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Results for “Speech Reception Threshold Test”

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PubMed1991

Infant-adult differences in unmasked thresholds for the discrimination of consonant-vowel syllable pairs.

Speech sound discrimination thresholds were obtained for two speech sound contrasts (/ba/ vs. /da/ and /ba/ vs. /ga/) for infant and adult subjects. The stimuli were computer-generated synthetic tokens. An adaptive (one-up, one-down) threshold procedure was used with the visual reinforcement infant speech discrimination procedure for the infant subjects. Adults were tested using the same apparatus and threshold-tracking protocol as the infants. There was a 28-dB difference in threshold for discrimination of /ba/ versus /da/ and a 25-dB difference in threshold for discrimination of /ba/versus/ga/ between the infants and the adults. The differences reveal that to reach a criterion level of performance on a simple speech perception task, infants require much greater stimulus intensity than do adults. This has implications for our understanding of normal auditory development, for our notions of hearing impairment in infants and for the role of intensity in research studies of infant speech perception.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

SSW test performance-intensity functions for hearing-impaired adults.

The present study investigated the effects of intensity on hearing-impaired adults' performance on the Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) test. Fifteen adults having mild-to-moderate cochlear hearing losses were administered the 40-item SSW test which was subdivided into four groups of ten items each, and presented at different intensity levels (20, 30, 40, and 50 dB SL re the three-frequency, pure-tone average). Subjects' responses were used to generate performance-intensity functions. Scores were analyzed for overall, competing, and noncompeting conditions. No significant differences were found for these hearing-impaired listeners' performance for items presented at the standard 50 dB and those at the low sensation levels.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Audiometric results following endolymphatic sac surgery.

Decompression and drainage of the endolymphatic sac is a surgical procedure which was developed to relieve vertigo and hopefully to maintain or improve hearing in patients with Meniere's disease. In this study, 16 medically diagnosed Meniere's disease patients who underwent endolymphatic sac surgery were followed audiometrically for a period of up to three years. Pre- and postoperative audiometric and other symptomatic findings were reported. Results indicated that in the greatest majority of cases hearing remained essentially unchanged or was improved. Poorer hearing was found in 26.3% of the cases for pure tones and in 15.8% of the cases for speech reception thresholds and speech discrimination scores. Due to the fluctuating nature of auditory thresholds in Meniere's disease, it was found to be essential that patients be followed postoperatively for a period of at least three years.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Psychoacoustic abilities of subjects with unilateral and bilateral cochlear hearing impairments and their relationship to the ability to understand speech.

This paper is concerned with deficits in the ability to distinguish sounds, which accompany hearing loss of cochlear origin, and with the relationship of those deficits to the ability to understand speech in quiet and in background noise. Nine subjects with moderate unilateral cochlear hearing loss and 6 with moderate bilateral cochlear hearing loss took part in a series of psychoacoustic and speech perception tests. The impaired ears showed deficits in several of the psychoacoustic tests, including: detection of temporal gaps in bands of noise; frequency discrimination of pure tones; frequency discrimination of complex tones; and frequency selectivity as measured by the masking of tones by notched noise. The impaired ears showed near-normal performance in the detection of changes in intensity and for detecting temporal gaps in sinusoidal signals. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs--defined as the level of speech required for 50% intelligibility) were measured both in quiet and in speech-shaped noise, and were invariably higher for the impaired than for the normal ears. Correlational analysis, principal-components analysis and multiple-regression analysis were used to explore the relationships between the psychoacoustic measures and the SRTs. The results suggest that SRTs in quiet are determined primarily by absolute thresholds as measured by the pure-tone audiogram. SRTs in noise are related more to supra-threshold discrimination abilities, such as the detection of temporal gaps in noise and the frequency discrimination of pure and complex tones, and to age. Possible clinical applications of the results are briefly discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Noise-induced hearing loss and the comprehension of speech in noise.

Subjects suffering from noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) with or without hearing loss at 2 kHz were examined by speech audiometry with a three-digit test, bisyllabic and monosyllabic PB word lists in silence, and in USASI noise with a masking effect of 44 dB and 68 dB at 1 kHz. Subjects with up to 20 dB hearing loss at 2 kHz had almost the same speech comprehension in noise as normal hearing subjects. Subjects with hearing loss greater than 20 dB at 2 kHz had increasing discrimination loss at increasing noise levels. They also needed a signal-to-noise ratio better than normal-hearing persons would yield at the noise levels used. The evaluation of hearing disablement in occupational noise-included hearing loss should therefore be based for one-half on the results of speech audiometry in silence, and for the other half, in noise.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

The effect of speechreading on the speech-reception threshold of sentences in noise.

The monaural speech-reception threshold of sentences in noise, here defined as the 50% correct-syllables threshold, was measured for a female speaker with and without speechreading via a video monitor. The additional visual information resulted in a 4.6-dB lower threshold for a group of 12 young subjects and in a 4.0-dB lower threshold for a group of 18 elderly subjects compared to auditory presentation alone.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

The bone-anchored hearing aid compared with conventional hearing aids. Audiologic results and the patients' opinions.

The bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) was evaluated in 65 patients by comparing speech recognition and questionnaire results with those obtained with the patients' own previous hearing aids. In the majority of patients who previously used a conventional bone conductor, significantly improved speech recognition scores were found with the BAHA. The majority preferred the BAHA to their previous bone conductors. For the patients who previously used air conduction hearing aids but had to stop because of chronic draining ears, the results were ambiguous. Nevertheless, the BAHA seems to be the best solution for this subgroup as well. It is concluded that the BAHA is a valuable addition to the audiologists' tools.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Release from informational masking by time reversal of native and non-native interfering speech.

In many studies, the influence of intelligibility of the interfering speech is avoided by reversing it in time. Usually, intelligibility with time-reversed interfering speech indeed is higher compared to that with normal interfering speech. However, due to the nature of speech, reversed speech also gives rise to increased forward masking. The latter will result in a decrease in intelligibility. Thus, differences in intelligibility as a consequence of reversing speech in time are due to two opposite effects. This paper describes a speech reception threshold (SRT) test with intelligible and unintelligible interfering speech played normally and time-reversed. With Dutch listeners, Swedish reversed interfering speech gave a rise in SRT of 2.3 dB compared with the Swedish interfering speech (played normally). The difference can be attributed to differences in forward masking. Dutch time-reversed interfering speech gave a decrease in SRT of 4.3 dB compared to (intelligible) Dutch interfering speech. The latter is the result of both a release from informational masking and an increase in forward masking. Therefore, the amount of informational masking is larger than 4.3 dB and, if one assumes similar differences in forward masking for Dutch and Swedish speech, may amount to 6.6 dB.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1985

Spondee recognition threshold as a function of set size.

Recognition thresholds for spondaic words were obtained in normal listeners under conditions of varying set size. Six sets of spondees were derived from the 36-word corpus of a Northwestern University recording of CID W-1 spondaic words. One of these sets represented the full list of 36 spondees, whereas the remaining five were comprised of 27, 18, 9, 6, and 3 spondees selected to be homogeneous in level and slope characteristics. Results revealed a systematic and reliable effect wherein mean threshold decreased from 19.1 dB SPL to 12.2 dB SPL as set size was reduced from 36 to 3 spondees. The data are consistent with past research on human information processing in that spondee recognition threshold increased linearly with the number of bits per stimulus.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

[Speech audiometry for French Canadians].

A critical review of speech tests intended for French-Canadian adults is undertaken. Special attention is paid to equivalent forms and concurrent validity of existing speech discrimination lists. Current dissyllables used for the determination of speech threshold are scrutinized with regard to their homogeneity. Finally, clinical utility and interpretation of this material are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Saudi Arabic speech audiometry.

Phonetically balanced monosyllabic classical Arabic word lists were chosen to construct a Saudi Arabic speech test. These words were taken from primary school books, daily newspapers and children's stories. They were first evaluated by our students for their familiarity and homogeneity and then divided into six sub-groups of 20 words each. The normal speech-audiometric curves obtained from our students (normally hearing subjects) with this material are similar to normal curves obtained with most European and American monosyllabic word lists. The threshold of intelligibility for our test material was also found to be similar to that of most foreign languages using monosyllabic word lists under the same conditions.

Audiometry, Speech↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Central masking effects on spondee threshold as a function of masker sensation level and masker sound pressure level.

Thirteen subjects with normal hearing and thirteen with sensorineural hearing loss were tested with spondaic words to determine their spondee thresholds in the presence of several levels of contralateral noise. Results indicate that the threshold shift ascribed to central masking is a function of the sensation level of the noise. Recommendations for clinical application are made.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

Time-compressed spondaic words as a measure of speech reception threshold.

Lists A and B of the C.I.D. W-1 spondees were time-compressed with a Lexicon Varispeech I unit. SRTs were collected from one ear of each of 60 normal-hearing young adults. No list differences were found. The R ears of 30 Ss were superior to the L ears of 30 Ss by 0.8 db. Mean SRTs collapsed across lists and ears were 9.3-10.7-13.2 db for the compressions in the order 0-40-60%. The differences were judged clinically insignificant, nevertheless when considered with earlier data it may be concluded that time-compressed spondees may come to have use as a clinical device.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Effects of reverberation on perceptual segregation of competing voices.

Two experiments investigated the effect of reverberation on listeners' ability to perceptually segregate two competing voices. Culling et al. [Speech Commun. 14, 71-96 (1994)] found that for competing synthetic vowels, masked identification thresholds were increased by reverberation only when combined with modulation of fundamental frequency (F0). The present investigation extended this finding to running speech. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured for a male voice against a single interfering female voice within a virtual room with controlled reverberation. The two voices were either (1) co-located in virtual space at 0 degrees azimuth or (2) separately located at +/-60 degrees azimuth. In experiment 1, target and interfering voices were either normally intonated or resynthesized with a fixed F0. In anechoic conditions, SRTs were lower for normally intonated and for spatially separated sources, while, in reverberant conditions, the SRTs were all the same. In experiment 2, additional conditions employed inverted F0 contours. Inverted F0 contours yielded higher SRTs in all conditions, regardless of reverberation. The results suggest that reverberation can seriously impair listeners' ability to exploit differences in F0 and spatial location between competing voices. The levels of reverberation employed had no effect on speech intelligibility in quiet.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

