Hearing Aids Reduce Self-Perceived Difficulties in Noise for Listeners With Normal Audiograms.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed hearing aid benefits for people with a normal audiogram but hearing-in-noise problems in everyday listening situations. DESIGN: Exploratory double-blinded case-control study whereby participants completed retrospective questionnaires, ecological momentary assessments, speech-in-noise testing, and mental effort testing with and without hearing aids. Twenty-seven adults reporting speech-in-noise problems but normal air conduction pure-tone audiometry took part in the study. They were randomly separated into an experimental group that trialed mild-gain hearing aids with advanced directional processing and a control group fitted with hearing aids with no gain or directionality. RESULTS: Self-reports showed mild-gain hearing aids reduce hearing-in-noise difficulties and provide a better hearing experience (i.e., improved understanding, participation, and mood). Despite the self-reported benefits, the laboratory tests did not reveal a benefit from the mild-gain hearing aids, with no group differences on speech-in-noise tests or mental effort measures. Further, participants found the elevated cost of hearing aids to be a barrier for their adoption. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing aids benefit the listening experience in some listening situations for people with normal audiogram who report hearing difficulties in noise. Decreasing the price of hearing aids may lead to greater accessibility to those seeking remediation for their communication needs.

English language and language-free detection of spatial processing disorders in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare speech reception thresholds in noise measured with the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Universal test (LiSN-U; which requires no English knowledge) with those measured from the relevant conditions of the LiSN - Sentences test (LiSN-S; a test requiring knowledge of English) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. A second aim was to compare the ability of the two tests to detect spatial processing disorder. DESIGN: Participants completed audiometry, the LiSN-S, and the LiSN-U. STUDY SAMPLE: 90 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged six to 14 years tested in a school setting. RESULTS: Strong correlations were found between speech reception thresholds in noise for the two tests. A moderate correlation was found between the difference scores that each test uses to detect spatial processing disorder. Consistent diagnoses of whether a child had spatial processing disorder or not on both tests were found for 72% of children. CONCLUSIONS: The moderate-to-strong relationships and agreement between diagnoses found for the LiSN-S and LiSN-U show promise for the LiSN-U being used as a tool to investigate spatial processing disorder in children, without requiring the test to use a language familiar to the children being tested.

Listening in Spatialized Noise - Universal Test (LiSN-U) test-retest reliability study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess test-retest reliability of the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Universal test (LiSN-U). DESIGN: Test-retest reliability study. Participants completed the LiSN-U twice, four to eight weeks apart. Study sample: Test-retest reliability was analysed for 23 adults and 109 children. RESULTS: ANOVA showed significant group average score improvement on LiSN-U spatially-separated and co-located conditions on retest (by 1.3 and 0.9 dB, respectively), but not on the difference between them (spatial advantage). Critical difference scores for children were -3.6 dB for the spatially-separated condition, -5.8 dB for the co-located condition, and 5.5 dB for spatial advantage. Critical difference scores for adults were -2.0 dB for the spatially-separated condition, -4.9 dB for the co-located condition, and 5.4 dB for spatial advantage. A correlation analysis was run to determine the relationship between test and retest speech reception thresholds. The correlation was r = 0.63, p < 0.001 for the spatially-separated condition, r = 0.50, p < 0.001 for the co-located condition, and r = 0.37, p < 0.001 for the spatial advantage measure. CONCLUSIONS: The LiSN-U, which is potentially useable for speakers of any language, shows mean test-retest difference and test-retest reliability comparable to other tests that have proven useful in clinical practice.

Correlating performance on the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Sentences test (LiSN-S) with the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Universal test (LiSN-U).

