Dept. for Speech, Music and Hearing
Quarterly Progress and
Status Report
Diagnostic rhyme test for
speech audiometry with
severely hard of hearing and
profoundly deaf children
Risberg, A.
journal:
volume:
number:
year:
pages:
STL-QPSR
17
2-3
1976
040-058
http://www.speech.kth.se/qpsr
The explanation of the difference i n t e s t r e s u l t s m u s t t h e r e f o r e be
that subjects with the s & m e pure-tone audiogram can differ corisideraMy
i n t h e i r ability to e x t r a c t the information-bearing e l e m e n t s i n the acousti c speech signal.
T h i s can be due to the h e a r i n g i m p a i r m e n t itself but
can a l s o be a r e s u l t of differences i n training.
The g r e a t effoft m a d e to
t r a i n h e a r i n g i m p a i r e d children to p e r c e i v e o r a l language through the
combined u s e of visual and auditory information m a k e s i t i m p o r t a n t to
develop t e s t methods that can, a s e a r l y as possible, give a detailed diagn o s i s bf a n individual c h i l d ' s ability to l e a r n to u s e acoustic c u e s f o r the
perception of speech,
This t e s t Iliethod m u s t consist of a b a t t e r y of
t e s t s t h a t m e a s u r e s d i f f e r t n t a s p e c t s of the difficulties that can be encountered.
The following can be mentioned as
examples of t e s t s i n
this battery: pure-tone audiometry, t e s t s that m e a s u r e frequency and
ampliiude d i s c ~ i t n i n a t i o nability, objective d u d i a m e t r i c t e s t s , t e s t s
with syhthetic speech stimuli, speech t e s t s with syiiables, w a r d s , and
sentences, audiovisual t e s t s with different speech m a t e r i a l , t e s t s that
diagnose c e n t r a l language d i s o r d e r s , etc.
By combining Pesults f r o m
different t e s t s i t might be p o s s i b l e to p r e d i c t the difficulties a n individual
child will m e e t i n l e a r n i n g to u s e acoustic information and t o i n t e g r a t e
auditory and visual information.
using rhyming words.
I n t h i s paper a speech t e s t is d e s c r i b e d
T h i s t e s t i s intended a s one p a r t of a t e s t b a t t e r y
of the above type.
G e n e r a l description of r h y m e t e s t s
The perception of speech i s based on the recognition of a number of
acoustic c u e s i n the speech signal ( L i b e r m a n e t a1 1967). I n a situation
w h e r e noise i s p r e s e n t o r t h e signal i s f i l t e r e d t o s u p p r e s s some p a r t of
the frequency s p e c t r u m , i t will not be possible for the l i s t e n e r to h e a r
all a c o u s t i c cues that d e s c r i b e the speech sounds.
answer on the remaining cues.
He m u s t then base h i s
By analyzing the e r r o r s m a d e it will be
possible to find out the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the distortion introduced by
the technical s y s t e m on the speech signal.
If the s y s t e m i s a h e a r i n g i m -
p a i r m e n t , a n a n a l y s i s of the confusion will give i m p o r t a n t information
about the n a t u r e of the i m p a i r m e n t .
A r h y m e t e s t i s a closed r e s p o n s e t e s t w h e r e only one e l e m e n t i s
different between the t e s t i t e m s i n a s e t . I n speech r e s e a r c h r h y m e t e s t s
consisting of CV, CVC, o r VC- syllables a r e often used.
By varying the
I
STL-QFSR 2-3/1976
42.
consonants i n the syllables i t is possible t o study how a specific t e s t situation influences the ability t o p e r c e i v e the different acoustic c u e s that a r e
important f o r consonant perception.
An example of t h i s type of e x p e r i -
ment i s the study of Miller and Nicely (1955) of how low- and high-pass
filtering influences consonant confusion.
T e s t s with nonsense syllables can be m a d e with older h e a r i n g i m p a i r e d
children but i t is v e r y important to m a k e s u r e that the subjects have under stood the task.
A s a n example, E r b e r (1972) used nonsense syllables to
study auditory, visual, and auditory-visual perception of consonants by
normal-hearing, s e v e r e l y h a r d of h e a r i n g , and profoundly deaf children.
