to NT when processing
phonemes. Tones may be processed more efficiently than phonemes in autism because they are
less complex than phonemes. As cognitive functioning level of participants with ASD reduce, the
deficits in processing of phonemes increases. This may contribute to poor communication and
language skills in the autistic participants.
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23. Beyond FAS: What about Speakers of Non-alphabetic Languages?
Nancy Eng*, Nakyung Yoo, Melissa Salzberg
Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Hunter College, CUNY
*Faculty Mentor
Mental lexicon is the repository for words that may be organized alphabetically (all words
that start with "F", "A", "S") or semantically (based on category membership such as ‘animals’ or
‘vehicles’). These tasks of verbal fluency involve a subject quickly naming exemplars of a
restricted category in sixty seconds (Lezak, 1995) and are used to access capacity, organization,
and complexity of the mental lexicon; performance predicts executive function capacity.
A main question in psycholinguistics is how the mental dictionary is organized; part of the
answer should reflect the structure of the language in question. In alphabetic languages, responses
on letter fluency tasks (FAS) are said to reflect word organization, suggesting alphabetical word
storage. How might words be stored in a non-alphabetic language such as Chinese? What features
of the language might be used to index words? What is being tapped when using traditional letter
fluency tasks with Mandarin speakers? In this proposal, we present pilot data from healthy
Mandarin speakers (n=25) performing traditional verbal fluency tasks along with novel tasks
designed to reflect the lexical features of Mandarin. Two categories of language features,
classifiers and characters, were used in this study. Obligatory in most noun phrases, classifiers
serve two functions - units for counting and carrying semantic/lexical information about the
physical attributes of the object (noun) with which individual classifiers are associated. For
example, the classifier 'tiao' (條) is associated with objects that are long and flowing, such as scarf,
river, thread, etc. However, it is also assigned to cats and dresses which are not inherently long or
flowing. Hence, many of these associations are simply learned by rote.
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PARTICIPANTS
*Mentors; pAuthor-Presenters; FDoctoral Faculty in the PhD. Program in Speech-Language &
Hearing Sciences, Graduate Center, CUNY
NAME DEPARTMENT INSTITUTION E-MAIL
Carmit Altmanp Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Christina Askewp Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
Pace University [email protected]
Isabelle Barriere* Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
Long Island University,
Yeled V’Yalada
Research Institute
Susie Barroso-
Walkerp
Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Marina Belkinap Speech-Language
and Hearing
Sciences
Lehman College [email protected]
Allison Behrman* Speech-Language
and Hearing
Sciences
Lehman College
Katherine
Blankemeierp
Commination
Sciences and
Disorders
St. John’s University Katherine.blankemeier13@my.
stjohns.edu
Katy Borodkin* Speech-Language
and Hearing
Sciences
Lehman College [email protected]
Hia Datta* Speech-Language
Pathology
Molloy College [email protected]
Ronit Deutschp Linguistics Brooklyn College
Caitlin Donohuep Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Megan Dunn
Davison*
Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College [email protected]
Laima Efremenkovap Speech-Language-
Hearing Sciences
Lehman College
Naomi Eichorn* Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
Pace university [email protected]
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Nancy Eng* Speech-Language
Pathology and
Audiology
Hunter College [email protected]
Cristi Espadap Speech-Language
Hearing Sciences
Lehman College [email protected]
Elizabeth Ferrarap Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Sima Gerber* Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Alexandra Gil Communication
Disorders and
Deafness
Kean University [email protected]
Mira Goral*F Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
Lehman College & The
Graduate Center,
CUNY
Robin Goldbergp Linguistics and
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Tara Griffithsp Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
St. John’s University [email protected]
Emma Harrimanp Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
Marymount Manhattan
College
Evis Haxharip Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
St. John’s University [email protected]
Eve Higby* Speech-Language
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center,
Queens College*
Olga Iukalo-
Tokarskip
Speech-Language
and Hearing
Sciences
Lehman College
Ann Jablon* Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
Marymount Manhattan
College
Naila Khatri Communication
Disorders and
Deafness
Kean University
Kevin Kiprovski Communication
Sciences and
Disorders
St. John’s University
Shintia Manzanaresp Psychology and
Speech-Language
Hearing Sciences
Queens College and
The Graduate Center
uny.edu
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29
Brett MartinF Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center,
CUNY
Klara Marton*F Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center,
CUNY
Arielle Mayerp Speech-Language
Pathology
Molloy College [email protected]
Robert Melara* Psychology City College [email protected]
Mairim Melecio-
Vazquezp
Psychology City College [email protected]
Sophie Molholmp Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
Albert Einstein College
of Medicine
Julia Morganp Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
Pace University [email protected]
Carmen Mustelierp Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
Lehman College [email protected]
Cecilia Navarra* Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders and
Communication
Science Disorders
Queens College
Mary Napolitanop Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Yael Neumann-
Werth*
Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders
Queens College and
Bar-Llan University
(Israel)
Loraine K. OblerF Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center [email protected]
Nicole Oestricherp Speech
Communication Arts
and Sciences
Brooklyn College [email protected]
Yasmine Ouchikhp Psychology City College [email protected]
Mark Patkowski* Linguistics Brooklyn College
Stephanie Perezp Speech-Language-
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center Stephanieisabelperez21@gmail
.com
Kaitlin Pescitellip Speech-Language
Pathology
Molloy College
Lauren Poggip Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
Marymount Manhattan
College
Janice Rodriguezp Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders
Queens College [email protected]
m
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Melissa Salzbergerp Speech-Language
Pathology and
Audiology
Hunter College [email protected]
Jessica Scheuer* Speech-Language
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center,
Kean University*
Richard G.
SchwartzF
Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center [email protected]
Sara Seweidp Psychology City College [email protected]
Nicole Sgambatip Speech-Language
Pathology
Molloy College [email protected]
Valerie ShaferF Speech, Language &
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center [email protected]
Caitlin Sheap Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
St. John’s University [email protected]
Thaila Sosap Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
Pace University [email protected]
Lara Sugatanp Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
Pace University [email protected]
Karen Sungp Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
St. John’s University [email protected]
Suzanne Thompson* Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
St. John’s University [email protected]
Matthew Turkp Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders
Queens College [email protected]
Neha Uppalp Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
Albert Einstein College
of Medicine
Megan Valentinp Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders
Queens College [email protected]
Ibana Vargasp Speech-Language-
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center [email protected]
Monica Wagner* Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
St. John’s University [email protected]
Joel Waltersp Linguistics &
Communication
Disorders
Queens College
Douglas H. Whalen F Speech-Language-
Hearing Sciences
The Graduate Center [email protected]
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Jasmine Williamp Communication
Sciences &
Disorders
St. John’s University,
Albert Einstein College
of Medicine
Nakyung Yoop Speech-Language
Pathology and
Audiology
Hunter College [email protected]