Biomedical subjects

D Fucci

Publications and source records attributed to D Fucci.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1995

Simulations of stuttered speech: numbers and types of dysfluencies.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether stuttered speech could be simulated by normal-speaking individuals and to identify significant parameters used in the simulation process. The subjects were 24 normal-speaking graduate students in speech-language pathology. The subjects were assigned the task of simulating stuttered speech given specific levels of severity. Then they were asked to listen to the simulated samples and identify the number and types of dysfluencies presented. Analysis showed agreement among subjects on the number of dysfluencies, with the exception of samples simulating severe stuttering behavior. Judging the number of dysfluencies in the simulated samples of severe stuttering appeared to be a more difficult task. The types of dysfluencies noted by the listeners were restricted primarily to repetitions and prolongations. Simulated stuttered speech was therefore judged to be composed of fewer types of stuttering behavior than actual stuttered speech is reported to be.

Humans↗

PubMed1995

Language familiarity in magnitude-estimation scaling of loudness by young adults.

The purpose was to examine the effect of language familiarity on magnitude-estimation scaling of loudness by young adults. Two groups of subjects participated in this study. Group 1 of 20 subjects (M age = 23.95 yr.) were familiar with English and not familiar with Hindi. Group 2 of 20 subjects (M age = 24.30 yr.) were familiar with English as well as Hindi. Two separate magnitude-estimation scaling tasks were performed. On the first scaling task, an English sentence was used as the stimulus, and on the second scaling task, a Hindi sentence was used as the stimulus. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in loudness judgments of the English and Hindi sentences. Subjects scaled the loudness of an unfamiliar language in the same manner as they scaled the loudness of a familiar language. The findings suggest that magnitude-estimation scaling is an effective measure of loudness whether the language being listened to is familiar to the listener.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Oral vibrotactile assessment procedures: modifications.

An ongoing process to develop oral vibrotactile instrumentation that can be standardized and used in practical assessment of the oral tactile sensory system was reported in The International Journal of Orofacial Myology in March, 1990, by Fucci, Petrosino, and Harris. The material presented in the present article reflects the current research and future direction that the development of this instrumentation is taking. Potential benefits of this instrumentation for individuals working in the area of orofacial myofunctional disorders are suggested.

Equipment Design↗

PubMed1994

Magnitude-estimation scaling: an effective method for the measurement of the quality of filtered speech.

17 subjects provided magnitude estimations in the form of quality judgments of a filtered speech stimulus which was a nonsense sentence containing all of the consonants of English from Fairbanks. It was presented to subjects at 8 high-pass and 8 low-pass filtering conditions. Consistent magnitude estimations to the filtered stimulus were similar for both conditions. Also, for both conditions, subjects' numerical responses consistently increased in value as stimulus quality was judged to be poorer.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Effects of gender and listeners' preference on magnitude-estimation scaling of rock music.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of gender and listener preference on magnitude-estimation scaling of rock music. Four groups of young adults were tested: 14 women who liked rock music, 14 women who disliked rock music, 14 men who liked rock music, and 14 men who disliked rock music. Subjects were instructed to assign numerical values to a random series of nine suprathreshold intensity levels of a 10-sec. sample of rock music. Analysis indicated that there was no difference in scaling performance between women and men. There was a difference in scaling performance between the group of women who liked rock music and the group of women who disliked rock music. There was no difference in the way the two groups of men performed the scaling task. These results suggest that men and women perform magnitude-estimation scaling of rock music similarly. Women, however, allow preference to influence how they choose numbers during magnitude-estimation scaling tasks whereas men do not.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Effect of personality on magnitude-estimation scaling of complex auditory stimuli.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of the personality trait of extraversion/introversion on magnitude-estimation scaling of complex auditory stimuli. Two groups of subjects, 10 who liked rock music (M age = 22.4 yr.) and 10 who disliked rock music (M age = 21.9 yr.), were tested. Subjects were instructed to assign numerical values to a random series of nine suprathreshold intensity levels of a 10-sec. sample of rock music. Each subject was given the Eysenck Personality Inventory, a test designed to measure the personality trait of extraversion/introversion. Statistical analyses indicated that the personality trait of extraversion/introversion did not appear to have an effect on the way the subjects scaled the rock-music stimulus.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scaling using a limited set of suprathreshold stimulus intensities.

