Functional anatomy of speech, language, and hearing‐a primer, Edited by William H. Perkins and Raymond D. Kent, 505 pp. Little Brown/College‐Hill Press, San Diego, California, 1986. $31.00

Abstract

This primer represents a unique idea in educational materials. It is intended to provide students of speech and language pathology with "ONLY as much anatomy, physiology, and acoustics as is necessary to understand how the equipment functions to produce and understand speech." This difficult task is accomplished using limited technical terminology and a functional approach to anatomy, which conditions the reader to deduct the function of structures more than simply memorize names, origins, and insertions.The book is divided into three sections, "Speech Muscle Systems and Acoustics," "Neural Control and Auditory Systems," and ('Appendices." Each of the first two sections contains eight chapters organized sequentially to allow for a build-up of information from one chapter to the next. Each chapter includes a presentation and discussion, followed by a self-study section. The self-study section contains a glossary of terms used in the chapter, drawings to be colored or labeled, and "fill in the blanks" to questions. Although the self-study exercises are appropriate, the directions for some are tedious. The book is well-illustrated with simple blackand-white line drawings designed to offer a high degree of visibility of the more relevant structures. References are not provided in each chapter; instead, an appendix with a list of selected readings is provided. In addition, the appendix contains a list of recommended audiovisual materials, a dictionary of anatomic terms, a brief summary of embryologic development, and the answers to the the self-study exercises.Overall, the content and structure of this book is, for the most part, appropriate and informative; however, the authors have chosen to include an abundance of information in a single work. Consequently, some of the information presented is not the introductory or basic type of material expected in a primer, and it would be easier for the studeet to understand if it were presented in a more standardized format. With this minor LANGUAGE, AND HEARING-A PRIMER limitation in mind, it is felt that this text could best be utilized by students of speech pathology as a secondary text for laboratory sessions to reinforce material presented in formal lectures and conferences, and as an excellent guide for those wishing to review such information before examinations. The authors of this primer should be commended for their efforts.