In three experiments, 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds and adults identified words from a list presented by a single talker or multiple talkers. Subjects were less accurate identifying or slower repeating words spoken by multiple speakers than by a single speaker. Processing of multiple speakers' words became easier with age. Children matched their…

Discusses how to create a good acoustical environment for college libraries, focusing on requirements related to the HVAC system and lighting, and noting the importance of good maintenance. A sidebar looks at how to design and achieve the most appropriate HVAC and lighting systems for optimum library acoustics. (SM)

Three studies investigated comfortable loudness levels with particular reference to their application to hearing aid gain prescriptions. The studies, involving 33 normal hearing adults and 77 adults with hearing impairments, suggest that comfortable loudness levels for continuous speech bands can be estimated rather accurately, quickly, and with…

Presents a simple but effective experiment that uses ultrasonic transducers and some basic electronics to study the speed of sound using the Doppler effect. Eliminates the noise problems associated with most sound experiments. Discusses the theory, and describes the apparatus and procedure. (JRH)

Presents demonstrations of stereo sound interference resulting from two receivers being placed at different sound path distances from two speakers. It serves as a model for listening to two speakers with our ears. (PR)

This case study describes an adolescent with multiple articulation errors. Comparison with previous studies found this individual demonstrated longer phrase durations and more variability than either normally articulating or speech-disordered and language-disordered children. Interaction between syntactic and articulatory performance was also…

Vocal interactions of mothers and infants were recorded. Mothers' vocalizations were coded for five categories of pitch. Infant vocalization in relation to pitch variants of maternal speech was characterized by several physical parameters, such as duration and peak frequency of vocalization. (BC)

This investigation compared five parameters of phonatory function in an examination of the use of acoustic measures in differential diagnosis in 39 subjects in 3 neuropathological groups (Parkinson, Huntington, cerebellar ataxia) and a normal control group. Results indicated higher variability in perturbation in all the neuropathological groups.…

A school system engaged an acoustical consultant to test designated classrooms to determine whether an acoustical problem existed. The consultant conducted tests and concluded that there was no problem. Findings from an investigation of the data differed appreciably from those of the acoustical consultant. Acoustical design criteria for remodeling…

Provides an acoustic profile of the prosody of right-dislocations in French, using the CECIL computer hardware and software package to analyze 28 right-dislocations occurring in a corpus of natural French discourse. It was found that, although right-dislocations appear to fulfill various functional roles in discourse, no correlation appears…

This paper discusses the problem of feedback in hearing aids and offers examples based on a computer simulation of hearing aid behavior. The available technology for dealing with feedback is reviewed, and the new digital signal-processing approaches which may finally solve the feedback problem are described. (Author/DB)

This study evaluated whether listeners can distinguish human brainstem auditory evoked responses elicited by acoustic clicks from control waveforms obtained with no acoustic stimulus when the waveforms are presented auditorily. Detection performance for stimuli presented visually was slightly, but consistently, superior to that which occurred for…

Acoustic analyses, along with perceptual ratings, measured the extent to which preschoolers imitated three modeled intonation contours (declarative, interrogative, and monotone). Results indicated that five-year-old children imitated modeled contours more frequently than did three-year-old children, with between-group differences largely because…

Otoacoustic emissions and behavioral hearing thresholds were measured in 14 participants before and after exposure to a 10-minute 105-dB SPL, half-octave band of noise centered at 1.414kHz. Results showed that the maximum temporary emissions shifts were half to one octave above the exposed frequency. Other findings are discussed. (Author/CR)

Examines noise-abatement planning for large athletic facilities, gymnasiums, pool areas, and recreational areas. Acoustical controls for smaller, special-purpose areas are also discussed. (GR)