The purpose of the present study was to assess feasibility of lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold testing with a limited number of intensities. 25 subjects ranging in age from 18 to 26 years (M = 19 yr.) participated. Two magnitude-estimation scaling tasks were presented to each subject with 1 wk. between tasks. One magnitude-estimation task involved eight suprathreshold intensities and the other involved four. Statistical analyses showed that there was no difference in subjects' responses to the two scaling efforts. In pure research endeavors it might make sense to continue to obtain as many magnitude-scaling data points as possible, but practical prudence may dictate a limited set of suprathreshold intensities for efficiency and subjects' comfort.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Differences in lingual vibrotactile thresholds of sensitivity using adjusted vs fixed methods of vibrator probe-contactor alignment.

The purpose of this study was to compare lingual vibrotactile thresholds of sensitivity obtained using individual subject adjustments of vibrator probe-contractor to lingual surface, with thresholds obtained using a fixed vibrator probe-contactor position across 30 subjects ranging in age from 18 to 26 yr. (M age = 20 yr.). Analysis showed minor (less than 5 dB SPL) differences in lingual vibrotactile thresholds of sensitivity between the two methods of vibrator probe-contactor alignment. For research purposes, the vibrator probe-contactor assembly should be adjusted to each individual's lingual surface, but for clinical-behavioral purposes, it might be sensible to use a fixed vibrator probe-contactor position across subjects, especially when performing research on young children, older adults, and the communicatively handicapped.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

The effect of preference for rock music on magnitude-estimation scaling behavior in young adults.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of preference for rock music on magnitude-estimation scaling behavior in young adults. Two groups of young adults, 20 who liked rock music and 20 who did not like rock music, were tested. Subjects were instructed to assign numerical values to a random series of nine suprathreshold intensity levels of a 10-second sample of rock music. Analysis indicated that there was a difference in performance by the two groups of subjects on the magnitude-estimation scaling task. The subjects who liked rock music provided significantly lower mean numerical responses than the subjects who did not like rock music for all nine suprathreshold intensities.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Effect of preference for rock music on magnitude-production scaling behavior in young adults: a validation.

The purpose of the presence study was to examine the effect of preference for rock music on magnitude-production scaling behavior in young adults as an attempt to validate further the 1993 magnitude-estimation scaling results obtained by Fucci, Harris, Petrosino, and Banks. Two groups of young adults, 20 who liked rock music and 20 who disliked rock music, were tested. Subjects were instructed to adjust the intensity of a 10-sec. sample of rock music in response to seven written stimuli presented in random order. Analysis indicated that there was a significant difference in performance by the two groups of subjects on the magnitude-production scaling task. Those subjects who liked rock music adjusted the intensity of the music to higher levels than did the subjects who disliked rock music.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Lingual vibrotactile threshold and suprathreshold responses of normal-speaking black and white young adults.

A paradigm for studying oral sensory tactile function through use of single frequency vibration applied to the dorsal surface of the tongue was administered to a group of 10 young black women and 10 young white normal-speaking women. Analyses showed no differences between groups with regard to lingual vibrotactile threshold of sensitivity or suprathreshold magnitude-estimation scaling responses.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Hearing threshold shift during auditory magnitude estimation.

The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the extent of hearing threshold shift that may occur during an auditory magnitude-estimation task involving stimulus intensities as great as 80 dB sensation level. Also, possible influences of hearing threshold shift on numerical magnitude-estimation responses and magnitude-function slopes were investigated. Results indicated that hearing threshold shift was insignificant (1-2 dB). Consistent small increases in numerical magnitude responses were observed on a magnitude-estimation task where hearing thresholds were retested between stimulus presentations versus a magnitude-estimation task where hearing thresholds were not retested. The stability of auditory magnitude functions across different conditions in the current investigation was in agreement with vibrotactile magnitude-scaling behavior observed by Fucci, et al. in 1989 and 1991. The over-all results supported the concept of an absolute, internal sensory-scaling mechanism being operable during magnitude estimation of auditory stimuli as discussed by Zwislocki and Goodman in 1980.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Differences in lingual vibrotactile threshold shifts during magnitude-estimation scaling between normal-speaking children and children with articulation problems.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in function of the tactile sensory system between groups of normal-speaking children and children with articulation problems. This task was accomplished by studying possible tactile threshold shifts occurring during magnitude-estimation scaling of vibratory stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue. 10 normal-speaking children (M age = 7.8 yr.) and 9 children with articulation problems (M age = 7.5 yr.) participated. The normal-speaking children and articulatory defective children performed differently on the magnitude-estimation scaling task in which threshold was allowed to return to baseline after each stimulus presentation. These two groups of children also showed dissimilar threshold shifts for the suprathreshold intensities employed in the magnitude-estimation scaling.

