Effect of training with anchors on auditory-perceptual evaluation of dysphonia in speech-language pathology students

Denise Wai Man Wong, Roger W. Chan, Chia Hsin Wu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Auditory-perceptual evaluation is essential for the clinical assessment of voice disorders. Unstable perceptual voice evaluation has been shown for inexperienced listeners as compared to expert listeners. We examined the effects of perceptual training with external auditory anchors with and without immediate feedback on the evaluation of roughness and breathiness of natural, nonsynthesized speech stimuli (reading of a standard passage) in speech-language pathology students. Method: Perceptual voice evaluation and training with anchors using a visual analog scale was implemented with a computer software. Forty-eight speech-language pathology students were randomly assigned into three groups, feedback group (Group F), no feedback group (Group NF), and control group (Group C), attending one training session and four assessment sessions (before training, immediately after training, and 1 and 7 weeks after training). Group F received training with anchors with immediate feedback, Group NF received training without immediate feedback, and Group C received sham training (exposure session). Results: Training with anchors significantly increased the rating accuracy (agreement with expert ratings) on both roughness and breathiness for Group F, with the effects lasting for 7 weeks. No significant changes in rating accuracy with training were observed for Group NF and Group C. No improvements in intra-and interrater reliability as well as intrarater agreement were observed in all three groups, whereas interrater agreement on breathiness (but not roughness) significantly increased for all groups, with the effect lasting for 7 weeks only for Group F. Conclusions: These findings suggested that perceptual training with external auditory anchors and the use of immediate feedback could be effective for facilitating the development of perceptual voice evaluation skills in speech-language pathology students. Further studies involving more extensive training with stimuli covering a full range of dysphonia severity categories and improvements in design of the training protocol are recommended to verify these results.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1136-1156
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume64
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2021
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Speech and Hearing

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