Psychometrically equivalent trisyllabic words for speech reception threshold testing in Mandarin

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to develop, digitally record, evaluate, and equate Mandarin trisyllabic words, which could then be used to measure the SRT. A selection of 90 frequently utilized trisyllabic words were digitally recorded by male and female talkers of Standard Mandarin and presented to 20 normally hearing subjects at 13 intensity levels (-10 to 14dB HL) in 2dB increments. Using logistic regression, psychometric functions were then calculated for all words. Twenty-four trisyllabic words with steep psychometric function slopes were selected, and their intensities were digitally adjusted to match the mean subject PTA (3.0 dB HL). The mean slopes for the 24 selected male and female trisyllabic Mandarin Chinese words were 11.3%/dB and 12.1%/dB, respectively. Thus we developed a list of words which were homogeneous with respect to audibility and slope. Digital recordings of the psychometrically equivalent trisyllabic words are available on compact disc.

Development of Mandarin monosyllabic speech test materials in China

“…Although Nissen et al (2005aNissen et al ( , 2005bNissen et al ( , 2007Nissen et al ( , and 2008 developed Mandarin disyllabic and trisyllabic materials for both Mandarin Chinese and Taiwan Mandarin, they did not investigate monosyllabic materials. This was because disyllabic and trisyllabic words have relatively steeper mean psychometric slopes.…”

“…In 1990, Zhang et al edited speech materials designed to test 'minimal auditory capabilities in Chinese (MACC)', but these materials were not standardized (Chen et al, 2003). Since then, there have been very few reports on the development of new speech test materials in Mandarin until Nissen and colleagues developed psychometrically equivalent Mandarin disyllabic (Nissen et al, 2005a) and trisyllabic (Nissen et al, 2005b) materials in 2005. In order to develop a wider range of reliable speech test materials in Mandarin Chinese and to facilitate wider use of speech audiometry in audiology clinics in the mainland of China, disyllabic Mandarin speech test materials (MSTMs) have been designed by the Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology (Wang et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2006).…”

Development of a Mandarin tone identification test: Sensitivity indexd'as a performance measure for individual tones

“…It is available in a male talker version only. Nissen et al (2005aNissen et al ( , 2005b published psychometrically equivalent bisyllabic and trisyllabic speech discrimination materials spoken by male and female talkers.…”

Development of a Mandarin Monosyllable Recognition Test

“…The mean slopes between 20% and 80% for Taiwan Mandarin disyllabic meaningful words for word recognition materials were reportedly 8.3%/dB for male talker recordings and 6.8%/dB for female talker recordings (Nissen, et al, 2008). In addition, the mean slopes between 20% and 80% for China Mandarin disyllabic and trisyllabic meaningful words for speech audiometry materials were reportedly 6.3%/dB (Nissen, et al, 2005a) and 9.7%/dB (Nissen, et al, 2005b), respectively. The mean slope of the MMRT word lists is 4.1%/dB, which is smaller than that of disyllabic and trisyllabic meaningful words.…”