Altered Auditory Feedback in Teachers: A Preliminary Investigation

Purpose: Due to the elevated vocal risks of university professors and the possible relationship between auditory-motor integration and voice disorders, the current study was designed to explore the effects of altered auditory feedback via bone conduction on voice production measures in university professors.

Methods: A total of 43 hours of voice recordings across 32 university classes were collected from two vocally healthy college professors through voice dosimetry. During their classes, the professors experienced either the real-time altered auditory feedback or a condition without altered auditory feedback. The voice dosimetry recordings from all classes were processed to calculate the sound pressure level values, fundamental frequency values, and the time dose. The effects of the altered auditory feedback conditions on these voice acoustic parameters were analyzed and compared with the conditions without altered auditory feedback.

Results: The altered auditory feedback conditions resulted in significantly decreased sound pressure level values and time dose for both professors when comparing the altered auditory feedback conditions to the conditions without altered auditory feedback. The altered auditory feedback effects were larger for the male professor compared with the female professor. Additionally, the male professor demonstrated significantly decreased fundamental frequency values when comparing the altered auditory feedback conditions to the conditions without altered auditory feedback, while the female professor did not.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence that altered auditory feedback provided via bone conduction through an altered auditory feedback device resulted in statistically significant improvements in the voices of two college professors.