Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR最新文献

{"title":"Early Organization of Simultaneous Multimodal Behaviors: Perception- and Production-Based Contingencies as a Scaffold for Language Development.","authors":"Bonnie Levin-Asher, Liat Kishon-Rabin","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-24-00878","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-24-00878","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>This study investigated how infants' simultaneous multimodal behaviors (SMBs)-the concurrent coordination of vocal, gaze, facial, and manual signals-are organized during natural caregiver-infant interactions at 3 and 6 months. Within a contingency-based framework, we examined how perception-based and production-based SMBs reflect early multisensory and sensorimotor coordination and how these patterns relate to later language development with the aim of characterizing SMBs as functional units of early communicative organization.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Twenty typically developing Hebrew-learning infants were recorded in naturalistic mother-infant interactions at 3 and 6 months and were assessed for language outcomes at 15 months using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories<i>.</i> Frame-by-frame multimodal coding was conducted using Mangold INTERACT software. Each frame was annotated across four channels (verbal, gaze, facial, manual), yielding 180 theoretically possible SMBs. Frequency, total duration, mean duration, and prevalence were derived. Age-related differences were tested, and principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to identify latent clusters of SMBs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Infants produced roughly one third of the theoretically possible combinations, indicating constraints on early multimodal integration. A small subset of SMBs (≈20%) accounted for the majority of occurrences, following a Pareto-like distribution. Between 3 and 6 months, patterns shifted from face gaze and tactile configurations toward gaze shift and exploratory coordination. PCA revealed five factors at each age; several integrated perception-based and production-based SMBs. Notably, the first factor at 3 months-comprising mixed SMBs with neutral facial expression, gaze shift, and phasic hand movements-was positively correlated with productive vocabulary at 15 months.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Infants' multimodal communication is selectively organized around high-probability behavioral anchors that integrate perception-based and production-based contingencies. These early configurations structure infants' interactional experience, support contingency learning, and are prospectively associated with later expressive language development, providing a systems-level account of early communication that bridges dynamic, social-pragmatic, and emergentist learning approaches.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33307341.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4968-4989"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Many-Features and Few-Features Variants of Semantic Feature Analysis Treatment for Naming Impairment in Aphasia.","authors":"William Hula, Michael Walsh Dickey, Alyssa Autenreith, Alexander M Swiderski, Miranda C Babiak, Kristen Nunn, Jeffrey P Johnson, Mary M Nader, Rachel Tessmer, Shannon Austermann Hula, Robert Cavanaugh, Emily Goldberg, Cheralyn Ranjan, Jennifer Golovin","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00097","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00097","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Semantic feature analysis (SFA) is a well-established and well-studied treatment for naming impairment in aphasia. Both theory and correlational evidence suggest that feature generation is a key active ingredient of the treatment. The purpose of this study was to test whether the number of features generated by participants in SFA is causally related to outcomes.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Forty-one individuals with aphasia due to left-hemisphere stroke of at least 6 months postonset were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either a many-features variant of SFA in which they were asked to generate 11 features per trial or a few-features variant in which they were asked to generate five features per trial. The entire study team, except for three treating clinicians, was blind to group assignment. Random group assignments were stratified by aphasia severity, blocked in groups of four, generated a priori by a team-external consultant, and managed by a treating clinician. One participant dropped out of the study following randomization, and the remaining participants were assessed twice prior to receiving 42 hr of SFA over 3 weeks, at treatment exit, and at 2- to 3-month follow-up. Primary outcomes were naming accuracy for treated and untreated, semantically related objects.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>On average, participants demonstrated large and statistically reliable increases in accuracy for treated items and reliable and small increases for untreated items. Assignment to many-features or few-features treatment did not robustly affect any outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Active manipulation of the number of features per trial that SFA participants are required to generate, within the range of 5-11, does not causally influence treatment outcomes.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33936256.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4587-4614"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149032667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Two-Year-Olds' Acquisition of Novel Adjectives in Prenominal and Predicative Sentence Frames.","authors":"Madelyn Cecilia Escario, Marielle Ngoma, Sudha Arunachalam","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00123","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00123","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this experimental study was to determine whether toddlers could learn novel adjective meanings when the adjectives appeared prenominally (e.g., \"This is a <i>fip</i> cup\") and/or when they appeared predicatively (e.g., \"This cup is <i>fip</i>\").</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Two-year-olds (<i>N</i> = 64) participated online on the Children Helping Science platform. They were randomly assigned to either the prenominal or predicative condition, and they viewed videos that introduced novel adjectives in that position in the context of two potential visual referents (e.g., yellow cup, blue door). At test, they viewed two new objects (e.g., yellow shirt, blue shirt) and were asked to point to the one that matched the novel adjective label. The child's caregiver clicked on the image the child pointed to.