Articulation Disorders↗

PubMed1991

Magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching of auditory and lingual vibrotactile sensation by normal speakers and stutterers.

The present experiment was a preliminary attempt to employ the psychophysical scaling methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching to investigate suprathreshold auditory and lingual vibrotactile sensation magnitude responses for normal-speaking young adults (N = 20) and young adult stutterers (N = 7). A 1000-Hz binaural auditory stimulus and a 250-Hz lingual vibrotactile stimulus were employed for both procedures. Results indicated that the stutterers tended to use more restricted response ranges than the normal speakers for auditory magnitude scaling, and lower response ranges than the normal speakers for lingual vibrotactile magnitude scaling.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Lingual vibrotactile threshold shift during magnitude-estimation scaling: effects on magnitude-estimation responses and scaling behavior across age.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of age on tactile threshold shifts occurring during magnitude-estimation scaling of vibratory stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue. Relationships of the lingual vibrotactile threshold shifts to suprathreshold stimulus intensity, magnitude-estimation responses, and over-all scaling behavior were explored. Three groups differing in mean age participated in this study (Group 1 8.05 yr., Group 2 19.46 yr., and Group 3 56.2 yr.). Each subject performed two magnitude-estimation tasks. In one task, threshold of sensitivity was measured after every suprathreshold numerical response to the subject. If a threshold shift was recorded, threshold was allowed to return to the pretest baseline level continuing to the next suprathreshold stimulus presentation. The results showed that threshold shift during magnitude-estimation scaling took place for all three age groups and that the shift was related to the intensity of the suprathreshold vibratory stimulus being applied to the tongue. They also showed that Group 2 (young adults) performed magnitude-estimation scaling differently when threshold shift was controlled than when it was not. The other two groups of subjects were not similarly affected.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Lingual vibrotactile threshold shift differences between stutterers and normal speakers during magnitude-estimation scaling.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in tactile sensory system function between stutterers and normal speakers. This task was accomplished by studying possible tactile threshold shifts occurring during magnitude-estimation scaling of vibratory stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue. Ten normal speaking men (M age = 19.7 yr.) and 10 stutterers (M age = 25.9 yr.) participated. Analysis suggested that stutterers and normal speakers differ in terms of the responsiveness of the sensory mechanism for the lingual tactile threshold to vibratory stimulus intensities applied at suprathreshold levels. The stutterers and normal speakers performed similarly on all aspects of the magnitude-estimation scaling tasks, but the amount of threshold shift occurring during the scaling procedures was significantly greater for the stutterers at each suprathreshold intensity level employed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Effects of auditory disruption of lingual tactile sensitivity in skilled and unskilled speaking conditions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of disruption of the auditory feedback channel on lingual vibrotactile thresholds obtained under skilled and unskilled speaking conditions. Each of 22 adults was asked to read an English (skilled) and French (unskilled) passage under conditions of normal and altered auditory feedback. Bilateral presentation of masking noise was utilized to disrupt auditory feedback. Before each of the experimental sessions and immediately following a reading, lingual vibrotactile thresholds were obtained. Analysis indicated that the mean differences in the pre- and postvibrotactile threshold measurements of the skilled auditory disrupted condition varied significantly from the mean differences in the pre- and postvibrotactile threshold measurements of the three other conditions. The role of feedback in the speech production of skilled and unskilled speakers is discussed.

Achievement↗

PubMed1990

Speech clarity/intelligibility: test-retest reliability of magnitude-estimation scaling.

The reliability of magnitude-estimation scaling as a measure of overall clarity of speech was investigated. 40 subjects (M age = 19 yr.) provided magnitude-estimation responses for nine audiotaped versions of a nonsense sentence varying systematically in number of correct consonant phonemes. There was no significant difference in the magnitude-estimation responses of the subjects during two test sessions separated by one week. Analysis suggested that magnitude-estimation scaling is a reliable measure of speech clarity/intelligibility. This finding is discussed in relation to speech samples varying in aspects other than number of consonant phonemes correct and possible further clinical research applications.

Adolescent↗