9451351 Rothman This project will give undergraduate students in the field of communicative disorders an opportunity for hands-on experience with the most modern scientific equipment used in the investigation of normal and disordered speech production. The acquisition of the following equipment allows the project to achieve this goal: the Computerized Speech Lab allows analysis of the complex acoustic information in speech, clarifying the speech production and perception theories presented in lectures. The existing equipment of linearized magnetometers provide the students with information concerning the coordinated movements of the respiratory system. The pneumotachograph setup allows measurements of airflow patterns within the vocal tract, yielding valuable information about the activity of the vocal folds during voicing. All of these instruments will be used for instructor demonstrations and student experiments during laboratory course sections accompanying each of the undergraduate speech science lecture sections offered in the department. By bringing students into a scientific environment where they become active participants, this project opens the door to a greater appreciation for the role of science in the service of individuals with communicative disorders.
