Cognitive control factors in speech perception at 11 months

from Developmental Psychology

The development of speech perception during the 1st year reflects increasing attunement to native language features, but the mechanisms underlying this development are not completely understood. One previous study linked reductions in nonnative speech discrimination to performance on nonlinguistic tasks, whereas other studies have shown associations between speech perception and vocabulary growth. The present study examined relationships among these abilities in 11-month-old infants using a conditioned head-turn test of native and nonnative speech sound discrimination, nonlinguistic object-retrieval tasks requiring attention and inhibitory control, and the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (L. Fenson et al., 1993). Native speech discrimination was positively linked to receptive vocabulary size but not to the cognitive control tasks, whereas nonnative speech discrimination was negatively linked to cognitive control scores but not to vocabulary size. Speech discrimination, vocabulary size, and cognitive control scores were not associated with more general cognitive measures. These results suggest specific relationships between domain-general inhibitory control processes and the ability to ignore variation in speech that is irrelevant to the native language and between the development of native language speech perception and vocabulary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Early reading achievement of children in immigrant families: Is there an immigrant paradox?

from Developmental Psychology

This article examines whether longitudinal reading trajectories vary by the generational status of immigrant children as they begin formal schooling through the 3rd grade. The results of the hierarchical linear model indicated that 1st and 2nd generation children (i.e., those born in a foreign country and those born in the United States to foreign-born parents, respectively) had higher achievement scores at the spring of kindergarten than did 3rd generation children. Yet, controlling for race/ethnicity and maternal education fully reduced the 1st generation advantage. In addition, 1st generation children grew in reading achievement at a faster rate than did 3rd generation children. Controlling for a host of proximal and distal factors that included demographic, race/ethnic, family, and school characteristics somewhat reduced the association between generational status and rate of growth. First and 2nd generation children continued to increase their reading scores at a faster rate than did 3rd generation children. It is likely that additional factors not measured in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Kindergarten cohort, such as selection, cultural, or motivational factors, would be useful in further explaining the immigrant advantage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on special education in school-aged children

from Child: Care, Health and Development

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on special education at age 7 with adjustment for covariates.

Methods As part of the prospective, longitudinal, multi-site study of children with prenatal cocaine exposure (Maternal Lifestyle Study), school records were reviewed for 943 children at 7 years to determine involvement in special education outcomes: (1) individualized education plan; (2) special education conditions; (3) support services; (4) special education classes; and (5) speech and language services. Logistic regression was used to examine the effect of prenatal cocaine exposure on these outcomes with environmental, maternal and infant medical variables as covariates, as well as with and without low child IQ.

Results Complete data for each analysis model were available for 737–916 children. When controlling for covariates including low child IQ, prenatal cocaine exposure had a significant effect on individualized education plan. When low child IQ was not included in the model, prenatal cocaine exposure had a significant effect on support services. Male gender, low birthweight, white race and low child IQ also predicted individualized education plan. Low birthweight and low child IQ were significant in all models. White race was also significant in speech and language services. Other covariate effects were model specific. When included in the models, low child IQ accounted for more of the variance and changed the significance of other covariates.

Conclusions Prenatal cocaine exposure increased the likelihood of receiving an individualized education plan and support services, with adjustment for covariates. Low birthweight and low child IQ increased the likelihood of all outcomes. The finding that white children were more likely to get an individualized education plan and speech and language services could indicate a greater advantage in getting educational resources for this population.

Confusion Over Purpose Of Falls Clinics Compromises Effectiveness Of Service, UK

from Medical News Today.com

An RCP survey of 40 patients in England who had attended a falls clinic following a fall shows that while patients felt the clinics had helped them, they were not always sure about the purpose of the clinic and how it related to their own needs. This misunderstanding leads to patients not continuing with exercises and other activities which could help prevent another fall. In addition, patients were not always given the results of health tests or told about ways of reducing their risk of falling again, and were often unaware of what services were available.

Researchers to look at relationship between tinnitus and defects in the inner ear

from News-Medical.net

Researchers at the University of Essex have received a three-year studentship from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) to investigate the relationship between tinnitus and defects in the inner ear.

Study on controversial treatment for autism ’scuppered’ by U.S. health officials

from News-Medical.net

Plans to conduct a study in the U.S. on a controversial treatment for autism have been ’scuppered’ by government health officials.

