A comparison of the effects of hearing impairment and acoustic filtering on consonant recognition

1978 ◽  
Vol 64 (S1) ◽  
pp. S147-S147
Author(s):  
B. E. Walden
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Consonant Recognition ◽  
Acoustic Filtering

A Comparison of the Effects of Hearing Impairment and Acoustic Filtering on Consonant Recognition

1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Walden ◽  
Daniel M. Schwartz ◽  
Allen A. Montgomery ◽  
Robert A. Prosek
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Feature Recognition ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Hearing Impairments ◽  
Consonant Recognition ◽  
Recognition Ability ◽  
Acoustic Filtering ◽  
Error Probabilities ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Phoneme Identification

The relationship between consonant recognition under conditions of acoustic filtering and hearing loss was studied in subjects with unilateral hearing impairments, Using a procedure involving suprathreshold loudness balance between ears, a spectrum shaper was used to match the (suprathreshold) audiometric configuration of the impaired ear. Consonant recognition data were obtained from the impaired ear and from the normal ear listening through the spectrum shaper. To the extent that consonant recognition was similar in the two ears, the effect of the patient's hearing impairment on phoneme identification could be related to the audiometric configuration. A comparison between consonant recognition scores for the impaired ears and for the ears listening through the spectrum shaper revealed large individual differences among subjects. Mean consonant recognition ability, however, was generally lower in the impaired ear. Although overall consonant recognition and the error probabilities for individual consonants tended to be different between ears, the patterns of feature recognition were quite similar.

Hearing Aid Amplification Reduces Communication Effort of People With Hearing Impairment and Their Conversation Partners

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1299-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beechey ◽  
Jörg M. Buchholz ◽  
Gitte Keidser
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Directional Hearing ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Communication Task ◽  
Acoustic Environments ◽  
The Impact

Objectives This study investigates the hypothesis that hearing aid amplification reduces effort within conversation for both hearing aid wearers and their communication partners. Levels of effort, in the form of speech production modifications, required to maintain successful spoken communication in a range of acoustic environments are compared to earlier reported results measured in unaided conversation conditions. Design Fifteen young adult normal-hearing participants and 15 older adult hearing-impaired participants were tested in pairs. Each pair consisted of one young normal-hearing participant and one older hearing-impaired participant. Hearing-impaired participants received directional hearing aid amplification, according to their audiogram, via a master hearing aid with gain provided according to the NAL-NL2 fitting formula. Pairs of participants were required to take part in naturalistic conversations through the use of a referential communication task. Each pair took part in five conversations, each of 5-min duration. During each conversation, participants were exposed to one of five different realistic acoustic environments presented through highly open headphones. The ordering of acoustic environments across experimental blocks was pseudorandomized. Resulting recordings of conversational speech were analyzed to determine the magnitude of speech modifications, in terms of vocal level and spectrum, produced by normal-hearing talkers as a function of both acoustic environment and the degree of high-frequency average hearing impairment of their conversation partner. Results The magnitude of spectral modifications of speech produced by normal-hearing talkers during conversations with aided hearing-impaired interlocutors was smaller than the speech modifications observed during conversations between the same pairs of participants in the absence of hearing aid amplification. Conclusions The provision of hearing aid amplification reduces the effort required to maintain communication in adverse conditions. This reduction in effort provides benefit to hearing-impaired individuals and also to the conversation partners of hearing-impaired individuals. By considering the impact of amplification on both sides of dyadic conversations, this approach contributes to an increased understanding of the likely impact of hearing impairment on everyday communication.

Relationships Between Subjective Ratings and Objective Measures of Performance in Speechreading Sentences

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 900-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn E. Demorest ◽  
Lynne E. Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Performance Evaluations ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Objective Performance ◽  
Phonetic Distance ◽  
Stimulus Length ◽  
Measures Of Performance ◽  
Confidence Scale

Ninety-six participants with normal hearing and 63 with severe-to-profound hearing impairment viewed 100 CID Sentences (Davis & Silverman, 1970) and 100 B-E Sentences (Bernstein & Eberhardt, 1986b). Objective measures included words correct, phonemes correct, and visual-phonetic distance between the stimulus and response. Subjective ratings were made on a 7-point confidence scale. Magnitude of validity coefficients ranged from .34 to .76 across materials, measures, and groups. Participants with hearing impairment had higher levels of objective performance, higher subjective ratings, and higher validity coefficients, although there were large individual differences. Regression analyses revealed that subjective ratings are predictable from stimulus length, response length, and objective performance. The ability of speechreaders to make valid performance evaluations was interpreted in terms of contemporary word recognition models.

Effect of Consonant-Vowel Ratio Modification on Amplitude Envelope Cues for Consonant Recognition

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Freyman ◽  
G. Patrick Nerbonne ◽  
Heather A. Cote
Keyword(s):  
White Noise ◽  
Intensity Ratio ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Amplitude Envelope ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Noise Masking ◽  
Spectral Cues ◽  
Consonant Recognition ◽  
Nonlinear Amplification ◽  
Speech Envelope

This investigation examined the degree to which modification of the consonant-vowel (C-V) intensity ratio affected consonant recognition under conditions in which listeners were forced to rely more heavily on waveform envelope cues than on spectral cues. The stimuli were 22 vowel-consonant-vowel utterances, which had been mixed at six different signal-to-noise ratios with white noise that had been modulated by the speech waveform envelope. The resulting waveforms preserved the gross speech envelope shape, but spectral cues were limited by the white-noise masking. In a second stimulus set, the consonant portion of each utterance was amplified by 10 dB. Sixteen subjects with normal hearing listened to the unmodified stimuli, and 16 listened to the amplified-consonant stimuli. Recognition performance was reduced in the amplified-consonant condition for some consonants, presumably because waveform envelope cues had been distorted. However, for other consonants, especially the voiced stops, consonant amplification improved recognition. Patterns of errors were altered for several consonant groups, including some that showed only small changes in recognition scores. The results indicate that when spectral cues are compromised, nonlinear amplification can alter waveform envelope cues for consonant recognition.

Hearing Impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Mueller ◽  
Christopher R. Brigham
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment
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