The Committee on Speech and Hearing Science offers an interdisciplinary graduate program leading to the Ph.D. degree in Speech and Hearing Science. Concentrations are available in developmental neurolinguistic disorders, neuroauditory processes, and neurogerontologic communication disorders.
The program is designed to prepare scholars for careers of basic and applied research in educational or health care delivery environments. The student pursues a program with the unifying theme of the influence of the neurologic system on human communication and its disorders. After a core curriculum, which may include aspects of neuroscience, methodology, or speech and hearing science, the student completes a program of study under the guidance of the program committee. As part of the interdisciplinary doctoral program, a programmatic research experience prepares the student for basic or applied research leading to the dissertation.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
See “Doctor of Philosophy” for general requirements.
Admission Requirements. Admission to the program is competitive; therefore, applications are considered only for fall admission. Applicants typically have completed a master’s degree or equivalent in speech and hearing sciences, psychology, linguistics, or a related discipline. Applicants with a bachelor’s degree and a strong research background are also considered.
Applicants must submit the following materials for admission review:
All applicants whose native language is not English must submit a score from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE). Expected minimum scores are 600 on the TOEFL and 230 on the TSE.
Application materials are reviewed beginning February 1. Applications are reviewed by a three-member interdisciplinary admissions committee. Recommendations for admission or denial are forwarded to the dean of the Graduate College. Criteria for admission include the following:
Areas of Concentration. Eighteen semester hours are taken in an area of concentration that focuses on the unifying theme of neurological or developmental/aging issues and human communication and its disorders. The student’s program committee guides selection of these courses, which are concentrated in either developmental neurolinguistic disorders, neurogerontologic communication disorders, or neuroauditory processes.
Program Committee. The program committee consists of a chair and at least two other members appointed by the dean of the Graduate College upon recommendation of the director of the Committee on Speech and Hearing Science. Members of the program committee must represent more than one academic discipline. The purpose of the committee is to guide the student through the completion of the program of study, the initiation of programmatic research, and the comprehensive examination. Upon completion of the comprehensive examination, the student may initiate forming a dissertation committee.
Dissertation Committee. Upon completion of the comprehensive examination and based on the recommendation of the director of the Committee on Speech and Hearing Science, the dean of the Graduate College appoints the student’s dissertation committee consisting of a chair and at least two other members. The dissertation committee must be interdisciplinary. This committee approves the design and implementation of the dissertation. Members of the program committee also may serve as members of the dissertation committee.
Preliminary Examination. The preliminary examination is composed minimally of the first-year research project. This project, to be completed by the end of the second semester of the first year, consists of an oral presentation and defense of the research, as well as a written manuscript. The program committee decides whether an optional written examination is necessary. The format of that examination is determined by the program committee and depends, in part, upon the background of the student. Results of the preliminary examination are used to determine shortcomings that should be offset by course electives, the level at which the student is capable of pursuing various topic areas, and whether deficiencies are of sufficient magnitude to preclude recommendation for continued doctoral study.
Research Methods and Statistics. The student is required to demonstrate proficiency in research methods (research design, statistics, computer languages). Evidence of required proficiency may be demonstrated by examination or by successful completion of a sequence of courses designated by the program committee.
Program of Study. The program consists of a minimum of 54 semester hours of graduate work beyond the master’s degree or 84 semester hours of graduate work beyond the bachelor’s degree. Of the required semester hours, at least 24 must be research (SHS 792) and dissertation (SHS 799) credit completed at ASU. A minimum of 30 hours of the approved Ph.D. program, exclusive of dissertation and research hours, must be completed after admission to the Ph.D. at ASU.
Comprehensive Examinations. Near the completion of course work and before commencing dissertation research, the student is given a written examination covering the field of study. The written examination, when passed, may be followed by an oral examination.
Programmatic Research. Twelve semester hours of programmatic research (SHS 792) are required before the dissertation prospectus meeting. The student must conduct several studies, each representing a facet of a research problem or a step toward a progressive solution. Each component study must be reviewed by the program committee and conducted in collaboration with a faculty member of the interdisciplinary degree program. This research program allows the doctoral student to use different methodologies in various component studies, to exercise progressively tighter experimental controls as determined by serial investigations, or to pursue significant or unexpected outcomes of a study.
This systematic or serial research program engages the student and faculty in an ongoing research activity, the components of which allow increasing discretion and independence of the student investigator. The program is designed to prepare students for careers in basic or applied research and enhance the quality of the dissertation research.
Research and Dissertation Proposals. (1) Before conducting the programmatic research, the student is advised by the program committee on the appropriateness of the planned research. (2) Before conducting the research for the dissertation, each student must submit a dissertation proposal that is defended orally and approved by the dissertation committee.
Dissertation Requirements. The dissertation must consist of a fully documented written product of mature and original scholarship. It must be a significant contribution to knowledge that reflects the student’s creativity and competence in independent research.
Final Examinations. A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation, conducted by the dissertation committee, is required.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Members of the Committee on Speech and Hearing Science are engaged in a variety of research activities. Current activity is in the following areas.
Hearing. Psychoacoustics; neurophysiology; physiological correlates of psychoacoustic phenomena; complex signal processing; effects of hearing loss on auditory perception; relationship between psychoacoustics and speech perception; speech perception in the normal and impaired auditory system; speech and auditory processing in persons with cochlear implants; amplification and hearing aids; auditory electrophysiology.
Speech. Phonetics and phonological theory; oral sensory perceptual physiology; speech motor control; neuromotor disorders of speech; oral-motor precursors to speech development; articulation; voice disorders; voice and speech characteristics associated with craniofacial anomalies; fluency disorders; phonological development and disorders.
Language Science. First and second language acquisition; language and gender; pragmatics; discourse analysis; languages in the U.S. Southwest; varieties of American English; psycholinguistics linguistics; sociolinguistics; theoretical syntax and semantics; language and evolution; metaphor; humor; irony; metonymy; epistemology; double entendre and ambiguity; implication and inference; verbal learning and verbal behavior in nonhumans, nonverbal communication theory; psychology or reading.
Language Disorders. Language assessment and intervention in early childhood; language patterns in children with specific language impairment; relationships among phonological and language disorders in school-age children; language disorders in school-age children; prelinguistic interventions; acquired dyslexia and developmental dyslexia; aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders.
Basic and Applied Neurobehavioral Science. Neocortex and adaptive behavior; neurophysiology; applied neural control; central sensory processes; human olfaction; neural prosthesis design and development; neuroelectric interfacing and stimulation; neural modeling and theories of timing; cortical mechanisms of learning and memory; brain mechanisms involved in chemical and mechanical senses; information processing; creative processes; cerebral lateralization.
Developmental and Neurogenic Disabilities. Behavioral recovery following brain damage; adaptive technology; augmentative communication programming; developmental outcomes of high-risk children; pediatric neurogenic disabilities; communication disorders associated with genetic and chromosomal abnormalities adult neurogenic disabilities; pediatric feeding interventions; communication intervention for infants and toddlers who are at-risk for or have disabilities; right hemisphere syndrome; attention and resource allocation deficits.
Gerontology. Aging and short-term memory; public health and social consequences of aging; life stress, emotion, and physical health; communication changes accompanying aging; geriatric communication disorders; psychosocial effects of aging; aging and intergenerational issues; effects of aging on hearing.
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