Objective: The aim of this study was to correlate 6- to 7-year-old children's results on each condition of the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Sentences test (LiSN-S) with the new language-independent version, the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Universal test (LiSN-U), to examine the strength of the relationship between them and with memory in a small sample of typically developing children.Design: Correlational analysis.Study samples: Sixteen typically developing 6- to 7-year-old children completed the LiSN-S and LiSN-U as well as the Test of Auditory Processing Skills - Third Edition (TAPS-3) number memory forward and reversed subtests which assess short-term memory and working memory, respectively.Results: Moderate positive correlations were found between LiSN-S and LiSN-U spatially separated conditions (though this did not reach significance), and co-located conditions. Correlations between the LiSN-S and LiSN-U conditions and number memory forward and reversed subtests were not significant.Conclusion: This study shows a moderate relationship between the LiSN-S and LiSN-U when the distractors and target speech are co-located. A study with a larger sample of participants is needed to further understand the relationship between the two tests, especially for the spatially separated condition.

The development of the listening in spatialised noise - universal test (LiSN-U) and preliminary evaluation in English-speaking listeners.

Objective: To create a language independent version of the Listening in Spatialised Noise - Sentences test (LiSN-S) and evaluate it in an English-speaking population.Design: Test development and normative data collection. LiSN-Universal (LiSN-U) targets consisted of CVCV pseudo-words (e.g. /mupa/). Two looped distracter tracks consisted of CVCVCVCV pseudo-words. The listener's task was to repeat back the target pseudo-words. Stimuli were presented over headphones using an iPad. Speech reception thresholds were measured adaptively. In the co-located condition all stimuli came from directly in front. In the spatially-separated condition the distracters emanated from +90° and -90° azimuth. Perceived location was manipulated using head-related transfer functions. Spatial advantage was calculated as the difference in dB between the co-located and spatially separated conditions.Study samples: Stimulus intelligibility data were collected from 20 adults. Normative data were collected from native English speakers (23 adults and 127 children).Results: Children's spatially separated, co-located, and spatial advantage results improved significantly with age. Spatial advantage was 4-6 dB larger in the LiSN-U than LiSN-S depending on age group.Conclusion: Whereas additional research in non-native English populations is required, the LiSN-U appears to be an effective tool for measuring spatial processing ability.

Detection of hearing problems in Aboriginal and Torres strait islander children: a comparison between clinician-administered and self-administrated hearing tests.

Objective: This study evaluated the agreement of self-administered tests with clinician-administered tests in detecting hearing loss and speech-in-noise deficits in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children.Design: Children completed clinician-administered audiometry, self-administered automatic audiometry (AutoAud), clinician-administered Listening in Spatialised Noise - Sentences test and self-administered tablet-based hearing game Sound Scouts. Comparisons were made between tests to determine the agreement of the self-administered tests with clinician-administered tests in detecting hearing loss and speech-in-noise deficits.Study sample: Two hundred and ninety seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 4-14 years from three schools.Results: Acceptable threshold differences of ≤5 dB between AutoAud and manual audiometry hearing thresholds were found for 88% of thresholds, with a greater agreement for older than for younger children. Consistent pass/fail results on the Sound Scouts speech-in-quiet measure and manual audiometry were found for 81% of children. Consistent pass/fail results on the Sound Scouts speech-in-noise measure and LiSN-S high-cue condition were found for 73% of children.Conclusions: This study shows good potential in using self-administered applications as initial tests for hearing problems in children. These tools may be especially valuable for children in remote locations and those from low socio-economic backgrounds who may not have easy access to healthcare.

Developing the auditory processing domains questionnaire (APDQ): a differential screening tool for auditory processing disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a screening questionnaire for auditory processing disorder (APD). DESIGN: Fifty-two questions were created to enable parent/teacher proxies to rate students listening skills in terms of auditory processing, attention and language factors. STUDY SAMPLE: Parents rated their child's frequency of competent performance (regularly, often, sometimes or rarely) on 52 questions. Scores were calculated for three scales: auditory processing, attention and language. Data was collected from 198 normal controls, 20 students with auditory processing disorder, 40 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 10 students with a learning disability. Subjects were split into a younger group (7-10 y) and an older group (11-17 y). RESULTS: Factor analysis revealed substantial internal validity. Analysis of external validity using a regression model revealed significant differences between normal and clinical groups for all scales (p < 0.001) and also significantly separated the three clinical groups. A group differential analysis of scale score results clearly demonstrated inter-group differences at 89% (on average) sensitivity and specificity levels. CONCLUSION: The auditory processing domains questionnaire appears to be an effective screening questionnaire for APD with scale score patterns likely to be helpful in making appropriate clinical referrals.

