Visual Evoked-Response Correlates of Speechreading Performance in Normal-Hearing Adults

The relationship between the latency of the negative peak occurring at approximately 130 msec in the visual evoked-response (VER) and speechreading scores was investigated. A significant product-moment correlation of -.58 was obtained between the two measures, which confirmed the fundamental effect but was significantly weaker than that previously reported in the literature (-.90). Principal components analysis of the visual evoked-response waveforms revealed a previously undiscovered early VER component, statistically independent of the latency measure, which in combination with two other components predicted speechreading with a multiple correlation coefficient of S4. The potential significance of this new component for the study of individual differences in speechreading ability is discussed.