Changes in hearing thresholds over 10 years in older adults

from the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

Changes in hearing thresholds over a 10-year period in a large population of older adults (2130) ranging in age from 48 to 92 years were documented. Pure-tone thresholds at frequencies from 0.5 to 8 kHz were evaluated at a baseline examination and 2.5, 5, and 10 years later. For younger age groups (50-69 years of age), threshold changes were generally greatest for higher frequencies; in older age groups (70-89 years of age), threshold changes were generally greatest for lower frequencies due to a ceiling effect at higher frequencies. At frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, and 8 kHz, the pattern of 10-year changes in thresholds across audiometric frequencies was generally similar for men and women. Threshold changes at 4 and 6 kHz were relatively constant for all ages in men across the 10-year examination period; threshold changes at the same frequencies in women increased for the 48-59 and 60-69 years age groups and then tended to level off. Other than age and gender, the best baseline examination predictors of 10-year thresholds at a specific audiometric frequency were the baseline threshold at that frequency followed by the baseline threshold for the next higher test frequency.

Influence of ultrahigh-frequency hearing thresholds on distortion-product otoacoustic emission levels at conventional frequencies

from the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

This study examined the association between ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) hearing sensitivity and distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) levels at conventional frequencies. Behavioral thresholds were measured from 2 through 16 kHz, and DPOAE levels were measured at discrete f2 frequencies between 2 through 8 kHz in 553 young normal-hearing adult male participants. A DPOAE frequency sweep was measured with primary stimulus levels of L1/L2 = 65/55 dB SPL and an f2/f1 of 1.2. Significant negative correlations, although weak, were found between UHF behavioral thresholds and DPOAE levels. As UHF behavioral thresholds worsened, DPOAE levels decreased at all frequencies. When the data were categorized into two groups, “better” and “worse” UHF behavioral thresholds, significant differences were apparent between the two groups for DPOAEs. Additionally, those with better UHF thresholds had better conventional thresholds compared to those in the worse UHF threshold group. The results of this age-restricted, large-sample-size study confirm and augment findings from earlier studies demonstrating that UHF hearing sensitivity has some influence on DPOAE measures at frequencies from 2 through 8 kHz with moderate stimulus levels. However, because those with better UHF thresholds also had better conventional thresholds and the significant correlations found were weak, this work supports the importance of UHF hearing testing in conjunction with otoacoustic emission measures to identify basal cochlear insults not evident from behavioral testing at conventional frequencies.

Monotic auditory processing disorder tests in the older adult population

from the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

The purpose of this study was to determine if peripheral hearing loss of varying degrees in elderly subjects affected performance on monotic auditory processing disorder (APD) tests. A battery of monotic APD tests was administered to a group of well-educated and high-functioning older adults who were divided into three subgroups based on hearing acuity but similar in age: (1) normal hearing out to 4000 Hz with a slight high-frequency slope above that point, (2) normal hearing in the speech range but greater high-frequency loss (sloping configuration), and (3) hearing loss in both the low and high frequencies (low/high). The findings documented that subjects with normal hearing in the speech range performed well on all the APD tests. The subjects in the two hearing loss groups, however, performed more poorly on certain tests. The low/high loss subjects did significantly poorer than did the sloping subjects. These data suggest that low/high-frequency peripheral hearing loss is a factor for poor performance on certain monotic APD tests. Results further showed that when cognitive ability and presentation level are held constant, chronological age does not appear to be a contributing factor to performance on the majority of these monotic APD tests. If APD tests are to be administered to elder subjects, peripheral hearing loss configuration needs to be documented. For subjects with low/high-frequency losses, the tester needs to be aware that serious contamination of the results may occur.

Psychological comorbidities and their relationship to self-reported handicap in samples of dizzy patients

from the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

Factors such as anxiety, depression, somatic awareness, autonomic symptoms, and differences in coping strategies are known to affect dizziness handicap. We studied these factors in 63 consecutive “dizzy” patients. This sample was subgrouped into normals and patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, compensated and uncompensated unilateral peripheral vestibular system impairment, or abnormal vestibular evoked myogenic potential as a single significant diagnostic finding. Results showed that (1) anxiety and depression occur with greater frequency in dizzy patients than in the normal population; (2) the magnitude of anxiety, depression, somatization, and autonomic symptoms does not differ significantly in subgroups of patients; (3) women tended to report greater handicap and somatic/autonomic symptoms; and (4) Dizziness Handicap Inventory total scores were correlated with patients’ complaints of somatic/autonomic symptoms, anxiety, depression, and coping strategies. These findings suggest that self-reported measures represent unique pieces of information important for the management of dizzy patients.

