Psychometrically equivalent trisyllabic words for speech reception threshold testing in Mandarin.

Area of Science:

• Audiology and Speech Sciences
• Linguistics
• Psychoacoustics

Background:

• Accurate measurement of hearing thresholds, specifically the Speech Reception Threshold (SRT), is crucial for audiological assessment.
• Standardized and validated word lists are essential for reliable and repeatable SRT measurements in various languages.
• Mandarin Chinese, a widely spoken language, requires specific word sets for effective audiological testing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, digitally record, evaluate, and equate Mandarin trisyllabic words for SRT measurement.
• To create a homogeneous list of words with consistent audibility and psychometric function slopes.
• To provide readily available digital recordings of these validated Mandarin words.

Main Methods:

• Digitally recorded 90 frequently used Standard Mandarin trisyllabic words spoken by male and female talkers.
• Presented words to 20 normally hearing subjects across 13 intensity levels (-10 to 14 dB HL).
• Utilized logistic regression to calculate psychometric functions and selected 24 words with steep slopes, adjusting intensity to match mean subject Pure Tone Average (PTA).

Main Results:

• Identified 24 Mandarin trisyllabic words exhibiting steep psychometric function slopes.
• Adjusted word intensities to achieve homogeneity in audibility and slope, with mean slopes of 11.3%/dB (male) and 12.1%/dB (female).
• Confirmed the development of a validated word list suitable for SRT measurement.

Conclusions:

• A list of psychometrically equivalent Mandarin trisyllabic words has been successfully developed and validated.
• These words demonstrate homogeneity in audibility and psychometric slope, enhancing SRT measurement reliability.
• Digital recordings of the validated word list are available for clinical and research use.