Development and evaluation of a linguistically and audiologically controlled sentence intelligibility test

Verena N. Uslar; Rebecca Carroll; Mirko Hanke; Cornelia Hamann; Esther Ruigendijk; Thomas Brand; Birger Kollmeier

doi:10.1121/1.4818760

Separate and Combined Influence of Cognitive Impairment and Dysarthria on Functional Communication in Multiple Sclerosis

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2018_ajslp-17-0174 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 1051-1065 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Lynda Feenaughty ◽

Kris Tjaden ◽

Bianca Weinstock-Guttman ◽

Ralph H. B. Benedict

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Test Scores ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Functional Communication ◽

Group Assignment ◽

Communication Problems ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Sentence Intelligibility ◽

The Relationship

Purpose Dysarthria is a consequence of multiple sclerosis (MS) that can co-occur with cognitive impairment. Clinical management thus requires understanding the separate and combined effects of dysarthria and cognitive impairment on functional communication in MS. This study compared perceptual measures of intelligibility and speech severity that capture functional communication deficits for 4 operationally defined groups with MS. The relationship between communication participation and perceptual measures was also examined. Method Forty-eight adults with MS and 12 healthy controls participated. Cognitive testing and dysarthria diagnosis determined group assignment: (a) MS with cognitive impairment (MSCI), (b) MS with a diagnosis of dysarthria and no cognitive impairment (MSDYS), (c) MS with dysarthria and cognitive impairment (MSDYS + CI), and (d) MS without dysarthria or cognitive impairment (MS). Sentence Intelligibility Test scores, scaled speech severity obtained from the “Grandfather Passage,” and Communication Participation Item Bank (CPIB) scores were analyzed. Results Sentence Intelligibility Test scores approached 100% for all groups. Speech severity was greater for the MSDYS + CI and MSDYS groups versus controls. CPIB scores were greatest for the MSDYS + CI group and were not significantly correlated with either perceptual measure. Conclusions The CPIB and speech severity were sensitive to aspects of communication problems for some groups with MS not reflected in a measure of sentence intelligibility. Findings suggest the importance of employing a variety of measures to capture functional communication problems experienced by persons with MS.

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Hearing-Aid Performance and Hearing-Aid Selection

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.0901.136 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 136-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

James Jerger ◽

Charles Speaks ◽

Carolyn Malmquist

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Hard Of Hearing ◽

Hearing Aid ◽

Physical Characteristics ◽

Rank Ordering ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Sentence Intelligibility

A sentence intelligibility test was used to evaluate listener performance with three hearing aids differing substantially in physical characteristics. Thirty six hard-of-hearing listeners, representing various types and degrees of hearing loss, were tested. Results showed that, although the sentence intelligibility test reflected meaningful average differences among the aids, the rank ordering of aids was essentially equivalent for all listeners.

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The Effect of Clear Speech on Cantonese Alaryngeal Speakers’ Intelligibility

Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica ◽

10.1159/000517676 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Tak Fai Hui ◽

Steven Randall Cox ◽

Ting Huang ◽

Wei-Rong Chen ◽

Manwa Lawrence Ng

Keyword(s):

Preliminary Data ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Speaking Rate ◽

Clear Speech ◽

Heterogeneous Groups ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Sentence Intelligibility ◽

Communication Methods ◽

Training Protocols

Background/Aim: The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary data concerning the effect of clear speech (CS) on Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ intelligibility. Methods: Voice recordings of 11 sentences randomly selected from the Cantonese Sentence Intelligibility Test (CSIT) were obtained from 31 alaryngeal speakers (9 electrolarynx [EL] users, 10 esophageal speakers and 12 tracheoesophageal [TE] speakers) in habitual speech (HS) and CS. Two naïve listeners orthographically transcribed a total of 1,364 sentences. Results: Significant effects of speaking condition on speaking rate and CSIT scores were observed, but no significant effect of alaryngeal communication methods was noted. CS was significantly slower than HS by 0.78 syllables/s. Esophageal speakers demonstrated the slowest speech rate when using CS, while EL users demonstrated the largest decrease in speaking rate when using CS compared to HS. TE speakers had the highest CSIT scores in HS (listener 1 = 81.4%; listener 2 = 81.3%), and esophageal speakers had the highest CSIT scores in CS (listener 1 = 87.5%; listener 2 = 89.7%). EL users experienced the largest increase in intelligibility while using CS compared to HS (9.1%) followed by esophageal speakers (8.9%) and TE speakers (1.4%). Conclusion: Preliminary data indicate that CS may significantly affect Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ speaking rate and intelligibility. However, intelligibility appeared to vary considerably across speakers. Further research involving larger, heterogeneous groups of speakers and listeners alongside longer and more refined CS training protocols should be conducted to confirm that CS can improve Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ intelligibility.

