Objective: The aims of the current n200 study were to assess the structural relations between three classes of test variables (i.e. HEARING, COGNITION and aided speech-in-noise OUTCOMES) and to describe the theoretical implications of these relations for the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model. Study sample: Participants were 200 hard-of-hearing hearing-aid users, with a mean age of 60.8 years. Forty-three percent were females and the mean hearing threshold in the better ear was 37.4 dB HL. Design: LEVEL1 factor analyses extracted one factor per test and/or cognitive function based on a priori conceptualizations. The more abstract LEVEL 2 factor analyses were performed separately for the three classes of test variables. Results: The HEARING test variables resulted in two LEVEL 2 factors, which we labelled SENSITIVITY and TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE; the COGNITIVE variables in one COGNITION factor only, and OUTCOMES in two factors, NO CONTEXT and CONTEXT. COGNITION predicted the NO CONTEXT factor to a stronger extent than the CONTEXT outcome factor. TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE and SENSITIVITY were associated with COGNITION and all three contributed significantly and independently to especially the NO CONTEXT outcome scores (R2 = 0.40). Conclusions: All LEVEL 2 factors are important theoretically as well as for clinical assessment.

This study investigated the degree to which audiovisual presentation (compared to auditory-only presentation) affected isolation point (IPs, the amount of time required for the correct identification of speech stimuli using a gating paradigm) in silence and noise conditions. The study expanded on the findings of Moradi et al. (under revision), using the same stimuli, but presented in an audiovisual instead of an auditory-only manner. The results showed that noise impeded the identification of consonants and words (i.e., delayed IPs and lowered accuracy), but not the identification of final words in sentences. In comparison with the previous study by Moradi et al., it can be concluded that the provision of visual cues expedited IPs and increased the accuracy of speech stimuli identification in both silence and noise. The implication of the results is discussed in terms of models for speech understanding.

This study compared elderly hearing aid (EHA) users and elderly normal-hearing (ENH) individuals on identification of auditory speech stimuli (consonants, words, and final word in sentences) that were different when considering their linguistic properties. We measured the accuracy with which the target speech stimuli were identified, as well as the isolation points (IPs: the shortest duration, from onset, required to correctly identify the speech target). The relationships between working memory capacity, the IPs, and speech accuracy were also measured. Twenty-four EHA users (with mild to moderate hearing impairment) and 24 ENH individuals participated in the present study. Despite the use of their regular hearing aids, the EHA users had delayed IPs and were less accurate in identifying consonants and words compared with the ENH individuals. The EHA users also had delayed IPs for final word identification in sentences with lower predictability; however, no significant between-group difference in accuracy was observed. Finally, there were no significant between-group differences in terms of IPs or accuracy for final word identification in highly predictable sentences. Our results also showed that, among EHA users, greater working memory capacity was associated with earlier IPs and improved accuracy in consonant and word identification. Together, our findings demonstrate that the gated speech perception ability of EHA users was not at the level of ENH individuals, in terms of IPs and accuracy. In addition, gated speech perception was more cognitively demanding for EHA users than for ENH individuals in the absence of semantic context.

This study aimed to measure the initial portion of signal required for the correct identification of auditory speech stimuli (or isolation points, IPs) in silence and noise, and to investigate the relationships between auditory and cognitive functions in silence and noise. Twenty-one university students were presented with auditory stimuli in a gating paradigm for the identification of consonants, words, and final words in highly predictable and low predictable sentences. The Hearing in Noise Test (HINT), the reading span test, and the Paced Auditory Serial Attention Test were also administered to measure speech-in-noise ability, working memory and attentional capacities of the participants, respectively. The results showed that noise delayed the identification of consonants, words, and final words in highly predictable and low predictable sentences. HINT performance correlated with working memory and attentional capacities. In the noise condition, there were correlations between HINT performance, cognitive task performance, and the IPs of consonants and words. In the silent condition, there were no correlations between auditory and cognitive tasks. In conclusion, a combination of hearing-in-noise ability, working memory capacity, and attention capacity is needed for the early identification of consonants and words in noise.

The present study had three aims: to examine the effects of displayed emotion and message length on speech-reading performance, and how measures of working memory (cf. Baddeley 1986) and verbal information processing speed relate to speech-reading performance. Words and sentences with either positive or negative meaning were used in a word decoding and a sentence-based speech-reading test. A total of 48 normal-hearing subjects participated. The results revealed general effects of displayed emotion, message meaning and message length and no effect of displayed emotion vs message length. Furthermore, working memory but not verbal information processing speed nor accuracy predicted speech-reading performance. The results were discussed with respect to a model of face-processing (Bruce & Young 1986) and with respect to clinical implications.