Walden e t a1 (1975) h a s m a d e the s a m e type of study with adult subjects.
A r h y m e t e s t consisting of s e t s of w o r d s h a s been constructed by
F a i r b a n k s (1958).
T h i s t e s t h a s been modified by House e t a1 (1965).
T h e r e a r e s i x r e s p o n s e a l t e r n a t i v e s i n t h i s l a s t test.
The w o r d s a r e of
the CVC-type, where the initial and final consonant is varied.
The sub-
j e c t s a n s w e r by underlining the word they thought they h e a r d on a r e s p o n s e
sheet.
This t e s t h a s been adopted for u s e i n audiology by K r u e l e t a1 ( 1968).
P i c k e t t e t a1 (1972) used a modification of the t e s t to m e a s u r e the speech
perception ability of s e v e r e l y h a r d of h e a r i n g and profoundly deaf students
a t Gallaudet College,
The r e s p o n s e s w e r e analyzed based on t h r e e f e a t u r e s :
place of articulation, voicing, and low continuant.
Griffiths(l967) modified the r h y m e t e s t of House e t a1 ( 1965) to i m p r o v e
i t s diagnostic power.
I n t h e t e s t the l i s t e n e r s ' ability to d i s c r i m i n a t e
m i n i m a l c o n t r a s t s i n pl a c e and m a n n e r of articulation of the consonants
was m e a s u r e d .
The a n a l y s i s was however complicated by the fact that not
a l l consonants had the s a m e frequency of o c c u r r e n c e i n the t e s t .
Simple, m o r e o r l e s s s y s t e m a t i c , r h y m e t e s t s have been used by seve r a l i n v e s t i g a t o r s to m e a s u r e speech perception ability of s e v e r e l y h a r d of
h e a r i n g and profoundly deaf children (Boothroyd 1972, Hudgins 1953, and
Watson 1967).
Rhyme t e s t s have s e v e r a l advantages.
By giving the subjects a l i m i t e d
s e t of r e s p o n s e a l t e r n a t i v e s i t h a s been shown that the d i f f e r e n c e s i n lingu i s t i c background a r e minimized ( P o l l a c k e t a1 1959).
This i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t i n testing children with a congenital s e v e r e h e a r i n g l o s s a s they always s u f f e r f r o m a pronounced but often unknown language retardation.
By using r h y m e t e s t s i t i s a l s o e a s y t o construct a number of different t e s t
l i s t s with the s a m e difficulty.
I t h a s a l s o been shown t h a t the l e a r n i n g
effect on r e p e a t e d t r i a l s i s s m a l l (House e t a1 1965).
pecially useful i n for example h e a r i n g a i d fitting.
This effect i s e s -
By choosing the r e -
sponse a l t e r n a t i v e s i n a s y s t e m a t i c m a n n e r i t is possible to design t e s t s
that m e a s u r e specific perceptual abilities.
One p r o b l e m with r h y m e t e s t s
is that i t might be difficult to p r e d i c t the ability to p e r c e i v e everyday
speech f r o m the t e s t s c o r e s .
The t e s t s developed by F a i r b a n k s (1958), House e t a1 (1965), K r e u l
e t a1 (1968), and Griffiths(1967) a r e not suited f o r u s e by s e v e r e l y h a r d
of h e a r i n g and profoundly deaf children with a congenital h e a r i n g l o s s a s
they often a r e too difficult and contain many words that a r e not known to
the children.
I t is a l s o difficult to u s e t h i s type of t e s t s i f a detailed
p i c t u r e of the p e r c e p t u a l difficulties of a n individual child i s wanted.
Description of diagnostic r h y m e t e s t s
In designing the diagnostic r h y m e t e s t d e s c r i b e d i n the following i t
was decided that the t e s t should m e e t the following c r i t e r i a :
(1) Only w o r d s well known to the subjects should be used.
(2) The t e s t should consist of a number of s u b - t e s t s where each
s u b - t e s t m e a s u r e d the s u b j e c t ' s ability to u s e a c o u s t i c inf ~ r m a t i o nmainly along one signal dimension.
(3) The t e s t should be e a s y to u s e by the t e a c h e r i n h i s daily work.
S e v e r a l e x p e r i m e n t s with different r h y m e t e s t s of the above type have
been done a t the Dept. of Speech Communication during the l a s t ten y e a r s .
