[Conception and realisation of a prosody test battery]

Area of Science:

• Speech Science
• Audiology
• Psychoacoustics

Background:

• Prosody, encompassing speech rhythm and melody, is key for evaluating hearing aid performance, particularly cochlear implants.
• Current assessment tools for German speakers lack a comprehensive prosody test battery.
• This study introduces a novel test battery to address this gap in German prosody assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new test battery for assessing prosody perception in the German language.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the test battery in detecting subtle differences in prosodic cue discrimination.
• To provide a tool for comprehensive evaluation of speech processing beyond basic speech understanding.

Main Methods:

• The test battery comprises four modules targeting duration, question vs. statement, sentence stress, and speaker gender.
• Natural and artificially modified speech stimuli were used to assess perception of prosodic variations.
• The test battery's properties were investigated using 12 normal-hearing listeners.

Main Results:

• Normal listeners achieved near-perfect discrimination with natural speech stimuli.
• Steep discrimination functions were observed for modified stimuli across all modules, indicating sensitivity to small acoustic changes.
• Low variability in discrimination function slopes suggests reliable performance measurement.

Conclusions:

• The developed test battery is suitable for comprehensive prosody perception evaluation.
• Preliminary data suggest distinct psychometric functions in cochlear implant recipients.
• This tool will advance research into speech processing, especially for hearing aid users.