Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Publication Date

7-25-1975

Abstract

Previous research has established relationships between chronological age and performance on an oral stereognostic task and between chronological age and perceived age estimates. Based on these findings, it is plausible that a relationship may exist between perceived age estimates and performance on an oral stereognostic task. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship, if any, between perceived age estimates and oral stereognostic performance. In addition, as all previous research in these two areas had utilized male subjects only, male vs. female performance on oral stereognosis was also examined. To substantiate previous findings, the relationship between perceived age estimates and chronological age was also studied. Twenty-eight male and 29 female subjects between 30 and 80 years of age were voluntary participants in the study. Subjects were required to record a reading passage for later use as a voice sample for age estimates. In addition, all subjects made same-different judgments for 36 pairs of oral forms. Perceived age estimates in years, based on the recorded voice samples, were made by a total of 37 listeners in two different listening conditions (i.e., listeners aware or unaware of age range of speakers). Pearson product-moment correlations were utilized to investigate relationships between the four variables (i.e., chronological age, mean perceived age estimates conditions I and II, and number of errors on the oral stereognostic task). Two-way analysis of variance was also employed to study the effects of sex, age, and their interaction on oral stereognostic performance. In addition, the significance of differences between perceived age estimates for male vs. female subjects of equivalent chronological age was determined using t-tests. Intra- and inter-examiner reliability of listeners' judgments was also established using Pearson product-moment correlations. The results of the present study may be summarized as follows:

1. There was no relationship between perceived age and number of errors on the oral stereognostic task for female subjects. For male subjects, there was a suggestion of a relationship between perceived age and oral stereognostic performance, although the correlation coefficients were slightly below the .05 level of significance.

2. There was no significant difference between overall male and female performance on the oral stereognostic task.

3. There was a relationship between perceived age and chronological age for both sexes.

4. There was no significant difference between perceived age estimates for male and female subjects of equivalent chronological age.

5. Perceived age judgments did not vary significantly regardless of whether the listeners were aware or unaware of the age range of the speakers.

In light of the present findings, the necessity of further research on randomized groups of aged subjects to clarify the effects of aging on oral sensory-perceptual abilities and the relationship of such abilities to vocal output becomes clear. The previously established relationship between chronological and perceived age was supported by the present findings. This finding indicates that a reduction in oral sensory-perceptual ability was not a necessary accompaniment of characteristic voice changes with advancing age.

Degree Name

Speech-Language Pathology

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Speech and Hearing Sciences

First Committee Member (Chair)

William John Ryan

Second Committee Member

Dolores Smith Butt

Third Committee Member

Richard Baxter Hood

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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