In an initial experiment (Wilson and Weakley, 2004), word recognition was assessed
with six digit triplets presented at 14 signal-to-babble ratios (S/B) in 2 dB steps.
An abbreviated version of the protocol was developed for clinic use involving three
digit triplets at 7 S/Bs in 4 dB steps. The purpose of this experiment was to examine
the relationship between the two digit protocols with comparisons made with other
variables including age, pure-tone thresholds, subjective measures of understanding
speech in quiet and in noise, and word recognition of monosyllabic words in quiet
and in babble. Ninety-six listeners with sensorineural hearing loss participated.
For equivalent performance, the short version of the digit triplets required (1) a
2.6 dB more favorable S/B than the long version and (2) a 15.1 dB less favorable S/B
than the words. Age, hearing loss, and subjective evaluation of the ability to understand
speech in quiet and in noise were not related to performance on digits or words in
multitalker babble.
Key Words
Auditory perception - digit triplets - hearing loss - speech perception - word recognition
in multitalker babble
