Course Description
Biomechanical, acoustical, anatomical, and physiological principles underlying human communication and related vocal tract behaviors in normal populations. Systems covered include the articulatory subsystems of the tongue, jaw, orofacial region, velopharynx, and pharynx. Topics related to speech perception and models of speech production are incorporated into the curriculum.
Athena Title
SPEECH SCIENCE
Prerequisite
CMSD 3010 and permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to: 1. Demonstrate the ability to comprehend, conceptualize, and integrate the basic underlying principles of anatomy and physiology. 2. Appreciate the 3-D structure of the human vocal tract and how different areas of the system are related to one another during normal speech and vocalization. 3. Be able to analyze and describe the selection, sequencing, and timing of articulatory systems to produce intelligible speech. 4. Be able to describe the selection and sequencing of systems involved in non-speech behaviors such as chewing and facial gestures. 5. Intuitively understand and synthesize together the mathematical and physical principles of vocalization with knowledge of the structural components of the human vocal tract. 6. Appreciate the comparative diversity of human vocal tract physiology as it pertains to vocalization in different age group populations, across gender, and within select disordered subject groups. 7. Be able to analyze and evaluate the importance and relation between muscular subsystems of the human vocal tract that work to produce changes in vocal tract shape, sound pressure, and airflow during speech. 8. Be able to describe and evaluate a constellation of tools and techniques that are used today to investigate normal and disordered speech. 9. Be able to synthesize your knowledge of (1) normal anatomy and physiology of the human vocal tract and (2) your understanding of quantitative analyses methods to appreciate more fully the pathophysiology of speech and non-speech disorders.
Topical Outline
1. Speech Aerodynamics 2. Review the anatomy of the skull, face, pharynx, and tongue 3. Review the Basic Physics of Waves, Acoustic signals and Resonance 4. Source-filter Theory of Vocalization 5. Acoustic Phonetics: Formants, Vowel and Consonant Features 6. Issues in Speech Perception 7. Survey of Speech Physiological Assessment Methods