The a i m of the e x p e r i m e n t s h a s been to t r y t h i s type of t e s t for h e a r i n g
aid fitting, to study the r e l a t i o n between speech perception and speech
production, to study the perception of speech rhythm, etc.
Four test
rounds have been made with l a r g e r groups of subjects i n o r d e r to collect
s t a t i s t i c a l data about the speech perception p r o b l e m s of the s e v e r e l y h a r d
of h e a r i n g and profoundly deaf.
Two of t h e s e t e s t rounds w e r e m a d e a s
t h e s i s studies a t the t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g college for t e a c h e r s of the deaf i n
Stockholm (Edlund 1967, Adolvsson and F o r s b n 1968).
The two o t h e r
studies w e r e done by MQrtony. Some r e s u l t s f r o m t h e s e l a s t studies
have been published e a r l i e r ( ~ Q r t o n eyt a1 1972, M&rtony 1974). I n t h i s
paper the r e s u l t s f r o m a l l four t e s t rounds a r e s u m m a r i z e d .
Table IV-A-I shows the contrasting phonemes that have been u s e d i n
different sub-tests i n the four t e s t rounds.
All s u b - t e s t s a r e intended to
l
T A B L E IV-A-I.
T e s t round
Contrasting phonemes in different sub-tests.
Sub-test
no.
Contrasting phoneme
I
one a n d two s y l l a b l e s
2
/u:/-lo:/-/a:/
3
/u:/-/i:/,
I
one a n d two s y l l a b l e s
2
/u: /-
3
5
0
6
/p/-/b/,
1
one a n d two s y l l a b l e s
2
/u:/-/o:/,
3
/i:/-/y;/, /i:/-/ti:/
4
/s/-/st/,
I11 & IV
TABLE IV-A-11.
Vowel
-
/a/-/:/,u
:
cv C
cvc* CVC/?/'
Initial & m e d i a l
/t/- /d/,
/k/-/g/
/o:/-/a:/
/s/- /t/, /st/-/t/
Initial
cvc
CVC, CV
Initial
' F o r m a n t f r e q u e n c i e s of long Swedish vowels.
M a l e t a l k e r . F a n t (1973), p. 96.
F4
tu:3
290
595
2330
3260
1
[a: 1
390
690
2415
3160
600
925
2540
3320
1
r e :I
625
505
1720
2500
3440
2540
3370
[e:]
345
1935
2250
2850
3540
255
2190
3150
3730
3
-
/n/-/l/
F3
[i:
CVC, CV
10:
/* 10:/ - / a :/
F2
Em:
cv c
/a:/-/&:/
Fl
Lo:
Position
,
45.
STL-QPSR 2-3/1976
m e a s u r e one specific ability of the subjects to u s e acoustic speech information.
The selection of contrasting phonemes i s based on this a s -
sumption but i t i s , however, not possible to avoid the use of secondary
acoustic cues by some subjects to select the c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e alternative.
A s the f i r s t sub-test a t e s t that m e a s u r e s the ability of the subjects
to tell i f a word h a s one or two syllables h a s been used i n a l l t e s t rounds.
Words a r e chosen that i n their one- syllable f o r m a r e nouns, e. g. l/ma:t/
(food) and that f o r m v e r b s by adding a n /a/-sound:
/ma:ta/
syllable in the two- syllable word h a s about equal s t r e s s .
(feed).
The
Word p a i r s of
this type where the final consonant i n the one-syllable word i s a plosive o r
an unvoiced fricative a r e e a s i e r than words, where the final consonant i s
a voiced continuous consonant, a s e. g. /ta:l/-/ta
(Mhrtony 1974).
:la/ (speech, s peak)
The t e s t can therefore be divided in two sub-tests if
m o r e detailed information about the subject' s ability to detect time-intensity variations is needed.
It i s possible to i n c r e a s e the number of r e -
sponse alternatives to t h r e e by selecting t r i a d s of the type /ma:t/
/ma:ta/
(food),
(feed), /ma : t a d a / (fed). It i s of course a l s o possible to select
p a i r s or t r i a d s with v e r y different phoneme s t r u c t u r e .
