Tone detection and synthetic speech discrimination in band-reject noise by hearing-impaired listeners

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 82; no. 3; p. 864
• Main Authors: Thibodeau, L M, Van Tasell, D J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.09.1987
• Subjects: Adult; Communication Aids for Disabled; Hearing Loss - physiopathology; Humans; Middle Aged; Noise; Reference Values; Speech Discrimination Tests; Speech Perception
• ISSN: 0001-4966
• DOI: 10.1121/1.395285

Frequency resolution was evaluated for two normal-hearing and seven hearing-impaired subjects with moderate, flat sensorineural hearing loss by measuring percent correct detection of a 2000-Hz tone as the width of a notch in band-reject noise increased. The level of the tone was fixed for each subject at a criterion performance level in broadband noise. Discrimination of synthetic speech syllables that differed in spectral content in the 2000-Hz region was evaluated as a function of the notch width in the same band-reject noise. Recognition of natural speech consonant/vowel syllables in quiet was also tested; results were analyzed for percent correct performance and relative information transmitted for voicing and place features. In the hearing-impaired subjects, frequency resolution at 2000 Hz was significantly correlated with the discrimination of synthetic speech information in the 2000-Hz region and was not related to the recognition of natural speech nonsense syllables unless (a) the speech stimuli contained the vowel /i/ rather than /a/, and (b) the score reflected information transmitted for place of articulation rather than percent correct.