[Benefit of bilateral cochlear implantation on congenital prelingually deafened Chinese-speaking children].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the benefit of bilateral cochlear implants (BCIs) in prelingually deafened children on hearing rehabilitation as well as on speech and language development. METHOD: Two cases of congenital profound deaf children, who received unilateral cochlear implantation (CI, MEDEL C40+) on the age of 2 and 7.5, respectively, were performed secondary CI in the contralateral ear on their age of 5 and 9.5, respectively. One year after the secondary CI, the cochlear implant aided hearing threshold and speech discrimination rate were tested for both ears separately and together. The pronounce/speech distinct rate of the BCIs users were evaluated by their parents, surgeon and audiologist. RESULT: In comparison to unilateral aided ear, the mean hearing threshold at the frequency 250-4,000 Hz of the 2 cases with BCIs decreased by 13 dB and 11 dB, respectively. The speech discrimination rate of the BCIs users increased by 9% and 10%, respectively. The speech recognition in noise was improved. And their pronounce/speech distinct was improved. CONCLUSION: BCIs can provide a significant benefit in hearing, speech understanding, language development and pronounce/speech rehabilitation for prelingually deafened children.

Child↗

PubMed1992

Effect of spectral envelope smearing on speech reception. I.

The effect of reduced spectral contrast on the speech-reception threshold (SRT) for sentences in noise and on phoneme identification, was investigated with 16 normal-hearing subjects. Signal processing was performed by smoothing the envelope of the squared short-time fast Fourier transform (FFT) by convolving it with a Gaussian-shaped filter, and overlapping additions to reconstruct a continuous signal. Spectral energy in the frequency region from 100 to 8000 Hz was smeared over bandwidths of 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, and 4 oct for the SRT experiment. Vowel and consonant identification was studied for smearing bandwidths of 1/8, 1/2, and 2 oct. Results showed the SRT in noise to increase as the spectral energy was smeared over bandwidths exceeding the ear's critical bandwidth. Vowel identification suffered more from this type of processing than consonant identification. Vowels were primarily confused with the back vowels /c,u/, and consonants were confused where place of articulation is concerned.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1979

Speech-reception threshold for sentences as a function of age and noise level.

For 140 male subjects (20 per decade between the ages 20 and 89) and 72 female subjects (20 per decade between 60 and 89, and 12 for the age interval 90-96), the monaural speech-reception threshold (SRT) for sentences was investigated in quiet and at four noise levels (22.2, 37.5, 52.5, and 67.5 dBA noise with long-term average speech spectra). The median SRT as well as the quartiles are given as a function of age. The data are described in terms of a model published earlier [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 63, 533-549 (1978)]. According to this model every hearing loss for speech (SHL) is interpreted as the sum of a loss class A (attenuation), characterized by a reduction of the levels of both speech signal and noise, and a loss class D (distortion), comparable with a decrease in signal-to-noise ratio. Both SHLA+D (hearing loss in quiet) and SHLD (hearing loss at high noise levels) increase progressively above the age of 50 (reaching typical values of 30 and 6 dB, respectively, at age 85). The spread of SHLD as a function of SHLA+D for the individual ears is so large (sigma = 2.7 dB) that subjects with the same hearing loss for speech in quiet may differ considerably in their ability to understand speech in noise. The data confirm that the hearing handicap of many elderly subjects manifests itself primarily in a noisy environment. Acceptable noise levels in rooms used by the aged must be 5 to 10 dB lower than those for normal-hearing subjects.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

Reliability of threshold, slope, and PB max for monosyllabic words.

The Auditec recordings of the CID W-22 monosyllables were used to generate test and retest intelligibility functions on normally hearing listeners and subjects with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. The normally hearing subjects were tested with 50-word lists at SPLs ranging from 15 to 50 dB. Lists of 25 words were used with the hearing-impaired group. The functions were analyzed to assess the reliability of threshold (50% point), slope (20%-80% points), and maximum intelligibility (PB max). The 50% point was obtained at 28 dB SPL for the normally hearing listeners and at a sensation level (SL) of 12 dB respondaic thresholds for the hearing-impaired group. Very stable monosyllabic thresholds were found because 95% of the test-retest values were within 6 dB for both subject groups. Slopes of 4.9% per dB and 2.7% per dB were obtained for the normally hearing and hearing-impaired groups, respectively. Fair reliability was observed; 95% of the test-retest values encompassed a range of +/- 1.9% per dB for the normally hearing subjects and +/- 1.1% per dB for the hearing-impaired group. Although group slopes provide useful information for selecting the range and step size for generating psychometric functions, the value of routinely obtaining slope on an individual basis has not been demonstrated. Even though the same word lists were used for both test and retest measurements, reliability closely agreed with predicted results based on the binomial theorem. In contrast to the large variability for a single list of 25 words, very stable PB max scores were found when two or three scores were averaged on the plateau of the function.

Adult↗