The effect of different open plan and enclosed classroom acoustic conditions on speech perception in Kindergarten children.

Open plan classrooms, where several classes are in the same room, have recently re-emerged in Australian primary schools. This paper explores how the acoustics of four Kindergarten classrooms [an enclosed classroom (25 children), double classroom (44 children), fully open plan triple classroom (91 children), and a semi-open plan K-6 "21st century learning space" (205 children)] affect speech perception. Twenty-two to 23 5-6-year-old children in each classroom participated in an online four-picture choice speech perception test while adjacent classes engaged in quiet versus noisy activities. The noise levels recorded during the test were higher the larger the classroom, except in the noisy condition for the K-6 classroom, possibly due to acoustic treatments. Linear mixed effects models revealed children's performance accuracy and speed decreased as noise level increased. Additionally, children's speech perception abilities decreased the further away they were seated from the loudspeaker in noise levels above 50 dBA. These results suggest that fully open plan classrooms are not appropriate learning environments for critical listening activities with young children due to their high intrusive noise levels which negatively affect speech perception. If open plan classrooms are desired, they need to be acoustically designed to be appropriate for critical listening activities.

Cluster reduction and compensatory lengthening in the acquisition of possessive -s.

Previous research shows that two-year-olds' third person singular -s and plural -s are produced more accurately in utterance-final compared to utterance-medial position. However, only the third person singular is affected by coda complexity. This study explores these effects with possessive -s. Acoustic analysis of twelve two-year-olds' elicited imitations examined the use of simple versus complex codas (e.g. Sue's vs. Doug's ) both utterance-medially and utterance-finally. Morpheme production was surprisingly robust across contexts, though coda clusters were often simplified to a lengthened -s morpheme utterance-medially (e.g., Dou's [dɐz]). The findings raise many questions about the development of speech planning processes across populations.

The Effects of Classroom Acoustic Conditions on Teachers' Health and Well-Being: A Scoping Review.

PURPOSE: Teachers spend a significant amount of time in classrooms, which can be noisy environments. The aim of this scoping review was to determine what is known from the literature about the effect of classroom acoustic conditions on teachers' health and well-being. METHOD: This scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) protocol. Four bibliographic databases were searched: ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. RESULTS: Thirty-three articles were deemed relevant for the review. The most studied health aspect was teachers' vocal health. The majority of results showed higher noise levels or a higher number of students have a negative effect on teachers' health and well-being (61% and 60%, respectively), while 39% showed a negative effect of longer reverberation times. Most other results showed no effect. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that poor classroom acoustic conditions can have a negative effect on teachers' health and well-being. Therefore, creating classrooms with good acoustic conditions and controlling noise is vital. Limitations are discussed, and future research to better understand the relationship between classroom acoustic conditions and teachers' health and well-being is proposed. This future research will help in understanding the acoustic conditions that are needed to optimize teachers' health and well-being in the classroom.

The Classroom Communication and Collaboration Appraisal: A Comprehensive Tool for Assessing Communication and Collaboration in Classroom Environments.

PURPOSE: The aim of this research note is to introduce a new appraisal form, the Classroom Communication and Collaboration (C3) Appraisal, designed to evaluate communication and collaboration within classroom settings. METHOD: A comprehensive synthesis of the key skills from a broad range of publications on successful communication and collaboration in the classroom was conducted. The resulting appraisal comprises 39 items across six scales: crafting clear messages, appropriateness of communication exchange, active listening, pragmatics and discourse, communication breakdown, and collaboration. To demonstrate its application, an exemplar usage of the C3 Appraisal involving a hearing child and a child with hearing loss engaged in a collaborative learning task is presented. RESULTS: The C3 Appraisal allowed for the quality and successfulness of the collaborative learning task between the two children to be assessed and quantified across the six scales. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the utility of the C3 Appraisal as a valuable tool for evaluating communication and collaboration in classroom environments. Next steps are to test the reliability and validity of the C3 Appraisal on a large data set.

