Adaptation of the Connected Speech Test: Rerecording and Passage Equivalency

Abstract

Purpose The original Connected Speech Test (CST; Cox et al., 1987) is a well-regarded and often utilized speech perception test. The aim of this study was to develop a new version of the CST using a neutral North American accent and to assess the use of this updated CST on participants with normal hearing. Method A female English speaker was recruited to read the original CST passages, which were recorded as the new CST stimuli. A study was designed to assess the newly recorded CST passages' equivalence and conduct normalization. The study included 19 Western University students (11 females and eight males) with normal hearing and with English as a first language. Results Raw scores for the 48 tested passages were converted to rationalized arcsine units, and average passage scores more than 1 rationalized arcsine unit standard deviation from the mean were excluded. The internal reliability of the 32 remaining passages was assessed, and the two-way random effects intraclass correlation was .944. Conclusion The aim of our study was to create new CST stimuli with a more general North American accent in order to minimize accent effects on the speech perception scores. The study resulted in 32 passages of equivalent difficulty for listeners with normal hearing.

Perceptual Benefits of Extended Bandwidth Hearing Aids With Children: A Within-Subject Design Using Clinically Available Hearing Aids

“…Aided loudness growth was measured with an approach similar to that used in the study of Van Eeckhoutte et al (2016) but modified for aided testing in the sound field. The stimulus was a sentence from a custom recording of the Connected Speech Test ("A wolf looks like a skinny wild dog"; Cox et al, 1987;Saleh et al, 2020). Each time the stimulus was presented, the child had to judge the loudness of the sentence by choosing a position on a graphic rating scale (GRS), shown on a computer interface.…”

“…The children were asked to indicate their subjective preference for either EBW or RBW using a single-blind ABX paired comparison task (Eisenberg et al, 1997;Punch et al, 2001). For this task, a speech passage consisting of multiple spoken custom-recorded Connected Speech Test sentences was presented at 60 dB SPL (Saleh et al, 2020). While the child was listening, bilaterally aided, the experimenter changed the hearing aid program to alternate between bandwidth conditions and to indicate if the child was listening to "Program 1" (counterbalanced to either the EBW or RBW condition) or "Program 2."…”

Detection, Speech Recognition, Loudness, and Preference Outcomes With a Direct Drive Hearing Aid: Effects of Bandwidth

“…Aided Loudness Perception. The Contour Test of Loudness Perception (Cox et al, 1997) was used to measure aided loudness ratings, for sentences from the modified Connected Speech Test passages Ocean and Water (Saleh et al, 2020). With each sentence presentation, the listeners indicated their perceived loudness category on a computer screen.…”

“…Subjective preference for either the full or narrow bandwidth condition was measured using a single-blind, unforced-choice, paired comparisons paradigm (Amlani & Schafer, 2009;Eisenberg et al, 1997;Punch et al, 2001). Listeners heard a broadband recording of the Dove Passage from the modified Connected Speech Test (Saleh et al, 2020). The passage was presented at 60 dB SPL from 0 azimuth.…”