In this c a s e i t i s ,
however, not possible to tell i f a c o r r e c t answer i s based on the perception of the number of syllables in the word or on the difference in phoneme structure.
This might, however, be possible to determine f r o m
the r e s u l t s of other sub-tests.
A t e s t of this type h a s been described by
E r b e r and Alencewicz (1976).
This t e s t i s especially useful for testing
young children a s words can be selected that a r e wellknown to the subjects and which a l s o can be illustrated.
More difficult t e s t s of the ability to perceive speech rhythm can be
constructed by selecting response alternatives that differ with r e s p e c t to
the s t r e s s pattern i n words or sentences.
Results f r o m this type of t e s t s
have been reported by ~ h r t o n y(1974).
A s the second sub-test a t e s t h a s been used that m e a s u r e d the ability
to use formant frequency differences i n a frequency range below 1500 Hz.
In the t e s t word p a i r s containing the back vowels /u:/,
used.
/o:/,
and / a : / a r e
The formant frequencies for these vowels for a male talker a r e
shown in Table IV-A-11, Fant ( 1973).
I
STL-QPSR 2-3/1976
46.
The intensity of t h t t h i r d and fourth f o r m a n t s i n the back vowels /u:/,
/o:/,
and / a : /
The
is about 30 d B below the intensity of the f i r s t formant.
higher f o r m a n t can however influence the d i s c r i m i n a t i o n between the vowels
for subjects with better h e a r i n g i n the higher than i n the lower frequencies.
T h i s type of h e a r i n g l o s s is v e r y uncommon.
I t i s p o s s i b l e t o find t r i a d s of rhyming w o r d s with t h e s e vowels and
this w a s used i n t e s t round I.
I n Swedish, however, t h i s often h a s the
r e s u l t that one of the words is v e r y uncommon o r is a v e r b f o r m that
I
i1
might not be known by the subjects.
The total intensity of the t h r e e phonemes i s not the s a m e and the intensity difference between /u:/
and
/a
:/ i s
especially l a r g e .
To avoid the
u s e of the intensity difference a s a cue only the p a i r s /u:/-/o:/
lo:/-/a:/
and
a r e used i n t e s t rounds 11, 111, and IV.
The t h i r d sub-test is a high-frequency vowel t e s t .
Words a r e s e l e c t -
ed that differ with r e s p e c t to a vowel phoneme w h e r e the frequency of the
f i r s t f o r m a n t is about the s a m e but w h e r e the difference i n the frequency
of t h e second f o r m a n t i n the frequency r a n g e above 1500 Hz is l a r g e .
In
the four t e s t rounds different contrasting phonemes have been used, s e e
Table IV-A-I.
The f o r m a n t f r e q u e n c i e s of the vowels a r e shown i n Table
IV-A-11.
Based on the s a m e principle a l a r g e number of different s u b - t e s t s that
m e a s u r e s the ability to u s e different acoustic cues that distinguish the
consonants can be constructed. I n the four t e s t rounds r e p o r t e d on h e r e
t h r e e consenant t e s t s have been included, s e e Table IV-A-I.
In test
round I1 a t e s t that m e a s u r e d the ability t o identify i f a word contained
/n/ o r /1/ i n initial and m e d i a l position was included.
The a c o u s t i c dif-
f e r e n c e between t h e s e sounds l i e s i n the s p e c t r u m of the /n/ and /I/sounds, i n the t r a n s i t i o n s to the following vowel and i n the p r e s e n c e of
nasalization nf the vowel followed by /n/
( ~ a r l s o net a1 1972. Dalston
1975, Ohman 1962). I n the s a m e t e s t round a sub-test w a s included that
m e a s u r e d the ability to detect if a n initial plosive sound was voiced o r
unvoiced.
This distinction i s signaled by a number of acoustic cues.
T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t c u e s a r e the p r e s e n c e o r absence of a voiced occlusion, the t i m e l a g between the explosion and the onset of voicing and the
length of the f o r m a n t t r a n s i t i o n s i n the vowel (Slis and Cohen 1969).
I n t e s t rounds 111 and IV a consonant t e s t w a s included that m e a s u r e d
the ability to identify /s/, / s t / ,
and /t/ i n initial position.