A Scoping Review of the Effect of Classroom Acoustic Conditions on University Students' Listening, Learning, and Well-Being.

PURPOSE: University is an important time for learning; therefore, it is vital that the classroom acoustic environment is conducive for all students. The aim of this scoping review was to determine what is known from the literature about the effect of classroom acoustic conditions on university students' listening, learning, and well-being and identify future research needs. METHOD: This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews protocol. After a search of four online databases, a total of 29 articles met the criteria to be included in the review. RESULTS: The scoping review revealed that poor classroom acoustic conditions such as increased noise, decreased signal-to-noise ratio, increased reverberation time, decreased clarity, or decreased speech transmission index largely have a negative effect on university students' listening, learning, and well-being. Nonnative speakers were more adversely affected than native speakers. Students with hearing loss were also more adversely affected, though these students were only included in two studies. CONCLUSIONS: It would be beneficial for acoustic modifications to be made in classrooms to enhance students' listening, learning, and well-being. Limitations of the reviewed studies and future research needs are discussed.

A Review of the Effect of Classroom Sound-Field Amplification on Children in Primary School.

PURPOSE: Being able to hear the teacher clearly is an important factor for children's learning. However, classrooms often have suboptimal listening conditions. Sound-field amplification systems (SFAS) can help improve classroom listening conditions by increasing the level of the teacher's speech compared to the background noise throughout the classroom. The aim of this review article was to review the effect of SFAS on children in primary school. METHOD: A comprehensive search of four online databases (ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) was conducted. The search terms were classroom sound-field amplification and classroom amplified distribution system. Twenty-one articles were deemed relevant for the review plus an additional six from their references. RESULTS: Most articles were published between 1996 and 2015. Only one article was published since 2016. A range of child populations were studied including typically developing children and children with difficulties and disabilities such as hearing loss, developmental language disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, emotional and behavior disorders, Down syndrome, and developmental disabilities. There were several different measures that were used to evaluate the effectiveness of SFAS including speech perception assessments, language assessments, academic and comprehension assessments, classroom observations, interviews, and questionnaires. Improvements with SFAS were found for speech perception, listening comprehension and auditory analysis, language outcomes, academic outcomes, and behavior. CONCLUSION: SFAS can benefit children's listening and learning; however, the child's background, classroom reverberation time (limit to < 1 s), and layout and type of learning activities, especially in modern classrooms, need to be taken into consideration.

Remediating spatial processing disorder in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

OBJECTIVE: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are much more likely than non-Indigenous children to experience early onset, chronic otitis media and associated hearing loss. This can result in the child developing spatial processing disorder (SPD). The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Sound Storm auditory training in remediating SPD in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at a regional school in Queensland, Australia. METHOD: Fifteen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (males = 8, females = 7, age range = 6-13 years, mean = 8 years; 6 months) with SPD were tested on audiometry, the Listening in Spatialized Noise - Sentences Test (LiSN-S), and Listening in Spatialized Noise - Universal Test (LiSN-U). Teachers completed the Listening Inventory for Education - Revised Teacher Questionnaire (LIFE-R) and Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire (APDQ). These measures were taken pre- and post-training with Sound Storm. RESULTS: Children's Sound Storm noise-to-signal ratio improved significantly and was positively correlated with the number of games they played. Eight of the nine children who completed at least 40% of the training were retested on the LiSN-S, LiSN-U, LIFE-R, and APDQ post-training. SPD was remediated in seven children according to the LiSN-S. All five children who were retested on the LiSN-U post-training showed spatial advantage scores within the normal range. Questionnaire results were mixed with only some children showing improved scores on the LIFE-R and APDQ. CONCLUSIONS: Sound Storm auditory training can be used in school with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to remediate SPD, however, it has its challenges. Maintaining the child's motivation to complete the training can be difficult. Additionally, the impacts of school holidays, events, and absences must be managed, as well as the impacts of the program on the child's school day.

