The Effectiveness of the precision fluency shaping program controlling stuttering behaviour in adults

This study was done to test the effectiveness of the Precision Fluency Shaping Program in controlling stuttering behaviour in adults. Two sites were chosen, each using the Precision Fluency Shaping Program to treat stuttering. At each clinic, a Speech Patbologist made a random selection of the subjects' pre- and post-therapy video-taped interviews, totalling 20 in all. During the interviews, the clients were asked questions and re~d a short passage to determine the frequency of stuttering in natural conversation and in reading. Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory questionnaires vvere also filled in before and after therapy. Two judges were trained to identify stuttering behaviour, and were given an inter-rater reliability test at selected intervals throughout the study. Protocols",:m.a;d;6 of each interview tape, were scored for (a) stuttering behaviour and (b) words spoken or read. An Analysis of Variance Repeated Measures Test was used to compare before and after scores of conversations, readings, and Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory to determine whether the Precision Fluency Shaping Program controlled stuttering behaviour significantly. A Pearson R Correlation Test was also administered to determine if a relationship existed bet\veen Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory and (i) conversation and (ii) reading scores.

The metacognitive cue of fluency on taste perception

The relative ease tha t a person experiences while performing cognitive operations, namely processing fluency, affects a broad range of judgments such as product evaluations. For example, an increase in fluency through repeated exposure to product packages enhances attitude toward the brand (Janiszewski 1993). This thesis examined the effect of fluency on taste perception and demonstrated where the fluency created an advantage or disfluency created a disadvantage for taste evaluations. Experiment 1 examined the effect of perceptual fluency on taste perception. It was found that perceptual disfluency derived from r eading the labels (i.e., font) lowered taste evaluations only when it was experienced be for the sensory experience. Experiment 2 examined the effect of linguistic fluency (i.e., pronunciation) on taste perception. However there was no evidence for the effect of linguistic fluency on taste perception. Thus, it is concluded that either the effect size of linguistic fluency is lower than perceptual fluency, or participants discounted their linguistic fluency experience because they realized that the brand names used in Experiment 2 were not real brand names. To sum up, it was found that perceptual disfluency created by presenting a difficult to read product-related information created a disadvantage for taste perception compared to when no information was presented. Therefore, this thesis provides the first evidence for the effect of the metacognitive cue of fluency on sensory evaluations.

The development of norm-based coding and category-specific face prototypes : an examination of 5- and 8-year-olds' face space

The present set of experiments was designed to investigate the organization and refmement of young children's face space. Past research has demonstrated that adults encode individual faces in reference to a distinct face prototype that represents the average of all faces ever encountered. The prototype is not a static abstracted norm but rather a malleable face average that is continuously updated by experience (Valentine, 1991); for example, following prolonged viewing of faces with compressed features (a technique referred to as adaptation), adults rate similarly distorted faces as more normal and more attractive (simple attractiveness aftereffects). Recent studies have shown that adults possess category-specific face prototypes (e.g., based on race, sex). After viewing faces from two categories (e.g., Caucasian/Chinese) that are distorted in opposite directions, adults' attractiveness ratings simultaneously shift in opposite directions (opposing aftereffects). The current series of studies used a child-friendly method to examine whether, like adults, 5- and 8-year-old children show evidence for category-contingent opposing aftereffects. Participants were shown a computerized storybook in which Caucasian and Chinese children's faces were distorted in opposite directions (expanded and compressed). Both before and after adaptation (i.e., reading the storybook), participants judged the normality/attractiveness of a small number of expanded, compressed, and undistorted Caucasian and Chinese faces. The method was first validated by testing adults (Experiment I ) and was then refined in order to test 8- (Experiment 2) and 5-yearold (Experiment 4a) children. Five-year-olds (our youngest age group) were also tested in a simple aftereffects paradigm (Experiment 3) and with male and female faces distorted in opposite directions (Experiment 4b). The current research is the first to demonstrate evidence for simple attractiveness aftereffects in children as young as 5, thereby indicating that similar to adults, 5-year-olds utilize norm-based coding. Furthermore, this research provides evidence for racecontingent opposing aftereffects in both 5- and 8-year-olds; however, the opposing aftereffects demonstrated by 5-year-olds were driven largely by simple aftereffects for Caucasian faces. The lack of simple aftereffects for Chinese faces in 5-year-olds may be reflective of young children's limited experience with other-race faces and suggests that children's face space undergoes a period of increasing differentiation over time with respect to race. Lastly, we found no evidence for sex -contingent opposing aftereffects in 5-year-olds, which suggests that young children do not rely on a fully adult-like face space even for highly salient face categories (i.e., male/female) with which they have comparable levels of experience.

The Effects of Drama on Oral Fluency and Foreign Language Anxiety: An exploratory study

Previous research has suggested that drama has positive effects on learners' oral communication and anxiety; however, it is unclear which dimensions, or to what extent, they are affected by drama. This research narrows the investigation by examining how a drama-based EFL program impacts three dimensions of oral communication: fluency, comprehensibility, and accentedness, and one anxiety factor - foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) -, over time. Speech samples were collected from EFL learners in a treatment and a control group, and subsequently assessed by untrained Canadian-born raters. FLSA levels were measured through questionnaires and interviews. Pre- and post-test analysis indicate that learners in the treatment group made significant gains in oral fluency while oral fluency among learners in the control group remained unchanged. There was a significant reduction in FLSA levels among learners in both groups. Finally, qualitative analyses suggest that drama activities, among others, enhance learners' comfort levels in speaking English.