Search

Significance: Speech processing tasks can be used to assess the integrity and health of many functional and structural aspects of the brain. Despite the potential merits of such behavioral tests as clinical assessment tools, however, the underlying neural substrates remain relatively unclear. Aim: We aimed to obtain a more in-depth portrait of hemispheric asymmetry during dichotic listening tasks at the level of the prefrontal cortex, where prior studies have reported inconsistent results. Approach: To avoid central confounds that limited previous studies, we used diffuse correlation spectroscopy to optically monitor cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during dichotic listening tasks in human subjects. Results: We found that dichotic listening tasks elicited hemispheric asymmetries in both amplitude as well as kinetics. When listening task blocks were repeated, there was an accommodative reduction in the response amplitude of the left, but not the right hemisphere. Conclusions: These heretofore unobserved trends depict a more nuanced portrait of the functional asymmetry that has been observed previously. To our knowledge, these results additionally represent the first direct measurements of CBF during a speech processing task recommended by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for diagnosing auditory processing disorders.

BackgroundThe mental health assessment is a fundamental aspect of clinical practice and central to this is the use of questions.AimsTo investigate the frequency and type of questions utilised within a child mental health assessment.MethodThe data consisted of 28 naturally occurring assessments from a UK child and adolescent mental health service. Data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative content analysis to determine frequencies and question type.ResultsResults indicated a total of 9086 questions in 41 h across the 28 clinical encounters. This equated to a mean of 3.7 questions per minute. Four types of questions were identified; yes–no interrogatives, wh-prefaced questions, declarative questions and tag questions.ConclusionsThe current format of questioning may impede the opportunity for families to fully express their particular concerns and this has implications for service delivery and training.

The aim of this study was to find prospective English language teachers’ opinions on computer-based materials in comparison to paper-based materials in relation to some variables such as their self-perceived knowledge of using computers and their sex. The participants were asked to decide to what degree computer and paper-based materials differed in language learning and teaching components, namely, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and intonation, listening, reading, speaking, writing, literature, target culture, pragmatics, general knowledge, learning strategies and styles, and creating a positive classroom atmosphere. Results indicated no significant correlation between participants’ knowledge of computers and their opinions, but statistically significant relationship was found between gender and their opinions.