Hearing loss and speech understanding in noise in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from locations varying in remoteness and socio-educational advantage.

OBJECTIVE: Otitis media resulting in conductive hearing loss is a major health issue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, which can also lead to the child developing spatial processing disorder (SPD). This study examined the prevalence of hearing loss and deficits in speech understanding in noise, including SPD, in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from schools varying in remoteness and socio-educational advantage. METHOD: 288 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 4-14 years from three schools varying in remoteness and socio-educational advantage completed audiological assessment and the Listening in Spatialized Noise - Sentences test to assess for hearing loss and SPD. Children also completed Sound Scouts, a self-administered tablet-based hearing test which screens for these deficits. The prevalence of hearing issues was compared to what is expected from a typical population. RESULTS: The proportion of children with hearing problems was related to the school's socio-educational advantage, with higher proportions in schools with a lower socio-educational advantage. Proportions of children with speech-in-noise deficits (including SPD) was related to the remoteness of the school, with higher proportions in schools that were more remote. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of hearing loss and SPD is much higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children than described for non-Aboriginal populations, and is related to the socio-educational advantage or remoteness of the school. Resources are needed to reduce the incidence of hearing loss and health disparity in Aboriginal communities, especially those in remote areas with lower socio-educational advantages.

Discovering the Unmet Needs of People With Difficulties Understanding Speech in Noise and a Normal or Near-Normal Audiogram.

Purpose A proportion of people with a normal audiogram or mild hearing loss (NA-MHL) experience greater-than-expected difficulty hearing speech in noise. This preliminary exploratory study employed a design thinking approach to better understand the clinical pathway and treatment options experienced by this population. Method Exploratory survey data were analyzed from 233 people with NA-MHL who had consulted a clinician and 47 clinicians. Qualitative analysis was performed on interview data from 21 people with NA-MHL and seven clinicians. Results Results revealed that noisy environments, such as restaurants, were where many people experienced listening difficulties. Most people with NA-MHL were not offered a treatment option at their audiology appointment, and their satisfaction with the appointment was diverse. Many clients reported frustration at being told that their hearing was "normal." Data from clinicians showed that there is no standard test protocol for this population, and most felt that they did not have adequate training or resources to help NA-MHL clients. Conclusion This study discusses the research needs regarding the experience of those with NA-MHL, their help-seeking behaviors, and treatment options. Understanding these needs is the first step to designing projects to improve the quality of life of this population.

Investigating Auditory Spectral and Temporal Resolution Deficits in Children with Reading Difficulties.

