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Development of the ORCA nonsense syllable test.
Francis Kuk1, Chi-Chuen Lau, Petri Korhonen
1Widex Office of Research in Clinical Amplification (ORCA), Widex Hearing Aid Company, Lisle, Illinois 60532, USA. fkuk@aol.com
Ear and Hearing
|July 13, 2010
Summary
A new nonsense syllable test effectively evaluates high-frequency hearing aid processing. This reliable tool aids in understanding speech identification improvements for hearing aid users.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Speech Science
- Hearing Aid Technology
Background:
- Advanced hearing aid features primarily impact high-frequency sound processing.
- Existing speech perception tests are insufficient for evaluating high-frequency processing effects.
- A need exists for specialized tests to assess high-frequency hearing aid performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel speech perception test optimized for evaluating high-frequency processing in hearing aids.
- To create a reliable and efficient method for assessing the impact of high-frequency amplification on speech identification.
Main Methods:
- A 115-item consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant nonsense syllable test was created in an open-set phoneme identification format.
- Normative data were collected from normal-hearing listeners in quiet and noise, with varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and low-pass filter conditions.
- The test underwent psychometric evaluation, reliability testing, and was administered to hearing-impaired listeners.
Main Results:
- Acoustic analysis confirmed the availability of high-frequency output.
- Performance intensity functions demonstrated expected monotonic increases with SNR and decreasing cutoff frequencies.
- High test-retest reliability was observed in both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants.
Conclusions:
- The developed nonsense syllable test offers a dependable and practical method for phoneme identification assessment.
- This test is suitable for evaluating the effects of high-frequency processing in hearing aids.
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