Abstract

The current study examined the effects of bite blocks on articulatory kinematics when producing /r/ within a phrase. Participants consisted of 20 young adults (10 males, 10 females) with no speech, language or hearing disorders. Participants produced the carrier phrase, I say __ with the nonsense words /əri/ (high front vowel), /əræ/ (low front vowel), /əru/ (high back vowel), /ərɑ/ (low back vowel). A Northern Digital Instruments Wave electromagnetic articulograph measured the articulatory movements while the speaker produced the stimuli in two conditions (Pre bite block and post bite block). Bilateral bite blocks were made using Express dental putty, which is a silicone impression material, in order to create an inter-incisal gap of 10 mm. The hull area (i.e., a boundary enclosing the total distance the sensor traveled during the target phrase) of the data for each sensor (i.e., tongue back, tongue mid, tongue front, lower lip, mandibular central incisor) was calculated for the individual nonsense words /eɪərɑ/, /eɪəræ/, /eɪəri/, and /eɪəru/. Results revealed kinematic differences across vowel phrases and between genders. The hull area of the tongue and jaw were significantly different for the vowel phrases /eɪəræ/, /eɪəri/, and /eɪəru/ compared to /eɪərɑ/. The hull area for the jaw for /eɪərɑ/ was significantly larger than the other vowel phrases. The between-gender analyses showed larger hull areas for males than females. Different motor equivalent strategies for tongue movements were observed when speakers produced /eɪərɑ/ and there were individual differences in compensating for the presence of the bite block

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders

Rights

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