T h i s sub-test
I
STL-QPSR 2 - 3 / 1 9 7 6
m e a s u r e s the ability to detect the p r e s e n c e and timing of noise energy i n
a frequency range above 2000 Hz.
A s a secondary cue the length of f o r -
mant transition in the following vowel can be used.
These transitions a r e
long f o r /s/ and /st/ but short for /t/.
Test procedure
Test l i s t s w e r e cqnstructed by choosing 4- 10 word p a i r s that contained
the contrasting p h i n e m e s that w e r e to be tested.
A l i s t of 15-30 p a i r s was
constructed by repeating the selected p a i r s .
T e s t l i s t s w e r e recorded i n a silent room using a good tape r e c o r d e r
and microphone.
In t e s t rounds I and I1 a female talker was used and in
t e s t rounds I11 and I V a m a l e talker.
r i e r p h r a s e "Now you will h e a r . .
. ".
The words w e r e preceded by a c a r In t e s t rounds I and I1 the t e s t word
after the c a r r i e r was spoken once and i n t e s t rounds I11 and IV twice.
Response sheets w e r e p r e p a r e d where a l l p a i r s w e r e listed in the o r d e r
The subjects heard one of the words i n the pair and
they w e r e presented.
underlined the word he thought he heard.
Before testing i t was made s u r e that the subject knew the words and
under stood the task.
Short training was given on each list.
The subjects listened through the group amplifier they used daily and
they adjusted the output during the training p a r t of the t e s t to what they
considered optimum.
Subjects
A s the subjects m u s t be able to r e a d , only subjects f r o m the age of
10 y e a r s w e r e used.
In Table IV-A-I11 and IV-A-IV the number of sub-
jects i n different iO-dB intervals i s shown.
InTable IV-A-111 the mean
hearing l o s s a t 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz i s used a s a m e a s u r e of the degree
of hearing l o s s and in Table IV-A-IV the hearing l o s s a t 2000 Hz.
The sub-
jects a r e f r o m the school f o r the deaf i n Stockholm (I and 11). f r o m the
school f o r the deaf i n t j r e b r o (JII), and f r o m the school f o r partially h e a r ing in Stockholm (IV).
All subjects have been auditory trained for a t l e a s t
four y e a r s using group a m p l i f i e r s and individual hearing aids.
-Results and discussion
In calculating the r e s u l t s on the rhyme t e s t the per cent c o r r e c t r e l a tive to guessing i s used.
If the number of c o r r e c t a n s w e r s i s below what
TABLE IV-A-IV.
Number of subject6 in 10 dB intervals.
Hearing loss at 2000 Ha.
N u m b e r of s u b j e c t s
Test
Age
Total
50-59
I
Total
13- 17
I
10
dB
60-69 d B
2
23
70-79 d B
3
33
80-89
dB 90-99 dB
100-109 d B
110-
dB
6
4
7
21
44
32
19
33
84
234
100
50
.
t
NUMBER OF
SYLLABLES
""
X ALLTESTS
50-
59
Fig. IV-A- I .
60-
70-
80-
90-
100-
110-
69
79
89
99
109
M E A N HEARING LOSS. ~ B M
500,1000,2000 Hz
Median and i n t e r q u a r t i l e r a n g e on the s u b t e s t that m e a s u r e s t h e a b i l i t y t o detect i f
a w o r d h a s one o r two s y l l a b l e s .
M E A N H E A R I N G LOSS.~ B M
500.1000,2000
Fig. IV-A-2.
Hz
Median a n d i n t e r q u a r t i l e r a n g e on t h e s u b - t e s t that m e a s u r e s t h e a b i l i t y t o u s e f o r m a n t f r e q u e n c y information
below 1500 Hz. C o n t r a s t i n g p h o n e m e s /u:/, /o:/, / a : / ,
-
-
-
-
-
50 -
0-
v m
X ALLTESTS
I
I
5059
6069
I
t
1
70809079
89
99
H E A R I N G LOSS AT
2000 Hz, dB,
I
100109
I
b
110-
Fig. IV-A-3. Median and interquartile range on sub-test that measures
the ability to use formant frequency information above
1500 Hz. Contrasting phonemes, s e e Table IV-A-I.
H E A R I N G LOSS AT
2000 Hz,dB
F i g . IV-A-4.
