Publication Date

1-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Schwartz, Howard D.

Degree Name

B.S. (Bachelor of Science)

Legacy Department

School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how listeners judge various attributes of a speaker based upon their perception of the speaker's speaking rate. The characteristics of interest included: intelligence, competence, physical relaxation, emotional relaxation, and employability. Speech samples were recorded for four student volunteers while describing five different pictures using a fast speaking rate, typical speaking rate, and slow speaking rate. The subjects participating in this study were from a large undergraduate class. The recorded audio samples were played to the subjects, and after each recording the subjects answered five questions using a standard scantron. Results indicated that as speaking rate increased the reported positive results for all five attributes generally increased. Findings of this study suggested a potential clinical application for various individuals with communicative disorders who are taught to modify their speaking to improve their ability to communicate (e.g. persons who stutter).

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

21 unnumbered pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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