Influence of noise type on speech reception thresholds across four languages measured with matrix sentence tests

Hochmuth, Sabine; Kollmeier, Birger; Brand, Thomas; Jürgens, Tim

doi:10.3109/14992027.2015.1046502

Cited by 29 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…If the noise masker is modulated, listeners with normal hearing exhibit improved speech recognition (indicated by a reduced SRT) compared with speech recognition in stationary noise (e.g. Festen & Plomp, ; Wagener & Brand, ; Hochmuth et al ., ). This improvement is ascribed to listening into the temporal gaps of the modulated noise masker and thereby to processing speech information that is masked in stationary noise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Influence of auditory attention on sentence recognition captured by the neural phase

Müller

Kollmeier

Debener

et al. 2018

Eur J of Neuroscience

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The aim of this study was to investigate whether attentional influences on speech recognition are reflected in the neural phase entrained by an external modulator. Sentences were presented in 7 Hz sinusoidally modulated noise while the neural response to that modulation frequency was monitored by electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings in 21 participants. We implemented a selective attention paradigm including three different attention conditions while keeping physical stimulus parameters constant. The participants' task was either to repeat the sentence as accurately as possible (speech recognition task), to count the number of decrements implemented in modulated noise (decrement detection task), or to do both (dual task), while the EEG was recorded. Behavioural analysis revealed reduced performance in the dual task condition for decrement detection, possibly reflecting limited cognitive resources. EEG analysis revealed no significant differences in power for the 7 Hz modulation frequency, but an attention-dependent phase difference between tasks. Further phase analysis revealed a significant difference 500 ms after sentence onset between trials with correct and incorrect responses for speech recognition, indicating that speech recognition performance and the neural phase are linked via selective attention mechanisms, at least shortly after sentence onset. However, the neural phase effects identified were small and await further investigation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Influence of auditory attention on sentence recognition captured by the neural phase

Müller

Kollmeier

Debener

et al. 2018

Eur J of Neuroscience

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“…Moreover there was no need to use this material in our study as there were no non-native listeners examined. In regards to multi-talker noise, previous studies have demonstrated that fluctuating noise has a similar effect on speech reception thresholds in different language-mutations of tests, tested in matrix sentence tests (Hochmuth et al 2015). In addition, new variations of multi-talker babble, such as the use of competing coordinate response measure sentences, have masking properties similar to other types of multi-talker babble (Humes et al 2017).…”

Section: Influence Of Test Materials On Test Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of age on speech intelligibility in babble noise

Černý¹,

Vokřál²,

Dlouhá³

2018

Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis

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Problems with hearing aids, particularly with regard to speech intelligibility in the presence of noise, are commonly reported by older individuals in everyday practice. The main goal of this study was to measure differences in speech intelligibility between older and younger people and to establish how speech intelligibility in competitive noise differs between younger and older populations with similar hearing status. More than 400 persons were tested using the Czech Test of Sentence Intelligibility in Babble Noise and divided into younger (40-65 years) and older (66-85 years) age groups. Test performance was compared between age groups based on subgroups stratified by SRT values (speech reception threshold in word audiometry in silence). Results showed a significant correlation between older age and diminished sentence intelligibility in competitive noise. Evaluation using a nonparametric U-test showed a statistical difference between the younger and older groups in sentence intelligibility, with a speech signal presented at 65 dB sound pressure level (SPL) and competitive babble noise also presented at 65 dB SPL. Increased difficulty in the use of hearing aids in older users is related, among other things, to a reduced ability to discriminate speech not only in silence but particularly in competitive variable noise due both to their aging auditory functions and to a diminished capacity to differentiate the time factors of sounds. It is probably connected with the diminished function of inhibitory neurons.