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Toddlers learned novel adjectives that appeared prenominally, as indicated by above-chance selection of the target referent at test, but they were at chance in the predicative condition.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results indicate that the ease of learning a new adjective is influenced by the construction in which it appears. On a first encounter with a novel adjective, the higher frequency prenominal construction may be more supportive for learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4990-5000"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148868898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Subglottic Pressure and Immersion Depth: Key Determinants of Voice Outcomes in Water Resistance Tube Exercise.","authors":"Karol Acevedo, Marco Guzman, Florencia Perlwitz, Victor Espinoza, Alberto Valdivia, Camilo Quezada, Marcelo E Andia","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00186","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00186","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of different immersion depth levels and subglottic pressure (P_sub) levels on the oscillatory features of oral pressure (P_oral; frequency, amplitude, and regularity), the degree of glottal adduction, and the subjective perception of phonatory ease when performing a water resistance tube (WRT) exercise.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Forty participants were recruited: 20 having normal voice and 20 diagnosed with functional dysphonia confirmed by laryngoscopic examination. Assessment protocol included (a) the self-assessment of ease of phonation and (b) the objective assessment of air pressure-related variables and electroglottographic (EGG) contact quotient (CQ). Participants in both groups were instructed to select and produce a sustained-vowel-like phonation into a tube immersed in a recipient filled with water at five different depths: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 cm (Experiment 1). Then, they were required to phonate into the tube with three different P_sub targets (10, 15, and 20 cm H₂O) while keeping a constant immersion level (Experiment 2). Participants were asked to self-assess the degree of ease of phonation. Objective measurements of air pressure-related variables and CQ were acquired during WRT exercises.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Changes in depths and P_sub levels showed significant effects on CQ and massage-like sensation in both groups. P_oral oscillation variables (amplitude, frequency, jitter, and shimmer of oscillation) were significantly influenced by changes in the depth of immersion and P_sub values. No significant differences were found for most variables when comparing both groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Findings confirm that modifying immersion depth and P_sub during WRT exercises induces measurable changes in vocal physiology. Across both experiments, higher loads (greater immersion or increased P_sub) led to a progressive increase in CQ, accompanied by higher P_oral instability and a significant reduction in perceived ease of phonation. Also, both P_sub and immersion depth were shown to influence bubble characteristics, P_oral oscillations, and potentially the massage-like sensation associated with WRT. Thus, careful control of these variables appears essential to optimize therapeutic outcomes in patients with voice disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4822-4840"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148893363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dissociable Effects of Dysarthria Etiology and Severity on the Minimally Detectable Change of Speech Intelligibility.","authors":"Kelly E Zdrowak, Antje S Mefferd, Kaila L Stipancic","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00740","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00740","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The minimally detectable change (MDC) provides a threshold for interpreting changes in outcome measures that are outside of measurement error. There is emerging evidence that dysarthria etiology and speech severity impact the MDC of speech intelligibility; however, an investigation of these factors is needed to determine the unique effects of dysarthria etiology and speech severity. The purpose of the current study was to calculate and compare MDCs of speech intelligibility across five dysarthria etiology groups and four severity levels.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Speech Intelligibility Test recordings from 200 speakers were used as stimuli, including recordings from healthy controls (<i>n</i> = 40) and individuals with neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (<i>n</i> = 16), Huntington's disease (<i>n</i> = 44), multiple sclerosis (<i>n</i> = 60), and Parkinson's disease (<i>n</i> = 40). Thirty inexperienced listeners provided orthographic transcriptions of 20 speakers each. MDCs were calculated, and speech severity levels were categorized based on empirically defined speech severity levels reported in Stipancic et al. (2021). Statistical analyses, including multiple linear regression, assessed the effects of etiology and severity on MDCs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Speech severity was a significant predictor of MDCs, with greater impairments to speech intelligibility resulting in higher MDCs. Dysarthria etiology was not a significant predictor of MDCs.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The impact of speech severity on MDCs of intelligibility in dysarthria underscores the need to calculate and provide MDCs across severity ranges to enhance the interpretation of patient outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4675-4687"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678543/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148805327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Implementation of Communication Disability Documentation and Accommodations in Primary Care: A Pragmatic Type III Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Trial Protocol.","authors":"Jennifer Oshita, Christina Studts, Carol Haywood, Alicia Wong, Jennifer Duffecy, Megan A Morris","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00080","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Routine collection of patients' communication disability (CD) status is instrumental for monitoring and addressing health disparities, including the provision of disability accommodations. Few health systems routinely collect patients' CD status. This article describes the study protocol for the \"Documentation of Communication Disability Collection and Accommodations in Primary Care Settings\" (DECA) study, a pragmatic Type III hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial evaluating an implementation guide and practice facilitation on the adoption of CD status documentation. We additionally evaluate the study's pragmatic design using Pragmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary-2-Provider Strategies (PRECIS-2-PS).