Median and interquartile range on the sub-test that
measures the ability to detect timing of noise energy.
Contrasting phonemes /s/, /st/, and /t/.
5 1.
STL-QPSR 2-3/1976
111 and IV only words of the type /&:dl-/ba:da/
w e r e used.
I n these
words the intensity variations i n the two-sylliible word a r e m o r e pronounced than in words of the other type.
See a l s o the r e s u l t s published
(1974). In t e s t rounds 111 and IV training on the t e s t m a t e r i a l
by ~ S r t o n y
was a l s o given and the r e s u l t s shown a r e those obtained a f t e r four t e s t
s e s sions.
F o r sub-test 2, the-.difference-between-/u-:/,
/o:/,
dian value i s about the same for all t e s t rounds.
an d
/n,:/,
the m e -
50 QJo of the- children with a
mean hearing l o s s in the range 90-99 d B manage this t e s t but only about
70 i n the group with a mean hearing l o s s i n the range 100- 109 dB. F o r
a mean hearing l o s s of m o r e than 100 dB only about l o - % of the- children got
25
a s c o r e of m o r e than 50
OJo over
guessing.
The main acoustic difference between the phonemes /u:/,
/a
:/ i s the frequency of
s e e Table IV-A-I.
/o:/,
and
the combined formant one and formant two group,
There i s , however, a l s o a difference i n total intensity
and this intensity difference can be enhanced by the shape of the audiogram
and the frequency response of the amplifying system.
I t i s possible that
some children with a s e v e r e l o s s use this intensity difference a s the p r i m a r y cue and not the difference in formant frequency.
The possibility that
secondary cues a r e used by some children m u s t always be taken i n a c count and i t i s therefore n e c e s s a r y to i n t e r p r e t the r e s u l t s f r o m this kind
of simple rhyme t e s t s with caution.
"
By..comparing the r e s u l t s f r o m dif-
f e r e n t sub-tests i t might often be possible to determine if p r i m a r y o r
secondary cues have been used.
Another possibility is to u s e synthetic
speech sounds instead of r e a l speech.
In this c a s e secondary cues can
m o r e easily be controlled (Pickett and MBrtony 1970).
The t h i r d sub-test, the high-frequency vowel t e s t , i s plotted against
the hearing l o s s a t 2000 Hz in 10-dB groups a s the important acoustic diff e r e n c e s i n this c a s e l i e in a frequency region between 1500 and 3000 Hz.
This t e s t i s quite difficult and the degree of hearing l o s s , where about 50
% of the subjects get a s c o r e better than 50 70 over guessing, l i e s around
75 dB. Even in the rahge 5 0 - 59 d B hearing l o s s about 25 % of the children
do not get a s c o r e better than 50 70 over guessing.
The contrasting phonemes i n sub-test 3 w e r e not the s a m e i n the different t e s t rounds, s e e Table IV-A-I.
In the f i r s t two t e s t rounds the dif-
ference was between front and back vowels and i n the l a s t two t e s t rounds
1
I
5059
6069
7079
8089
9099
100109
110-
M E A N H E A R I N G LOSS, ~ B M
500,1000,2000 Hz
Fig. I V - A - 5 .
Median and interquartile range on the sub-test that m e a s u r e s the ability to identify the difference between /n/ and
/1/ and between voiced and unvoiced plosive sounds.
STL-QPSR 2 - 3 / f 9 7 6
53.
only included in test found 11. The number of subjects in each 10 dBinterval i s small and the r e s u l t s must therefore be seen a s preliminary.
Recent studies with the same sub-test, however, confirms the general
r e s u l t s shown i n Fig. IV-A-5.
Both t e s t s a r e v e r y difficult for subjects
with a mean hearing l o s s of m o r e than about 70 dB.
The p r i m a r y acoustic difference between /n/ and /1/ i s i n spectral
differences, formant transitions in the adjacent vowel, and the presence
of nasalization in the vowel followed by /n/.
The main difference in the
frequency spectrum of /n/ and /1/ l i e s around 2000 Hz.
This information
i s difficult to use for sevepely hard of hearing subjects, especially if lowfrequency information i s simultaneously present.
These subjects have
also difficulties in using information in formant transitions, a s was shown
by Danaher, Osberger, and Pickett ( 1 9 7 3 ) ~ These difficulties seem to explain the poor r e s u l t on this sub-tedt.