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“…Based on measurements at fixed SNRs covering a broad range of speech intelligibility for each word realization, an optimization of the speech test material can be achieved by attenuating words of high intelligibility and amplifying words of low intelligibility within a limited range. By shifting the respective discrimination function for each item as closely together as possible, the spread of word-specific SRT-values is decreased which increases the slope of the discrimination function for the test lists (according to the model by Kollmeier, 1990, reviewed by Kollmeier et al, 2014). Note that either a 50%-or 80%-definition of the SRT at word level may be employed for optimization, since, e.g., the triplet tests 80% point on a digit level is closer to the 50% point targeted for triplet-scoring in the final test (cf.…”

Section: Optimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though not all existing tests exactly fulfill the specifications as indicated here, these recommendations are the results of a consensus process within the ICRA group. The recommendations for the digit triplet test and the matrix test listed in Table 1 should be selfexplanatory in combination with the review papers by Zokoll et al (2012) and Kollmeier et al (2014), respectively. Nevertheless, the following remarks with respect to the different development steps are given:…”

Section: Icra Recommendations For the Construction Of Multilingual Spmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the highest efficiency in (energetic) masking of the respective speech material is obtained by a spectral match between the (average) target speech and the masker (Hochmuth et al, 2014), a masking noise is recommended here which is produced by a random superposition of all words of the respective corpus employing a random delay between successive repetitions of the speech items to be added. A high amount of superposition results in a quasi-stationary noise that has the same long term average spectrum as the target speech.…”

Section: Masking Noisementioning

confidence: 99%

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International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA) recommendations for the construction of multilingual speech tests

Akeroyd

Arlinger

Bentler

et al. 2015

International Journal of Audiology

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(Short communication)An important goal in audiology is to establish internationally standardized diagnostic tests that can be applied and interpreted in the same way everywhere -an endeavor with severe limitations as soon as speaker and language-specific considerations come into play. Speech intelligibility tests with a closed-set design (i.e., a limited amount of response alternatives the test subject may choose from in order to identify which speech item she or he has heard) have the advantage that they can be performed in the native language of the respective test subject (if available) even if the test conductor does not understand this language. Such a format therefore supports speech audiometric testing in several languages which makes it attractive for a multilingual society. A prerequisite for a multilingual application, however, is that the construction and the respective results of these closedset speech tests are as comparable across languages as possible. This calls for ICRA as an international body of leading experts in this field to produce guidelines concerned with the development of any new test of this kind in any new language. The current guidelines were therefore agreed on by an ICRA working group on multilingual speech tests constituted by the authors of this paper. The guidelines primarily concern the digit triplets test (as prototype for a screening test, see below) and the matrix test (as prototype for an audiologic diagnostic test for professional use, see below) but may also be used for other test designs. They complement the ISO 8253-3:2012 standard "Acoustics-Audiometric test methods -Part 3: Speech audiometry" by considering in more detail the steps necessary for developing a specific test in any new language.The digit triplet test originally proposed by Smits and colleagues in Dutch (Smits et al.,2004) has meanwhile been produced in about 15 languages, such as, e.g., British English, American English, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Russian, and Spanish (see Zokoll et al 2012Zokoll et al , 2013 for a comprehensive review). It has primarily been designed for use as a screening test using a telephone: A string of three digits is presented together with a background noise to the listener who has to press the appropriate digits on the telephone keypad as a response. An adaptive tracking algorithm allows altering the speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) according to the listener´s responses in such a way that the individual speech recognition threshold (SRT, i.e. SNR corresponding to 50 (or 80) percent speech intelligibility) is determined within a few trials. The matrix test -originally proposed by Hagerman (1982) in Swedish and in a modified version by Wagener et al (1999a,b,c) in German -is intended as an audiological diagnostic sentence recognition test consisting of syntactically fixed, but semantically unpredictable sentences like "Thomas buys eight red cars". For each of the five word positions (i.e., name, verb, numeral, adjective, and object), ten alternatives are available t...

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Influence of noise type on speech reception thresholds across four languages measured with matrix sentence tests

Cited by 29 publications

References 26 publications

Influence of auditory attention on sentence recognition captured by the neural phase

Influence of auditory attention on sentence recognition captured by the neural phase

Influence of age on speech intelligibility in babble noise

International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA) recommendations for the construction of multilingual speech tests

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