</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The intervention includes documenting CD status and accommodation needs in the electronic health record (EHR) and providing requested accommodations. The implementation strategies are a tailored implementation guide and a practice facilitator providing implementation planning, problem solving, and quality monitoring. This quasi-experimental, stepped-wedge design includes 10 clinics across five health systems. The study employs a concurrent mixed-methods design. The primary outcome is Reach, operationalized as the proportion of patients with clinic visits during the study period who have CD status documented in the EHR. Secondary outcomes include the percentage of patients with accommodations documented in the EHR and the qualitative evaluation of adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Using PRECIS-2-PS domains, we rated the DECA study design elements as moderately to highly pragmatic, with design trade-offs made to balance real-world applicability with scientific rigor.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The DECA study will offer pragmatic evidence on the implementation effectiveness of an implementation guide and practice facilitation supporting health systems in identifying which patients have a CD and what accommodations they need.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33967966.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4636-4652"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678531/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149122854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Auditory-Somatosensory Influences on Vocal Motor Control in Primary Muscle Tension Dysphonia.","authors":"Adrianna C Shembel, Elizabeth D Young, Julianna Smeltzer, Roozbeh Behroozmand","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00868","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00868","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Auditory and somatosensory systems jointly support vocal motor control, yet their relative contributions in primary muscle tension dysphonia (pMTD) remain poorly understood. This study examined how auditory and somatosensory feedback influence vocal motor control and adaptation in individuals with and without pMTD.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Fifty-eight participants (pMTD: <i>n</i> = 17; controls: <i>n</i> = 41) completed a 200-trial altered auditory feedback paradigm involving sustained vowel productions with fundamental frequency downward shifts at -100 cents. The task was repeated with nebulized lidocaine to transiently attenuate laryngeal somatosensory input. Data were analyzed to extract the magnitude and direction of vocal adjustments across baseline, ramp, hold, and aftereffect phases.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Vocally healthy controls demonstrated robust adaptive vocal responses to fundamental frequency feedback alterations in the hold phase, followed by an adaptive aftereffect during the washout phase, particularly when somatosensation was intact. In contrast, when somatosensation was intact, individuals with pMTD displayed greater vocal responses in the opposing direction compared to controls during the hold phase, did not adapt within the hold phase, and showed greater variability overall. Notably, somatosensory disruption stabilized adaptation during the hold phase in pMTD with nebulized lidocaine.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Individuals with pMTD demonstrated differences in sensory weighting, with evidence that attenuating somatosensory input facilitated better vocal motor adaptation. Framing pMTD within models of sensorimotor control advances our theoretical understanding of the disorder and highlights aberrant somatosensory processing as a potential mechanism underlying vocal instability. Future research is needed to further elucidate sensorimotor interactions and determine whether targeted recalibration of sensory feedback has therapeutic benefit.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4661-4674"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148809761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reliability and Validity of the Mandarin Articulation and Phonological Test: Scale Development and Psychometric Properties for Preschool Children.","authors":"Chih-Chen Liang, Pao-Chuan Torng","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01044","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study aimed to (a) develop preliminary reference data for the Mandarin Articulation and Phonological Test (MAPT) and (b) examine its reliability and validity for assessing speech abilities in Mandarin-speaking preschool children aged 3-6 years. The study responded to the need for speech assessment tools with systematic psychometric documentation in Mandarin, where standardized instruments with comprehensive scoring systems remain limited.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Participants included 148 typically developing children (ages 3;0-6;11 [years;months]) and 76 children with speech sound disorders recruited from preschools and hospitals in Taiwan. The MAPT comprises three subtests: Word (67 items measuring speech ability), Articulation (38 phoneme items measuring articulation ability), and Phonology (13 error pattern items measuring phonological ability). Scale development referenced the Bankson-Bernthal Test of Phonology. Reliability was examined through internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha, Kuder-Richardson 20) and interrater agreement (percent agreement, intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]). Validity was evaluated through content description, construct identification, and criterion prediction approaches.