Listeners’ perceptions of the personality of male alaryngeal speakers

Abstract

Currently, there is limited information on listeners’ perceptions of an individual with a laryngectomy. The purpose of this study is to determine whether listeners have different impressions of a laryngectomized speaker's personality based on mode of alaryngeal speech. Fifty-one listeners were presented with a reading passage produced by three male, alaryngeal speakers. Listeners were instructed to rate each speaker's personality and overall speech on a seven-point scale. Results showed that listeners’ perceptions of personality were not affected by mode of alaryngeal speech, although listener's perceptions of overall speech were shown to be significantly affected by mode. Results, however, should be interepreted with caution due to small sample size and limited speaker representation.A portion of this information was previously presented at the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, November 13–15, 2003.