Reducing Vocal Fatigue With Bone Conduction Devices: Comparing Forbrain and Sidetone Amplification.

PURPOSE: Altered auditory feedback research aims to identify methods to strengthen speakers' awareness of their own voicing behaviors, diminish their perception of vocal fatigue, and improve their voice production. This study aims to compare the effects of two bone conduction devices that provide altered auditory feedback. METHOD: Twenty participants (19-33 years old, age: M [SD] = 25.5 [3.85] years) participated in a vocal loading task using a standard Forbrain device that provides filtered auditory feedback via bone conduction and a modified Forbrain device that provides only sidetone amplification, and a control condition with no device was also included. They rated their vocal fatigue on a visual analog scale every 2 min during the vocal loading task. Additionally, pre- and postloading voice samples were analyzed for acoustic voice parameters. RESULTS: Across all participants, the use of bone conduction-altered auditory feedback devices resulted in a lower vocal fatigue when compared to the condition with no feedback. During the pre- and postvoice samples, the sound pressure level decreased significantly during feedback conditions. During feedback conditions, spectral mean and standard deviation significantly decreased, and spectral skew significantly increased. CONCLUSION: The results promote bone conduction as a possible preventative tool that may reduce self-reported vocal fatigue and compensatory voice production for healthy individuals without voice disorders.

Immediate Passage Comprehension and Encoding of Information Into Long-Term Memory in Children With Normal Hearing: The Effect of Voice Quality and Multitalker Babble Noise.

PURPOSE: This study examines how voice quality and multitalker babble noise affect immediate passage comprehension and the efficiency of information encoding into long-term memory in children with normal hearing. METHOD: Eighteen children (mean age = 9 years) with normal hearing participated. Immediate passage comprehension performance and delayed performance (after 5 to 8 days) were assessed for 4 listening conditions: a typical voice in quiet, a typical voice in noise, a dysphonic voice in quiet, and a dysphonic voice in noise. RESULTS: Multitalker babble noise had a significant effect on immediate and delayed performance. This effect was more pronounced for delayed performance. No significant main effect of voice quality was seen on immediate or delayed performance. CONCLUSIONS: Multitalker babble noise impairs immediate passage comprehension and encoding of information into long-term memory for later recall in children with normal hearing. In learning situations where competing speech signals are present, background noise may reduce the prerequisites for optimal learning.

Speaker's comfort in teaching environments: voice problems in Swedish teaching staff.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to examine how a group of Swedish teachers rate aspects of their working environment that can be presumed to have an impact on vocal behavior and voice problems. The secondary objective was to explore the prevalence of voice problems in Swedish teachers. METHOD: Questionnaires were distributed to the teachers of 23 randomized schools. Teaching staff at all levels were included, except preschool teachers and teachers at specialized, vocational high schools. The response rate was 73%. RESULTS: The results showed that 13% of the whole group reported voice problems occurring sometimes, often, or always. The teachers reporting voice problems were compared with those without problems. There were significant differences among the groups for several items. The teachers with voice problems rated items on room acoustics and work environment as more noticeable. This group also reported voice symptoms, such as hoarseness, throat clearing, and voice change, to a significantly higher degree, even though teachers in both groups reported some voice symptoms. Absence from work because of voice problems was also significantly more common in the group with voice problems--35% versus 9% in the group without problems. CONCLUSION: We may conclude that teachers suffering from voice problems react stronger to loading factors in the teaching environment, report more frequent symptoms of voice discomfort, and are more often absent from work because of voice problems than their voice-healthy colleagues.

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) and its use as a tool for assessment or therapy of voice, speech, and language disorders.

In general opinion computerized automatic speech recognition (ASR) seems to be regarded as a method only to accomplish transcriptions from spoken language to written text and as such quite insecure and rather cumbersome. However, due to great advances in computer technology and informatics methodology ASR has nowadays become quite dependable and easier to handle, and the number of applications has increased considerably. After some introductory background information on ASR a number of applications of great interest for professionals in voice, speech, and language therapy are pointed out. In the foreseeable future, the keyboard and mouse will by means of ASR technology be replaced in many functions by a microphone as the human-computer interface, and the computer will talk back via its loud-speaker. It seems important that professionals engaged in the care of oral communication disorders take part in this development so their clients may get the optimal benefit from this new technology.