SH 316: Speech Science- Final Review
There will be 100 questions, multiple choice and True/False. This review sheet is
a compilation of all other four review sheets with some more specific information,
however, if you study your old review sheets you should be well prepared.
Specifics…
1) Informational sources of speech- Know what they are and their definition (definitions
like Affective quality etc.)
2) Theories of speech production- Know the types and what distinguishes one from the
other (neural vs. motor etc.)
3) Fluid mechanics & hydrodynamics- Know what they are and what types of fluid
mechanics pertain to speech measures.
4) Understand the force equation- Know the relationship not necessarily how to calculate
it. These questions will take the form of a speech example explaining the force and
area relationship as it pertains to speech structures.
5) 1 Newton = 1 pascal. If 1N= 1kg m/s2 is equal to 1 Pa. Know this concept and what
unit of measurement is typically used in speech regarding force measurement (know
pascals equivalent)
6) Vital capacity- Know how to calculate ml into liters or cubic centimeters (norms for
vital capacity), also know adding insp reserve + exp reserve + tidal volume gets you
what?
7) Flow- Know the relationship between volume and flow and what the normal values
are for women and men. There may be some calculation here. Look at the example
in you lecture notes (norms for flow in men, women, children)
8) Pressure vs. Flow relationship in a dynamic (moving system) as well as in a static
(still) system (higher pressures move to lower pressures etc.).
9) Bernoulli- Understand the movement of flow and pressure through the vocal tract.
Know the theory.
10) There will be a question describing the difference between turbulent & laminar flow.
11) Know the difference between rarefaction and condensation of sound particles.
12) Calculation of frequency: f= 1/time; time = 1/f (this value will be in seconds).
Know to move the decimal three places to the right to get the value in ms.
13) Amplitude & frequency variation along with some questions on signal to noise ratio.
14) Distinguish between structures that are a part of the thorax vs. chest wall.
15) Be able to describe the components of thoracic expansion (movement etc).
16) Structure and function of the capillaries.
17) Know the difference between the mechanical adjustments during rest breathing and
speech breathing.
18) Understand the relaxation pressure concept. Understand how the chest wall and
abdomen respond at different lung volumes (i.e. high vs. low lung volume).
19) There will be some questions on lung volumes and capacities. You may have to
calculate some capacities given two volumes. So know which volumes make up
which capacities.
20) Respiratory kinematics- know what the rib cage and abdomen do during rest
breathing and during the sustained vowel production and syllable repetition task as
described in the article (Dynamics….by Hixon). These are also well described in the
notes for 2/3/99.
Anatomy & Physiology of the larynx & supralaryngeal system
1. 5 layers of the vocal folds and their composition (what are the layers made up of, what
are they called, i.e. epithelial layer etc.)
2. Laryngeal framework (bones & cartilage's) (paired vs. unpaired cartilage)
3. Attachment point of the vocal folds
4. Extrinsic & intrinsic muscle functions (i.e. thyrohyoid, thyroarytenoid)
5. Phonation threshold pressure
6. What events must occur to keep the vocal folds vibrating? (Recoil of the folds,
aerodynamics and continuous Ps) (sequencing question)
7. Difference between how the cover of the vocal folds works and the body of the vocal
folds (cover-body theory)
8. How do the vocal folds open and close in an A-P dimension and a vertical dimension
(top to bottom, etc)
9. What controls frequency of vibration of the vocal folds?
10. What determines vocal loudness?
11. What is an adequate Ps for conversational speech?
12. Know the components of the glottal waveform (which is opening, open, closed,
closing from the diagram)
13. Know at what frequency to measure vocal fold movement-using videostroboscopy
14. Know differences in sound formation (fricatives, plosives etc.)
15. EGG waveforms- good and bad contact (diagram from notes)
16. Subdivisions of the vocal tract
17. Divisions of oropharynx, laryngopharynx, nasal cavity
18. Soft palate functions
19. VP closure patterns (diagram fromnotes)
20. Order events of the swallow
21. Benefits of testing otoacoustic emission
22. Human speech frequencies
23. Instrumentation video (which instruments were presented)
24. Auditory system development
Neural Basis
1.
2.
3.
4.
Basic units of the neuron (axon, dendrites, neurotransmitters etc.)
Types of neurons- Distinguish between types by their function
Structure types of neurons- be able to label mono, bipolar etc. (from diagram)
Identify the steps in the neurotransmitter disbursement from neuron to neuron (Steps 1,2,3
etc)
5. Types of neurotransmitters- (slow vs. fast)
6. Difference between myelin (CNS & PNS myelin)
7. Know the steps of the neural impulse (i.e. sodium/potassium shift- Rest-DepolarizationRepolarization- back to rest) as it is stated in the notes
8. Resting potential of the neuron (-70 millivolts)
9. Areas responsible for phonation-cortical areas (motor strip etc.)
10. Be able to identify the motor areas involved on the cortex that are involved in phonation
from the diagram
11. Difference between where muscles are controlled- higher brain functions vs. lower brain
functions.
12. Functions of thalamus and specific functions for speech- Know different nuclei associated
with differing functions
13. Location and function of the periaqueductal gray
14. Must know the peripheral nerve Vagus and all its branches and where they end up (intrinsic
muscles) and what branches control which muscles.
Physiological Phonetics
1. Know basic categories (levels of observation) of speech production and how we measure
them (instrumentation).
2. Know specific techniques for motor control, brain imaging and especially structural
movement as we saw several video examples on this topic.
3. There may be a question about EPG patterns where you have to pick out the correct phoneme
that matches the palatal display from your notes.
4. Aerodynamic- Know definitions of pressure and airflow measurements.
5. Know the difference between the acronym (P, V) and the written description (Subglottal
pressure= Psub)
6. Know the biological capacity values and the speech requirement values and the difference
between them.
Know the instr
Spectrogramming & Acoustic Phonetics
Resonance's of the vocal tract & vocal folds (formants vs. harmonics)
Recognize formant frequency values for women & men & children (F1, F2, F3)
Cross sectional configuration for front, back & central vowels (know relationship back to
front etc.)
Tongue height & advancement- Corresponding formant changes (for vowels 7 stopsknow basic rules)
Be able to read vowel quadrangle
Source-filter theory (i.e. difference between formant and harmonic resonance)
dB drop off for source/filter, radiation characteristics (what are the number values
associated with these physiological changes)
How are antiformants are produced (i.e. nasals)
Basic components of a spectrogram (intensity, time frequency)
Know axis of spectrogram and their meaning (X & Y)
Narrow vs wide band spectrogram (differences and what acoustic properties they reflect)
How do you calculate Fo from a spectrogram (I,e think of the how to do this using a wide
band and narrow band spectrogram)
Relationship of F1 & F2 in relation to front and back vowels
Acoustic cues of all consonants (Spectrographic cues)
Identify stop consonant from a spectrogram (just the diagram I presented in my notes
regarding the voiceless stops)
Identify consonant based on its formant description (slide on formant transitions on stop
consonants)
Segmental vs. suprasegmental characteristics
Know perceptual theories
Understand perceptual terms- Intonation, stress etc.
Learning & perception- classroom arrangements etc.
Know definitions of perceptual terms (linearity, segmentation, acoustic variance)