F o r the difference between voiced and unvoiced plosive sounds many
different acoustic cues can be used.
The most important cue i s probably
the presence of a voiced occlusion i n voiced plosives, the length of the
1
formant transition, and the time lag between the explosion and onset of the
vowel ( ~ l i and
s
Cohen 1969). Other cues a r e changes in the fundamental
frequency, the r a t e of change of energy in the low frequencies etc.
It is
difficult to s a y which of these cues that a r e p r i m a r y cues for the severely
hard of hearing subjects used i n the study. In a study by Bennet and Ling
(1973) it was, however, shown that profoundly deaf subjects cannot use
voice onset time a s a cue for voiced/voiceless identification.
A s the dis-
tinction between voiced and unvoiced plosive sounds cannot be seen on the
talker' s f a c e (woodward and Barber 19 60), i t i s very important to study
1
Synthetic
speech with enhanced contrast between the different cues might be used i n
these problems to find methods for training this distinction.
this training
.
The u s e of the rhyme t e s t s in diagnosis
The r e s u l t s obtained in the four t e s t rounds a r e a t present used a s a
preliminary standard against which the r e s u l t s f r o m individual subjects a r e
compared.
A s an example, Fig. IV-A-6 shows the r e s u l t s obtained f r o m
two groups of subjects.
The f i r s t group consists of s i x subjects with a
hearing l o s s acquired at the age of 4- 6 y e a r s , and the second group of s i x
congenitally deaf subjects that have been intensively auditory trained.
The
STL-QPSR 2- 3/1976
54.
age of the subjects in the f i r s t group is 14 y e a r s and i n the second 16
y e a r s a t the time of testing.
The t e s t r e s u l t s f r o m the two groups do not differ on the low-frbquency
vowel t e s t s but on the high-frequency vo\kel t e s t one of the subjects with
a congenital deafness get a v e r y high score.
On the consonant t e s t the
grsup with acquired hearing l o s s a p p e l r s t o be better than the group with
congenital hearing lass.
auditory kraining.
Thik might then show the effect of.very e a r l y
A s f a r a. i s known the intensive auditory training of
the group with congenital hearing s t a r t e d r a t h e r late.
I
In Fig. IV-A-7 some r e s u l t s a r e shown for dlder subjects with d i f f e r ent etiology.
Especially interesting i s subject A F , where the cause of
d e a f n e s s is the t r e a t m e n t with streptomycine.
This subject gets a poor
s c o r e on the two vowel t e s t s but reasonably good s c o r e s on the consonant
tests.
The difficulties with the vowel t e s t s e e m to be explained by a v e r y
poor frequency discrimination ability.
Evans ( 197 5) h a s recently shown
that canamycin and other d r u g s of the s a m e type can r e s u l t in a hearing
impairment characterized by a reduced frequency discrimination ability.
In Fig, IV-A-7 the frequency discrimination ability for sinusoidal signals
is a l s o shown ( R i s b e r g and Agelfors 1 9 7 5 ) .
Conclusion
The rhyme t e s t of the described type can be easily administered to
severely h a r d of hearing and profoundly deaf subjects.
The limitation i s
that the subjects m u s t be able to r e a d and that the t e s t r e s u l t s might be
influenced by variations of the s u b j e c t ' s ability to combine an orthographic
symbol with a sound.
T h e s e difficulties can be avoided by selecting the
words i n the t e s t v e r y carefully and in some c a s e s selecting words that
can be illustrated.
The subjects must a l s o be carefully instructed.
The
t e s t can be used in a learning situation where different scramblings of the
t e s t list a r e used and the subjects a r e trained to a crude asymptote.
In
the training teaching machines can be used (Doehring and Ling 197 1). In
t e s t rounds I11 and IV this technique was used and the r e s u l t s shown a r e
the final r e s u l t s a f t e r 4-5 training sessions.
A training effect was ob-
tained on a l l t e s t s but was statistically significant only on sub-test 2;
low-frequency vowel discrimination.
In F i g . I V - A - 8 the relation be-
tween r e s u l t s obtained on the f i r s t and the fourth t e s t s e s s i o n s is shown.