BACKGROUND: The types of reading difficulties experienced by children are highly heterogeneous in nature, which makes diagnosis and intervention difficult. Over the past 30 years, there has been much debate over the cause of dyslexia. The two most popular theories for phonological deficits in dyslexia are the rate-processing constraint hypothesis, which relates to short timescale processing, and the temporal sampling framework hypothesis, which relates to longer timescale processing. PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between sublexical (i.e., nonword) reading skills and auditory spectral and temporal resolution patterns in children with reading difficulties using the Phoneme Identification Test (PIT) and the Parsing Syllable Envelopes Test (ParSE). These tests were developed to assess the rate-processing constraint and the temporal sampling framework hypotheses, respectively. We hypothesized that a proportion of children who have sublexical reading difficulties may have an underlying auditory-resolution deficit which may impact their ability to form letter-sound correspondences. We predicted that children's sublexical reading difficulties may not be explained by one theory, but instead that both theories may describe different types of reading difficulties found in different children. We also hypothesized that children with lexical (i.e., irregular word) reading difficulties but intact sublexical reading skills would not show atypical results on PIT or ParSE. RESEARCH DESIGN: Behavioral experimental clinical study with children who have reading difficulties. STUDY SAMPLE: Sixteen children with nonword, irregular word, or mixed reading difficulties diagnosed by the Castles and Coltheart Test 2. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Children completed a test battery consisting of a hearing screen and tests of reading, auditory resolution, phonological awareness, attention, spatial auditory processing, auditory memory, and intelligence. Categorization and correlational analyses were conducted. RESULTS: All four children with a pure sublexical reading deficit also had an auditory-resolution deficit. Four of seven children with a mixed reading deficit had an auditory-resolution deficit. Only one of five children with a lexical reading deficit had an auditory-resolution deficit. Individual children's specific deficits were related to either rate processing (n = 5) or temporal sampling (n = 4), but never both. Children's nonword reading scores were strongly correlated with their performance on the PIT in noise, but not with the PIT in quiet or the ParSE. Children's irregular word scores were not significantly correlated with their performance on the PIT in quiet or in noise, or the ParSE, as hypothesized. Strong correlations were also found between children's nonword scores and their phonological awareness scores. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that neither the rate-processing hypothesis nor the temporal sampling framework is the single cause of reading difficulties in children. Instead, both of these hypotheses are likely to account for different types of reading deficits found in children. This is an important finding as the specific mechanisms driving different reading impairments must be identified to create tools to better diagnose and treat different types of reading difficulties. Further investigation of the PIT and ParSE as potential diagnostic tools for specific auditory-resolution-based reading difficulties in a larger group of children is currently underway.

The Phoneme Identification Test for Assessment of Spectral and Temporal Discrimination Skills in Children: Development, Normative Data, and Test-Retest Reliability Studies.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that a proportion of children experiencing reading and listening difficulties may have an underlying primary deficit in the way that the central auditory nervous system analyses the perceptually important, rapidly varying, formant frequency components of speech. PURPOSE: The Phoneme Identification Test (PIT) was developed to investigate the ability of children to use spectro-temporal cues to perceptually categorize speech sounds based on their rapidly changing formant frequencies. The PIT uses an adaptive two-alternative forced-choice procedure whereby the participant identifies a synthesized consonant-vowel (CV) (/ba/ or /da/) syllable. CV syllables differed only in the second formant (F2) frequency along an 11-step continuum (between 0% and 100%-representing an ideal /ba/ and /da/, respectively). The CV syllables were presented in either quiet (PIT Q) or noise at a 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio (PIT N). RESEARCH DESIGN: Development of the PIT stimuli and test protocols, and collection of normative and test-retest reliability data. STUDY SAMPLE: Twelve adults (aged 23 yr 10 mo to 50 yr 9 mo, mean 32 yr 5 mo) and 137 typically developing, primary-school children (aged 6 yr 0 mo to 12 yr 4 mo, mean 9 yr 3 mo). There were 73 males and 76 females. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were collected using a touchscreen computer. Psychometric functions were automatically fit to individual data by the PIT software. Performance was determined by the width of the continuum for which responses were neither clearly /ba/ nor /da/ (referred to as the uncertainty region [UR]). A shallower psychometric function slope reflected greater uncertainty. Age effects were determined based on raw scores. Z scores were calculated to account for the effect of age on performance. Outliers, and individual data for which the confidence interval of the UR exceeded a maximum allowable value, were removed. Nonparametric tests were used as the data were skewed toward negative performance. RESULTS: Across participants, the median value of the F2 range that resulted in uncertain responses was 33% in quiet and 40% in noise. There was a significant effect of age on the width of this UR (p < 0.00001) in both quiet and noise, with performance becoming adult like by age 9 on the PIT Q and age 10 on the PIT N. A skewed distribution toward negative performance occurred in both quiet (p = 0.01) and noise (p = 0.006). Median UR scores were significantly wider in noise than in quiet (T = 2041, p < 0.0000001). Performance (z scores) across the two tests was significantly correlated (r = 0.36, p = 0.000009). Test-retest z scores were significantly correlated in both quiet and noise (r = 0.4 and 0.37, respectively, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The PIT normative data show that the ability to identify phonemes based on changes in formant transitions improves with age, and that some children in the general population have performance much worse than their age peers. In children, uncertainty increases when the stimuli are presented in noise. The test is suitable for use in planned studies in a clinical population.

