Characterization of speech understanding in various types of noise

• This study examined (1) the effects of noise on speech understanding and (2) whether performance in real-life noises could be predicted based on performance in steady-state speech-spectrum-shaped noise. The noise conditions included a steady-state speech-spectrum-shaped noise and six types of real-life noise. Thirty normal-hearing adults were tested using sentence materials from the Cantonese Hearing In Noise Test (CHINT). To achieve the first aim, the performance–intensity function slopes in these noise conditions were estimated and compared. Variations in performance–intensity function slopes were attributed to differences in the amount of amplitude fluctuations and the presence of competing background speech. How well the data obtained in real-life noises fit the performance–intensity functions obtained in steady-state speech-spectrum-shaped noises was examined for the second aim of the study. Four out of six types of noise yielded performance–intensity function slopes similar to that in steady-state speech-spectrum-shaped noise. After accounting for individual differences in sentence reception threshold (SRT) and the offset between the signal-to-noise ratio for 50% intelligibility across different types of noise, performance in steady-state speech-spectrum-shaped noise was found to predict well the performance in most of the real-life noise conditions.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

acoustic noise

hearing

speech

speech intelligibility

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