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Transfer Effects from Listening to Frequency-Controlled and Frequency-Shifted Accelerated Speech

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.2402.185 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 185-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

William P. Wallace ◽

Georgette Koury

Keyword(s):

Speech Signal ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Test Sentence ◽

Control Group ◽

Specific Training ◽

Transfer Effects ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Tonal Frequency ◽

Sentence Intelligibility

Two experiments examined intelligibility of sentences reproduced with increased tonal frequency (the spectrum of the speech signal shifted upward), increased speech rate, or both frequency and speech rate increased. The first experiment showed that both the frequency and speech rate increases independently impaired sentence intelligibility. Sentences played back at increased rates and increased frequencies also were perceived as having been spoken more rapidly. In the second experiment subjects listened either to practice sentences played back at frequency-shifted (FS) or frequency-controlled (FC) accelerated rates. Subsequent to this practice, an intelligibility test was given on 10 FS and 10 FC accelerated sentences played back at double speed. The accelerated sentences were more intelligible for practice groups than for a no-practice control group, and FC accelerated rates produced more intelligible sentences than FS acceleration. The specific training experiences produced an interaction with the type of test-sentence acceleration early in transfer. The FS accelerated sentences were more intelligible following FS practice compared to FC practice, and the FC accelerated sentences were more intelligible following FC practice compared to FS practice.

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How does linguistic complexity influence intelligibility in a German audiometric sentence intelligibility test?

International Journal of Audiology ◽

10.3109/14992027.2011.582166 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 50 (9) ◽

pp. 621-631 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Verena Uslar ◽

Esther Ruigendijk ◽

Cornelia Hamann ◽

Thomas Brand ◽

Birger Kollmeier

Keyword(s):

Linguistic Complexity ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Sentence Intelligibility

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Comparison of Some Speech Intelligibility Tests in the Evaluation of Hearing Aid Performance

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.0902.253 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 253-258 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

James Jerger ◽

Carolyn Malmquist ◽

Charles Speaks

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Hearing Aid ◽

Harmonic Distortion ◽

Test Results ◽

Monosyllabic Word ◽

Word Test ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Sentence Intelligibility

A sentence intelligibility test and three monosyllabic word intelligibility tests, recorded through three hearing aids, were presented to 36 subjects with diverse types of hearing loss. Although hearing aids were rank ordered meaningfully on the sentence intelligibility test-in inverse proportion to the harmonic distortion-performance differences were not systematically reflected in the monosyllabic word test results.

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Dysarthric Sentence Intelligibility

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jslhr.4106.1282 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 41 (6) ◽

pp. 1282-1293 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Jane Mertz Garcia ◽

Paul A. Dagenais

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Presentation Mode ◽

Contextual Influences ◽

Motor Functioning ◽

Video Presentation ◽

Independent Information ◽

Communicative Process ◽

Presentation Formats ◽

Sentence Intelligibility ◽

Audio Video

This study examined changes in the sentence intelligibility scores of speakers with dysarthria in association with different signal-independent factors (contextual influences). This investigation focused on the presence or absence of iconic gestures while speaking sentences with low or high semantic predictiveness. The speakers were 4 individuals with dysarthria, who varied from one another in terms of their level of speech intelligibility impairment, gestural abilities, and overall level of motor functioning. Ninety-six inexperienced listeners (24 assigned to each speaker) orthographically transcribed 16 test sentences presented in an audio + video or audio-only format. The sentences had either low or high semantic predictiveness and were spoken by each speaker with and without the corresponding gestures. The effects of signal-independent factors (presence or absence of iconic gestures, low or high semantic predictiveness, and audio + video or audio-only presentation formats) were analyzed for individual speakers. Not all signal-independent information benefited speakers similarly. Results indicated that use of gestures and high semantic predictiveness improved sentence intelligibility for 2 speakers. The other 2 speakers benefited from high predictive messages. The audio + video presentation mode enhanced listener understanding for all speakers, although there were interactions related to specific speaking situations. Overall, the contributions of relevant signal-independent information were greater for the speakers with more severely impaired intelligibility. The results are discussed in terms of understanding the contribution of signal-independent factors to the communicative process.

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