Dr. Linton Hutchinson's Page

Research design is the plan and structure of an investigation for the
purposes of obtaining answers to research questions. The basic purposes
of research designs are to provide answers and to control variables of
interest. An appropriate research design allows the investigator to
obtain answers to questions of research and to control the expiremental,
extraneous, and error variances of the research problem being studied.

There are two major classes of research design… Continue

Motor speech disorders are disorders of speech resulting in disruptions
in motor programming. They are caused by neurologic impairment. Motor
speech disorders encompass apraxia of speech and the dysarthrias. The
former (apraxia), a disorder in planning resulting from an impairment in
the ability to carry out sensorimotor commands for the purposes of
positioning and moving muscles for the volitional production of speech.
The latter (dysarthria), a movement disorder result… Continue

Aphasia is a disorder in the use of language. It is the result of
damage or injury to the language dominant region of the brain. The
most common cause of aphasia is interruption of blood supply to the
brain. Other causes of the disorder are traumatic brain injury, brain
tumors, infections, exposure to toxic chemicals, or nutritional
disturbances.

Typically following thhe first few days of an acute injury to the brain,
there is extensive disruption of cerebral pro… Continue

Modeling of the Vocal Tract:

A basic tool in science is modeling. Since vocal tracts, brains,
galaxies, etc. are too complex to be studied in their natural state, a
model of the actual physical object is constructed and studied. For
example, a model of the vocal tract begins with a tube with a uniform
diameter along its length. The tube is closed at one end and open at
the other. The closed end of the tube can be thought of as the glottis
and the open end of the… Continue

The Measurement of Stuttering Behavior Part I of II

How does one define stuttering?

The answer to this question becomes increasingly important when working with a person who stutters. Over the years, research into stuttering has contributed several ways to define the phenomenon better known as stuttering. Here are 3 of the 5 ways to define stuttering behavior. The clinician should become familiar with the advantages and limitations of each method before using them.

1)… Continue