This dissertation presents three studies that examined issues related to the production and the perception of pitch in a tone language. The first study examined linguistic contexts that may modulate consonant-induced pitch perturbations (CF0) in a tone language. Previous studies have produced mixed findings regarding the role of linguistic…

One major characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is problems with social interaction and communication. The present study explored ASD-related alterations in perceiving emotions expressed via body movements. 16 participants with ASD and 16 healthy controls observed video scenes of human interactions conveyed by point-light displays. They…

To examine how individuals with visual impairments understand space and the way they develop cognitive maps, we studied the differences in cognitive maps resulting from different methods and tools for spatial coding in large geographical spaces. We examined the ability of 21 blind individuals to create cognitive maps of routes in unfamiliar areas…

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds to air- and bone-conducted CE-Chirps in neonates and adults. Method Thirty-two neonates with no physical or neurologic challenges and 20 adults with normal hearing participated. ABRs were acquired with a starting intensity of 30 dB normal hearing level…

Purpose: This study compared perception of consonants in medial position by preschoolers, with and without speech sound disorder (SSD), with similar vocabulary and language skills. In addition, we investigated the association between speech perception and production skills. Method: Participants were 36 monolingual English-speaking children with…

Perceptual narrowing occurs in human infants for other-race faces. A paired-comparison task measuring infant looking time was used to investigate the hypothesis that adding emotional expressiveness to other-race faces would help infants break through narrowing and reinstate other-race face recognition. Experiment 1 demonstrated narrowing for White…

School-aged and adolescent children continue to demonstrate improvements in how they integrate and comprehend real-time, auditory language over this developmental time period, which can have important implications for academic and social success. To better understand developmental changes in the neural processes engaged during language…

Purpose: This study examines the effects of reverberation and noise fluctuation on the response time (RT) to the auditory stimuli in a speech reception task. Method: The speech reception task was presented to 76 young adults with normal hearing in 3 simulated listening conditions (1 anechoic, 2 reverberant). Speechlike stationary and fluctuating…

This dissertation research examines the acquisition of second language vowels. For second language learners, learning a new languages' sound inventory, particularly its vowels, presents a challenge perceptually and in terms of production. Incorrectly perceiving and producing sounds in a second language results in a foreign accent in many adult…

Creative objects differ from ordinary objects in that they are created by human beings to contain novel, creative information. Previous research has demonstrated that ordinary object processing involves both a perceptual process for analyzing different features of the visual input and a higher-order process for evaluating the relevance of this…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the short-term effect of 2 semi-occluded vocal tract training programs, "resonant voice training using nasal consonants" versus "straw phonation," on the vocal quality of vocally healthy future occupational voice users. Method: A multigroup pretest--posttest randomized control…

Working memory is now established as a fundamental cognitive process across a range of species. Loss of information held in working memory has the potential to disrupt many aspects of cognitive function. However, despite its significance, the mechanisms underlying rapid forgetting remain unclear, with intense recent debate as to whether it is…

Stress and anxiety have a negative impact on working memory systems by competing for executive resources and attention. Broad memory deficits, anxiety, and elevated stress have been reported in individuals with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS). We investigated anxiety and physiological stress reactivity in relation to visuospatial…

With the technological improvements of innovative portable recording gadgets, augmented researchers' interest in exploring students' visual attention in their natural and normal occurring classrooms. The purpose of this study was to gauge students' visual attention in their Mathematics and English classrooms. This article reports on a study…

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in self-reported symptomatology and working memory (visuospatial and auditory) in college students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Forty-seven college students with ADHD and 44 non-affected control participants completed two self-report questionnaires and six tests…