Identifier

etd-11072007-114346

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the integrity of the nonverbal auditory system in subjects with fluent aphasia, and determine the relative preservation of the nonverbal auditory system in comparison to the lexical system. This was attempted through the task of expectation, a high level processing skill. Two groups of participants were examined: a group with fluent aphasia, and a group of non-neurologically damaged individuals. Participants were administered two nonverbal auditory conditions devoid of lexical information, a simple condition and a complex condition in which they were required to determine if the last sound heard in a sequence of four was expected or unexpected. Two lexical conditions were also administered in a similar manner. In the simple lexical condition, participants were required to identify if the last word heard in a sequence of four was expected or unexpected. In the complex lexical condition, participants were instructed to identify if a sentence ended in a logical or illogical word. The measures in this study included reaction times, percent correct, and incongruent percent correct for each condition. Results revealed that subjects with aphasia may have deficits in auditory processing of both nonverbal and lexical information. A significant difference was found in that subjects with aphasia performed better on lexical tasks as compared to nonverbal auditory tasks. Subjects with aphasia appeared to have a damaged nonverbal auditory system; however, it is inconclusive as to if these results were exacerbated by the complexity of the nonverbal stimuli or the manner in which these complex stimuli were presented devoid of visual and situational context.

Date

2007

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Paul Hoffman

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.2383

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