Practice effects of a four-talker babble on the synthetic sentence identification test

This investigation was designed to : (1) collect normative data on a commercially available recording of the Synthetic Sentence Identification (SSI) test mixed with a four-talker (FT) competitor at several message-to-competition ratios (MCRs), and (2) assess the effects of practice on SSI-FT performance at each MCR. Sixteen normal-hearing subjects responded to a total of 140 sentences during four trials at MCRs ranging from -6 to +4 dB. The results showed a marked learning effect, especially at the more favorable MCRs; approximately 60 practice sentences were required to ensure stable SSI scores. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.