We hypothesized that acoustic measures would predict dysphonic severity with differential results for pathological voice types. An instructional program based upon synthesized voice signals was developed to facilitate an awareness of prototypical voice types. Eighty phonatory samples representing normal subjects as well as patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis, vocal nodules, and functional dysphonia were analyzed acoustically on the basis of four measures: average fundamental frequency (F 0 ), jitter, shimmer, and harmonic/noise ratio (H/N ratio). Following training, 29 listeners classified 62% of the phonatory samples on the basis of breathy, hoarse, rough, and normal. Dysphonic severity of rough voices was predicted more successfully by H/N ratio ( r 2 =.73) than by shimmer ( r 2 =.43). Dysphonic severity of breathy voices was predicted only by the combined features of less jitter, more shimmer, and lower H/N ratio ( r 2 =.74). No combination of acoustic variables was successful in the prediction of the hoarse voice type.

Technology in the university classroom has made great strides in the area of presentation of materials. Ceiling-mounted projectors and media carts with projection capabilities have made the multimedia classroom presentation a routine event for much of the world of higher education. Now there is technology that permits the instructor to solicit student responses during class via wireless keypads. This allows all students to respond simultaneously and the instructor to know the results immediately. This article reports the results of a pilot study on student reaction to a specific system (LearnStar). Students were uniformly positive in their appraisal of this technology as a teaching tool.

The relative effectiveness of three acoustic measures (jitter, shimmer, and harmonic/noise ratio) in predicting the dysphonic severity of a diverse clinical population singly and together was investigated. Phonatory samples were recorded from 20 normal subjects and 60 patients representing 3 laryngeal groups (nodules, paralysis, and functional). The phonatory samples were evaluated by 22 listeners using a 7-point equal-appearing interval scale. Shimmer produced a bivariate correlation of 0.54 with dysphonic severity; harmonic/noise ratio correlated −0.32 with dysphonic severity; and jitter produced no significant correlation with severity. The combination of acoustic variables through multiple regression analysis produced a correlation of 0.56, with only shimmer and average F 0 contributing to the correlation. For this particular clinical population, therefore, findings indicated that (a) none of the variables was strongly correlated with dysphonia ratings, and (b) a combination of acoustic predictors was no more successful than a single predictor of dysphonic severity, namely, shimmer.

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The purpose of this study was to determine consistency of the acoustic measurement of fundamental frequency (f0) and f0 perturbation using the Visi-Pitch. Samples of speech including a reading passage, vowels, and spontaneous speech were recorded for 12 normal young adults (6 men and 6 women). The results indicated that test-retest reliability was highest for the reading passage. The measurements of fundamental frequency for reading and spontaneous speech were very similar, but vowel production was, on average, higher in frequency than the other contexts. Test-retest measures of perturbation using the Visi-Pitch did not have a high correlation coefficient. Perturbation measures must be interpreted cautiously because of the influence of frequency.