Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026
12:43
A Protocol for Comprehensive Assessment of Bulbar Dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ALS
Published on: February 21, 2011
37.6K
A method for measuring the intelligibility of uninterrupted, continuous speech
Alexandra MacPherson1, Michael A Akeroyd1
1MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research - Scottish Section, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Alexandra Parade, Glasgow G31 2ER, United Kingdom.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|March 11, 2014
Summary
Understanding continuous, complex speech is harder for older adults with hearing loss than simple sentences. This highlights the need for better speech-in-noise tests that reflect real-world listening challenges.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Speech-language pathology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Current speech-in-noise tests use short sentences, which may not reflect real-world listening.
- These tests may not capture the cognitive demands of understanding continuous, complex speech.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of speech duration and linguistic complexity on intelligibility in older hearing-impaired listeners.
- To compare intelligibility using continuous speech monitoring versus standard discrete sentence tests.
Main Methods:
- Employed a novel monitoring technique for continuous speech intelligibility assessment.
- Utilized a standard trial-by-trial speech-in-noise test for comparison.
- Examined effects of target duration and linguistic complexity on speech reception thresholds.
Main Results:
- Older hearing-impaired listeners showed significantly higher speech reception thresholds for continuous, complex speech compared to simple sentences.
- Continuous, complex speech presented greater challenges than discrete, simple sentence tests.
Conclusions:
- Speech intelligibility testing should incorporate continuous and linguistically complex speech samples.
- Existing speech-in-noise tests may underestimate listening difficulties in real-world scenarios for hearing-impaired individuals.
- Assessing speech in varied everyday conditions is crucial for accurate evaluation.
Related Concept Videos
00:53Sound Intensity Level
4.0K
Humans perceive sound by hearing. The human ear helps sound waves reach the brain, which then interprets the waves and creates the perception of hearing. The loudness of the environment in which a person is located determines whether they can distinguish between different sound sources.
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and...
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and...
4.0K
01:11Sampling Continuous Time Signal
921
In signal processing, a continuous-time signal can be sampled using an impulse-train sampling technique, followed by the zero-order hold method. Impulse-train sampling involves the use of a periodic impulse train, which consists of a series of delta functions spaced at regular intervals determined by the sampling period. When a continuous-time signal is multiplied by this impulse train, it generates impulses with amplitudes corresponding to the signal's values at the sampling points.
In the...
In the...
921
00:58Sound Intensity
4.1K
The loudness of a sound source is related to how energetically the source is vibrating, consequently making the molecules of the propagation medium vibrate. To measure the loudness of a source, the physical quantity of interest is the intensity. This is defined as the energy emitted per unit of time per unit of area perpendicular to the sound wave's propagation direction. Since the total energy is greater if the source vibrates for a longer duration and over a larger area, dividing the...
4.1K
01:06Echo
1.2K
The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case,...
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case,...
1.2K
00:55Interval Level of Measurement
13.0K
For effective statistical analysis, data are classified into four levels of measurement—nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
Data measured using the interval scale are similar to ordinal level data because they have a definite arrangement. However, in the interval level of measurement, the differences between data values are meaningful even though the data does not have a starting point.
Temperature is measured using the interval scale. It is measurable data, and the difference between...
Data measured using the interval scale are similar to ordinal level data because they have a definite arrangement. However, in the interval level of measurement, the differences between data values are meaningful even though the data does not have a starting point.
Temperature is measured using the interval scale. It is measurable data, and the difference between...
13.0K
01:10Interference: Path Lengths
2.5K
Consider two sources of sound, that may or may not be in phase, emitting waves at a single frequency, and consider the frequencies to be the same.
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
2.5K