Is/-/st/-It/
OIo
I
8
I
I
I
I
I
Of0
+
loo
100
-50 -
-
0
\
50 0
--
&-t
I
So59
I
I
I
7079
SUBJECT
-
I
I
9099
110-
ar
AGE
%
500
31
7
.-
-
STREPTOMYCIN, 15 YEARS
35
2
3
MENINGITIS, 2 YEARS
28
3
7
15
HEREDETARY, PROGRESSIVE
2
5
CONGENITAL, UNKNOWN
U
V
BM
24
3
3
A
IB
35
20
20
$
,
Fig. IV-A-7.
CAUSE O F DEAFNESS
250
AF
AL
KR
0
1
-
lk Hz
-
1'
-
-
1'
Results from measurements with rhyme tests o n older
subjects with different etiology. Frequency discrimination ability for sinusoidal signals is also shown.
I
-
TEST SESSION 1.
Fig. IV-A-8.
E f f e c t of training on r e s u l t s l r o m a rhyrne t c s t .
T h e f i g u r e s h o w s the r e s u l t s f r o m t h e f i r s t a n d
t h e f o u r t h t c s t s e s s i o n with t h e t c s t t h a t m e a s u r e s
the a b i l i t y t o use f o r m a n t f r e q u e n c y i n f o r m a t i o n
i n the f r e quency r a n g e below 1500 H z i n t c s t r o u n d s
I11 a n d IV. The t r a i n i n g w a s g i v e n by m e a n s of a
teaching ~ n a c h i n eand the s u b j e c t s w e r e told if
t h e i r r e s p o n s e s w e r e c o r r e c t o r not.
STL-QPSR 2-3/1976
5 5.
The effect of training i s significant i n the two groups with the m e a n
h e a r i n g l o s s between 80-89 and 90-99.
I n the groups with a m e a n h e a r i n g
l o s s of 70-79 d B and i n the groups with a m e a n h e a r i n g l o s s above 100 d B
no significant effect of training was obtained.
If training i s used i n the
t e s t , i t i s possible that the subject l e a r n s to u s e secondary acoustic cues
i n the words.
I t is t h e r e f o r e probably n e c e s s a r y to t r a i n the subjects on
one s e t of w o r d s o r the r e c o r d i n g f r o m one s p e a k e r and then t e s t them on
another s e t of w o r d s o r a r e c o r d i n g f r o m another s p e a k e r .
By establishing the median and q u a r t i l e values f o r subjects in different h e a r i n g l o s s and age groups, i t i s possible t o e s t a b l i s h a t e s t s c o r e
against which different s u b groups o r individuals can be compared, a s
shown i n F i g s . IV-A-6 and IV-A-7.
By m e a n s of t h i s technique i t might
be possible to study s o m e of the f a c t o r s that influence the r e s u l t s of
auditory training.
The t e s t method i s based on a c o u s t i c differences between the contrasting phonemes i n the t e s t words.
T h i s m e a n s that the s a m e type of t e s t
i
can be constructed for a l l languages and a standardization m a d e i n one
country can be used i n another country, w h e r e a different training method
I
o r technical equipment i s used.
The t e s t r e s u l t s shown i n t h i s paper
might be used as a p r e l i m i n a r y standardization but to get a m o r e r e l i a b l e
standard the different factors influencing the r e s u l t s m u s t be analyzed and
a s t a n d a r d t e s t p r o c e d u r e established.
Acknowledgments
T h i s r e s e a r c h h a s been supported by the Swedish Boaxdfor- Technical Development.
The m e a s u r e m e n t s have been made a t the School f o r
the Deaf i n Stockholm (Manillaskolan), the School f o r the p a r t i a l l y h e a r i n g
i n Stockholm (Alviksskolan), and the School f o r the Deaf i n Orebro.
I
wish t o thank the staff of these schools for t h e i r cooperation.
The m e a s u r e m e n t s s u m m a r i z e d i n this r e p o r t have been m a d e by
Edlund, Adolvsson, and F c c s b a s a t h e s i s work a t t h e t e a c h e r training
college i n Stockholm and by J s n o s Msrtony a t the Department of Speech
Communication of the Royal Institute of Technology i n Stockholm.
STL-QPSR 2-3/1976
56.
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