Biomedical subjects

L A Swanson

Publications and source records attributed to L A Swanson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1997

A validity study of an implicit phonological awareness paradigm.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the validity of a nonsense-word-pairs paradigm as an implicit phonological awareness task. For this task one member of each nonsense-word-pair violated the rules of consonant combination in English (e.g., /integral kib/), and the other did not (e.g., /integral rib/). The subjects were required to choose the member of the pair that contained permissible consonant sequence(s). Eighty-one normally developing first- and second-graders were given the implicit phonological awareness task, 3 explicit phonological awareness tasks, 2 reading tasks, and a multisyllabic word production task. There were significant correlations between the implicit phonological awareness task and all of the experimental tasks, with the exception of one. Additionally, the implicit phonological awareness task was sensitive to developmental differences between the first- and second-grade readers.

Child↗

PubMed1994

Duration of function-word vowels in mothers' speech to young children.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether function words are lengthened in certain phrase positions in mother-to-child speech. Twenty-two mother-child dyads served as subjects. All children (ages 1:5 to 2:2) had a mean length of utterance between 1.0 and 1.5 morphemes. Each mother was asked to read five experimental stories aloud to her child and to an adult. The durations of seven function-word vowels in these stories were examined. Each word appeared in three phrase positions (phrase-initial, phrase-medial, and two types of phrase-final). Function-word vowels in initial and medial positions did not differ significantly in adult-directed and child-directed speech. In contrast, function-word vowels in final position were significantly longer in mothers' speech to their children.

Child Language↗

PubMed1992

Vowel duration in mothers' speech to young children.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether content words are selectively highlighted through increased vowel duration in mothers' speech to young children. Fifteen mother-child dyads served as subjects. All children (ages 1:6-2:4) were female and had a mean length of utterance between 1.00 and 1.40 morphemes. Each mother was asked to read five experimental stories aloud to her child and to an adult. The vowel durations of both content words and function words in these stories were examined. Vowels in content words--but not function words--were significantly longer in child-directed than in adult-directed speech. It is suggested that this characteristic of child-directed speech might heighten young children's attention to content words and contribute to the exclusion of function words during the early stages of English language development.

Female↗

PubMed1990

Automated volume determination of the liver and spleen from Tc-99m colloid SPECT imaging. Quantification of the liver functional and nonfunctional tissue in disease.

An automated volume determination program using SPECT imaging with Tc-99m has been validated by both phantom and patient studies. Its use for monitoring change of function of the liver and change in tumor mass during different therapy regimes has been assessed. The technique is not restricted to the estimation of the hepatic functioning tissues; it therefore has many potential clinical implementations for volume determination in other organs.

Humans↗

PubMed1989

Unusual phonological behavior and the avoidance of homonymy in children.

Young children sometimes make use of unusual phonological patterns even when they already possess the appropriate sound or a suitable substitute in their phonological systems. In this investigation, we attempted to determine whether in such instances unusual sound changes enable children to avoid potential homonymy with other words in their lexicons. Novel words were presented to children, half serving as potential homonyms, half as unlikely homonyms. The children's acquisition of these words was monitored. For a group of normally developing children, unusual sound changes were found to be more frequent in the words with the potential for homonymy. In contrast, a group of children with specific language impairment showed the same degree of unusual usage for both types of words. The findings suggest that children with specific language impairment are especially limited in their ability to capitalize on the phonetic regularities of the language.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1987

Attempted sounds are sometimes not: an expanded view of phonological selection and avoidance.

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Female↗

PubMed1986

Oxidized cellulose for preventing adnexal adhesions.

Oxidized cellulose gauze (Surgicel) was evaluated for its ability to prevent postsurgical pelvic adhesions. Ten New Zealand white female rabbits were subjected to laparotomy and standardized bilateral trauma to the fimbria and ovaries. On one side in each rabbit the ovary and uterine tube were wrapped in Surgicel. The untreated side in each rabbit served as the control. Four weeks later the rabbits' pelvises were reexplored, and the adhesions on both sides were scored. The overall adhesion scores on the treated sides (mean +/- SD = 4.24 +/- 1.28) were significantly higher than those on the control sides (mean +/- SD = 1.5 +/- 1.06, P less than .001). Surgicel appeared to enhance, rather than prevent, adhesion formation in the rabbits.

Adnexal Diseases↗

PubMed1978