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The MAPT demonstrated good interrater reliability (agreement: .88-.99; ICC = .86-.92, <i>p</i> < .001). Internal consistency coefficients were .95, .88, and .72 for the Word, Articulation, and Phonology subtests, respectively. Content validity was supported by comprehensive phoneme coverage meeting diagnostic standards. Construct validity showed moderate correlations with age (<i>r</i> = .45-.62) and high intersubtest correlations (<i>r</i> = .65-.78). Criterion validity revealed significant correlations with percentage of consonants correct (PCC; <i>r</i> = .72-.85) and significant group differences between typically developing children and those with speech sound disorders (Cohen's <i>d</i> = 1.8-2.4), though these estimates should be interpreted with caution given that PCC and group classification were derived from the same MAPT speech sample. Percentile-based descriptive thresholds derived from the normative sample (e.g., scores at or below the 10th percentile) are provided as preliminary benchmarks to inform clinical judgment alongside other assessment data.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The MAPT demonstrates adequate psychometric properties for clinical assessment and research applications in Mandarin-speaking populations. The preliminary reference data support age-referenced interpretation of children's speech abilities, with percentile-based thresholds offering descriptive guidance for identifying children who may warrant further evaluation.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33311883.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4688-4701"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Effect of Between-Ear Speech Perception Asymmetry on Localization, Spoken Language, and Literacy for Adolescents With Cochlear Implants.","authors":"Lisa S Davidson, Rosalie M Uchanski, Ann E Geers, Brent Spehar","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01063","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01063","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study aimed to examine the effects of between-ear speech perception asymmetry on localization, spoken language, and reading in adolescents with early cochlear implants (CIs).</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Eighty adolescents, who have long-term bilateral device use, participated: 10 with bimodal (BM) devices (CI plus hearing aid at the nonimplanted ear) and 70 with bilateral CIs (BCIs; 14 simultaneous, 56 sequential). Participants completed localization, unilateral speech perception, receptive language, and reading tests. Principal component analysis created composite scores for better-ear speech perception and between-ear speech perception asymmetry. Hierarchical regression examined the effects of demographics, audiological factors, and asymmetry on outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Localization scores for the two BCI groups did not differ significantly. Both BCI groups' localization scores were, however, significantly better than those of the BM group. Language and reading scores were not significantly different for the three groups. Regression analyses of localization scores revealed positive effects for earlier receipt of CI/s and negative effects of longer duration of acoustic experience, although this effect was moderated by degree of residual hearing. Larger speech perception asymmetry negatively affected localization scores but had no effect on language or reading scores.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Speech perception asymmetry negatively affected localization but not language or reading in adolescent CI users. Prolonged acoustic experience (via BM use) increased speech perception asymmetry and reduced localization skills. Localization skills had no significant effects on spoken language or reading scores in adolescence. Clinically, asymmetry guides device recommendations, but asymmetry's impact, if any, differs by outcome. For children with better residual hearing, early acoustic hearing (via BM use) benefits both localization and language. Thus, careful timing of BCIs is advised.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33490615.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"5078-5091"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678634/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148973055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age and Discourse Task Independently Influence Disfluency Production.","authors":"Kathryn Walters, Megan S Nakamura, Abigail L Cosgrove, Haoyun Zhang, Sara B W Troutman, Victoria H Gertel, Michele T Diaz","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00799","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00799","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Aging is often associated with increased difficulty in speech production (e.g., increased word-finding difficulties and disfluencies), as well as with broader cognitive changes such as declines in executive function (EF) and greater sensitivity to task constraints. However, how both EF and task constraints contribute to age-related differences in speech is unclear.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We analyzed age-related differences in disfluencies and lexical diversity in spontaneous speech from 272 healthy adults, aged 20-81 years, using two narrative discourse tasks varying in structure: an open-ended prompt and a picture book description. Both tasks involve telling a story but differ in predetermined structure. The open-ended prompt is unstructured, while the picture book provides visual scaffolding to guide speech. Additionally, participants completed a battery of EF tasks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, older adults produced more repetitions, revisions, and unfilled pauses. Filled pauses, however, decreased with age, which may be related to generational differences in lexical filler use (e.g., \"like,\" \"you know\"). Additionally, there was an effect of discourse task: The open-ended prompt elicited more disfluencies overall and higher lexical diversity, despite speech samples being shorter in duration and containing fewer words. Though older adults also showed lower EF across several tasks, relationships between EF, age, and disfluencies did not survive corrections for multiple comparisons suggesting a minimal influence of EF on disfluencies in this sample.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings emphasize the influence of age and task demands on speech production. However, EF showed limited associations with disfluency production and did not account for age differences.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33334365.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4758-4776"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678524/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148883258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}