Intelligibility of synthetic speech for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

This study examined the perceived intelligibility of synthetic speech. Participants were adults aged 49-69, one group with normal hearing and one group with acquired sensorineural hearing impairment. Word lists were presented in two speech types: DECtalk (a high-quality speech synthesizer) and a natural male speaker. Results revealed differences between groups, with normal-hearing listeners scoring higher than hearing-impaired listeners, and between speech types, with higher scores for natural speech than for synthesized speech. There was no significant interaction of hearing level and speech type.