The Parsing Syllable Envelopes Test for Assessment of Amplitude Modulation Discrimination Skills in Children: Development, Normative Data, and Test-Retest Reliability Studies.

BACKGROUND: Intensity peaks and valleys in the acoustic signal are salient cues to syllable structure, which is accepted to be a crucial early step in phonological processing. As such, the ability to detect low-rate (envelope) modulations in signal amplitude is essential to parse an incoming speech signal into smaller phonological units. PURPOSE: The Parsing Syllable Envelopes (ParSE) test was developed to quantify the ability of children to recognize syllable boundaries using an amplitude modulation detection paradigm. The envelope of a 750-msec steady-state /a/ vowel is modulated into two or three pseudo-syllables using notches with modulation depths varying between 0% and 100% along an 11-step continuum. In an adaptive three-alternative forced-choice procedure, the participant identified whether one, two, or three pseudo-syllables were heard. RESEARCH DESIGN: Development of the ParSE stimuli and test protocols, and collection of normative and test-retest reliability data. STUDY SAMPLE: Eleven adults (aged 23 yr 10 mo to 50 yr 9 mo, mean 32 yr 10 mo) and 134 typically developing, primary-school children (aged 6 yr 0 mo to 12 yr 4 mo, mean 9 yr 3 mo). There were 73 males and 72 females. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were collected using a touchscreen computer. Psychometric functions (PFs) were automatically fit to individual data by the ParSE software. Performance was related to the modulation depth at which syllables can be detected with 88% accuracy (referred to as the upper boundary of the uncertainty region [UBUR]). A shallower PF slope reflected a greater level of uncertainty. Age effects were determined based on raw scores. z Scores were calculated to account for the effect of age on performance. Outliers, and individual data for which the confidence interval of the UBUR exceeded a maximum allowable value, were removed. Nonparametric tests were used as the data were skewed toward negative performance. RESULTS: Across participants, the performance criterion (UBUR) was met with a median modulation depth of 42%. The effect of age on the UBUR was significant (p < 0.00001). The UBUR ranged from 50% modulation depth for 6-yr-olds to 25% for adults. Children aged 6-10 had significantly higher uncertainty region boundaries than adults. A skewed distribution toward negative performance occurred (p = 0.00007). There was no significant difference in performance on the ParSE between males and females (p = 0.60). Test-retest z scores were strongly correlated (r = 0.68, p < 0.0000001). CONCLUSIONS: The ParSE normative data show that the ability to identify syllable boundaries based on changes in amplitude modulation improves with age, and that some children in the general population have performance much worse than their age peers. The test is suitable for use in planned studies in a clinical population.

The Development of the Mealings, Demuth, Dillon, and Buchholz Classroom Speech Perception Test.

PURPOSE: Open-plan classroom styles are increasingly being adopted in Australia despite evidence that their high intrusive noise levels adversely affect learning. The aim of this study was to develop a new Australian speech perception task (the Mealings, Demuth, Dillon, and Buchholz Classroom Speech Perception Test) and use it in an open-plan classroom to assess how intrusive noise affects speech perception. METHOD: The first part of this article describes how the online 4-picture choice speech perception task materials were created. The second part focuses on the study involving twenty-two 5- to 6-year-old children in an open-plan classroom who completed the task while other classes engaged in quiet and noisy activities. RESULTS: Children's performance accuracy, number of responses, and speed were lower in the noisy condition compared with the quiet condition. In addition, children's speech perception scores decreased the farther away they were seated from the loudspeaker. Overall, the children understood and were engaged in the task, demonstrating that it is an appropriate tool for assessing speech perception live in the classroom with 5- to 6-year-old children. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the Mealings, Demuth, Dillon, and Buchholz Classroom Speech Perception Test is a helpful tool for assessing speech perception in classrooms and that it would be beneficial to use in future research investigating how classroom design and noise affect speech perception.