Recording and classification of the acoustic environment of hearing aid users

from the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

This article investigates the different acoustic signals that hearing aid users are exposed to in their everyday environment. Binaural microphone signals from recording positions close to the microphone locations of behind-the-ear hearing aids were recorded by 20 hearing aid users during daily life. The recorded signals were acoustically analyzed with regard to narrowband short-term level distributions. The subjects also performed subjective assessments of their own recordings in the laboratory using several questions from the Glasgow Hearing Aid Benefit Profile (GHABP) questionnaire. Both the questionnaire and the acoustic analysis data show that the importance, problems, and hearing aid benefit as well as the acoustic characteristics of the individual situations vary a lot across subjects. Therefore, in addition to a nonlinear hearing aid fitting, further signal classification and signal/situation-adaptive features are highly desirable inside modern hearing aids. These should be compatible with the variability of the individual sound environments of hearing-impaired listeners.

Drug Related Hearing Loss And Deafness

from Medical News Today.com

As part of an ongoing consumer education and hearing health awareness campaign, which includes informational videos, an “Ask An Expert” forum, and the recently released “Hearing And Balance Report,” AuDNet, Inc. has created a tip sheet for consumers that reveals certain over the counter and prescription drugs that may generate temporary and permanent hearing loss or deafness.

What the stories children tell can tell about their memory: Narrative skill and young children’s suggestibility

from Developmental Psychology

The authors examined the relation between children’s narrative ability, which has been identified as an important contributor to memory development, and suggestibility. Across 2 studies, a total of 112 preschool-aged children witnessed a staged event and were subsequently questioned suggestively. Results from Study 1 indicated that children’s ability to provide a high-quality narrative of the event was related to resistance to suggestive questions, and narrative ability appeared to supersede age as a predictor of such resistance. In Study 2, children’s general language and narrative abilities were measured in addition to their ability to produce a high-quality narrative about the target event. These results replicated Study 1’s findings that children’s ability to produce a high-quality narrative of a previously experienced event predicted resistance to suggestion. However, the quality of children’s autobiographical memory narratives predicted shifting from denial to assent. Findings are considered in light of narrative’s role in memory development and underlying mechanisms that may explain children’s suggestibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

A data collection system to audit post-newborn hearing surveillance programme: problems and possibilities

from Child: Care, Health and Development

Background Guidance documents on post-newborn hearing surveillance and screen (Sutton et al. 2006; Bamford et al. 2007) indicated the need for a wider system to identify children with hearing loss after neonatal hearing screening. Recommendations were made for systems to be in place for recording screening activity and audit of the school entry hearing screen to provide information on coverage, referral and yield.

Method This project has two phases:

• development of the data collection system for audit;

• assess local service performance.

The focus of the work was on data entered into the child health system from children eligible for universal infant and school entry hearing screen. Linking information from a paediatric register of hearing impaired children allowed analysis of birth cohort data related to new diagnoses of sensorineural hearing loss. Available guidelines have not specified gold standards for coverage rates and locally endorsed benchmarks were set at 80% as minimum standards. Analysis of data was carried out on 2003, 2004, 2005, 1998, 1999 and 2000 birth cohorts. The child health system and the paediatric register were the main data sources for the audit exercises. Data extracted were computed for coverage, referral and yield.

Results Factors and situations contributing to difficulties in establishing a robust system were identified and addressed. Usable information could be obtained to influence current practice. Coverage rates for 2003, 2004 and 2005 cohort were 64.7%, 78.1% and 73.1%. Their respective referral rates were 1.4%, 1.2% and 2.6%. Coverage rates for 1998, 1999 and 2000 cohort were 74.9%, 75.6% and 71.4%. Their respective referral rates were 5.2%, 4.2% and 6.6%. The overall yield from universal screens was low.

Conclusion Our study showed that it was achievable to collect and analyse data on childhood hearing loss in the context of routine surveillance. There were, however, limitations to analysis of data and findings have to be interpreted with this in mind.

Outcome of Newborn Hearing Screening Programme delivered by health visitors

from Child: Care, Health and Development

Background The Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) was introduced in England in 2001 to detect congenital hearing loss in the newborn. The screen is either hospital- or community-based.

Objectives This is the first large-scale study of community-based NHSP published in the United Kingdom which aims to evaluate the performance of the community-based screen and compare it against national targets for NHSP and the outcome of national pilot projects.

Method Hearing screening data recorded for 10 074 well babies between March 2004 and December 2005 were analysed. Babies who were admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit were excluded. The case notes of all children who failed the initial hearing screen, either unilateral or bilateral, were reviewed retrospectively. Specific performance measures include coverage rate, referral rate and yield. Reasons for failure to complete the screen were identified.

Results The community programme met all the standards set by the NHSP and the results are comparable with the average of the pilot sites reported in 2004.

Conclusion The data demonstrate that a community-based hearing screening programme conducted by Health Visitors meets all the current national standards and could be implemented across wider areas in this country. Its advantages include a low false positive rate and convenience for parents living in rural areas. The babies identified can be diagnosed and rehabilitated in a time which meets national standards.