Monologue Tasks Research Articles

Aerodynamic mechanisms underlying treatment-related changes in vocal intensity in patients with Parkinson disease.

The purpose of this study was to document changes in aerodynamic and glottographic aspects of vocal function in patients with Parkinson disease who received two forms of high effort treatment. Previous reports (Ramig, Countryman, Thompson, & Horii, 1995) have documented increased sound pressure level (SPL) following treatment that trained phonation and respiration (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment: LSVT), but not for treatment that trained respiration only (R). In order to examine the mechanisms underlying these differences, measures of maximum flow declination rate (MFDR) and estimated subglottal pressure (Psub) were made before and after treatment. A measure of relative vocal fold adduction (EGGW) was made from the electroglottographic signal during sustained vowel phonation. Sound pressure level data from syllable repetition, sustained vowel phonation, reading, and monologue tasks were also analyzed to allow a more detailed understanding of treatment-related change in several contexts. Consistent with increases in SPL, significant increases in MFDR, estimated Psub, and EGGW were measured posttreatment in patients who received the LSVT. Similar changes were not observed following R treatment. These findings suggest that the combination of increased vocal fold adduction and subglottal pressure is a key in generating posttreatment increases in vocal intensity in idiopathic Parkinson disease (IPD).

A cross-cultural study of body-focused hand movement

The apparently irrelevant self- or object-manipulatory behavior, otherwise known as body-focused movement, of children drawn from four cities, Adelaide, Brussels, Rome, and Sheffield, was observed while subjects performed four different tasks. Higher frequencies of body-focused movement were observed for a monologue task than for a rest task in each city. Slightly higher body-focused movement frequencies were observed for a Stroop color confusion task when compared with its color-naming control. No significant difference in self-manipulatory frequency was observed between the cities. Irrelevant clothing- and object-manipulatory behaviors were significantly more frequent for the Italian- and French-speaking children.

Behavioral Treatment of Acquired Stuttering

This case report describes the effects of Delayed Auditory Feedback (DAF) on the speech of a 32-year-old man with a four year history of acquired stuttering. DAF procedures similar to those designed for treatment of developmental stuttering were rapidly efficacious in establishing fluent speech in reading, picture description and monologue tasks for the client. Results suggest that techniques proven successful in the treatment of developmental stuttering may be equally valuable for individuals who manifest acquired stuttering.

The effect of task differences, attention and personality on the frequency of body-focused hand movements

A hypothesized relationship between apparently irrelevant self or object manipulatory hand movements and attentional demand was investigated by observing the frequency of these hand movements during the performance of three tasks: a monologue, mental arithmetic, and rest. The attentional demand of each task was assessed by means of a simultaneous reaction time probe task. The monologue task had both the highest frequency of hand movements and the highest level of attentional demand. However, correlations between these measures were not significant for any of the tasks. The influence of the task differences on movement frequencies was much greater than the effect of individual differences. Correlations of trait anxiety and field dependence measures with movement frequencies varied markedly with task differences. The nature and significance of these movements is considered by reference to similar observations in nonhuman species.