Prof. Tova Most

Full Professor, Department of Communication Disorders, Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine and School of Education

Dean of Students, Tel Aviv University

Speech and Hearing Sciences and Rehabilitative Audiology

• Speech perception and production by the hearing impaired
• Implications of hearing loss on communication, cognitive and socio-emotional functionning in school, in the family and in general
• Educational Audiology
• Auditory rehabilitation of people with hearing loss

Our research focus is on evaluating the hearing and communication profile of individuals with a hearing loss and understanding the relationship between these functions and their functional management in various life environments. This research analysis expands the knowledge and understanding of theoretical models that examine the functioning of the individual with a hearing loss and constitutes a scientific basis for the development of intervention programs suited to the hearing and communication profile.

Our research activities focus on two main areas:

1. Research in the field of speech perception and communication through spoken language of individuals with a hearing loss. We focus on the perception of suprasegmental and paralinguistic features of the spoken message. These provide information on the communication intentions of the speaker (e.g. asking a question in comparison to stating a fact) as well as the speaker’s emotional state.
2. Research of the ramifications of a hearing loss and communication difficulties on the individual’s ability to function in various life environments: educational system, home and work environment, as well as the ramifications of the hearing loss and the communication difficulties on the people in the individual’s environment.

Our research focuses on the relationship between hearing loss and communication function through the use of spoken language in general and the speech intelligibility in particular.

With the current trend to integrate children with a hearing loss into regular educational frameworks either individually or in a group, we also investigate the effect of hearing loss on the pupil’s ability to function within these frameworks. This research is carried out in different sectors of the population (Jewish--secular & orthodox-- and Arab), and on a range of age groups.

Within the framework of the research examining the implications of hearing loss on the different aspects of a child’s life, we investigate not only the individual’s functioning but also those aspects that relate to the people in their environment such as their parents, siblings and teachers.

Most, T. Harel, T. Shpak, T. & Luntz, M. (2011). Perception of suprasegmental speech features via bimodal stimulation: Cochlear implant on one ear and hearing aid on the other. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54, 668–678 

Yehudai, N., Tzach, N. Shpak, T., Most, T., & Luntz, M. (2011). Demographic factors influencing educational placement of the hearing-impaired child with a cochlear implant. Otology & Neurotology, 32, 943-947

Most, T. Gaon-Sivan, G., Shpak, T., & Luntz, M. (2012). Contribution of a contralateral hearing aid to perception of consonant voicing, intonation, and emotional state in adult cochlear implantees. JDSDE, 17, 244-258. doi:10.1093

Most, T., Ingber, S. Ariam-Heled, E. (2012). Social competence, sense of loneliness and speech
intelligibility of young children with hearing loss in individual inclusion and group inclusion. JDSDE, 17 (2), 259-271. doi: 10.1093

Most, T. Adi-Bensaid, L. Sharkiya, S., Shpak, T., Luntz, M. (2012). Everyday hearing performance in unilateral versus bilateral hearing aid users. American Journal of Otolaryngology, 33, 205-211

Most, T., Bachar, D., & Dromi, E. (2012). Auditory, visual and auditory-visual identification of emotions by nursery school Children. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis, 5, 25-34

Adi-Bensaid, L. & Most, T. (2012). The effect of speaker’s gender and number of syllables on the perception of words by young children: a developmental study. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis, 5, 17 -24

Most, T & Michaelis, H. (2012). Auditory, visual, and auditory-visual perception of emotions by young children with hearing loss versus children with normal hearing. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 55, 1148–1162

Ingber, S., Most, T. (2012) Fathers’ involvement in preschool programs for children with and without hearing loss. American Annals of the Deaf, 157, 276-88.

Adi-Bensaid, L., Michael, R., Most, T., Cinamon, R.G. (2012) Parental and spousal self-efficacy of young adults who are deaf or hard of hearing: relationship to speech intelligibility. The Volta Review, 112, 113-130.

Yehudai, N., Shpak, T., Most, T., Luntz, M. (2012) Natural history of of contralateral residual hearing in unilateral cochlear implant users long-term findings. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 132, 1073-1076.

Michael, R. Cinamon R.G. & Most, T. (2013) The contribution of perceived parental support to the career self-efficacy of deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing adolescents. JDSDE, 18, 329-343.

Ziv, M., Most, T. & Cohen, S. (2013) Understanding of emotions and false beliefs among children with normal hearing versus children with hearing loss. JDSDE 18, 161-174.

Yehudai, N., Shpak, T., Most, T., Luntz, M (2013) Functional status of hearing aids in bilateral bimodal users. Otology & Neurotology, 34, 675-681.

Luntz M., Yehudai N., Haifler, M., Sigal, G. & Most T. (2013) Clinical significance of sensorineural hearing loss in chronic otitis media. Acta Oto-laryngologica, 133, 1173-1180

Shpak, T., Most, T., Luntz, M. (2014) Fundamental frequency information for speech recognition via bimodal stimulation: cochlear implant on one ear and hearing aid on the other. Ear and Hearing, 35, 97-109.

Bartov, T. & Most, T. (2014). Song recognition by young children with cochlear implants: comparison between unilateral, bilateral, and bimodal users. JSLHR, 1-13.

Luntz, M., Egra-Dagan, D., Attias, J., Yehudai, N., Most, T., & Shpak, T. (2014). From hearing with a cochlear implant and a contralateral hearing aid (ci/ha) to hearing with two cochlear implants (ci/ci): a within-subject design comparison. Otology & Neurotology, 35, 1682-1690.

Michael, R., Most, T., & Cinamon, R. G. (2015). Career-related parental support of adolescents with hearing loss: Relationships with parents’ expectations and occupational status. American Annals of the Deaf, 160, 60-72.

Michael, R., Most, T., & Cinamon, R. G. (2015). What shapes adolescents’ future perceptions? The effects of hearing loss and career self-efficacy. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. doi: 10.1093/deafed/env023.

Books
Most, T. & Ringvald, D. (Eds.) (2014). Theoretical and applied aspects in rehabilitation and education of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. MOFET Publishing House. Tel Aviv (In Hebrew).

Chapters
Michael, R ., Most, T & Cinamon, R.G. (2011) Self- Efficacy in the Management of Anticipated Work– Family Conflict as a Resilience Factor Among Young Deaf Adults in D. H. Zand and K. J. Pierce (Eds.). Resilience in Deaf Children. New York: Springer (pp.341-357).

Levie, R., Ravid, R., Freud, T., and Most, T. (2014). Spelling Abilities in Hebrew-Speaking Children with Hearing Loss. In Barbara Arfe, Julie Dockrell and Virginia Berninger (Eds.): Writing Development in Children with Hearing Loss, Dyslexia or Oral Language Problems: Implications for Assessment and Instruction. Oxford University Press. New-York New-York. Chapter 6, pp. 70-84.

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