Projects / Programmes
Development of speech processing tests: cognitive psychological and audiologiological perspective
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.09.00 |
Social sciences |
Psychology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S264 |
Social sciences |
Applied and experimental psychology |
speech audiometry, hearing impairments, diagnostics, cognitive psychology, psychophysics
Researchers (9)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
Speech audiometry is one of the basic and indispensable diagnostic instruments for assessing levels of hearing impairments. Speech audiometry is used to examine cognitive components (detection, recognition and comprehension) of speech material, specific to the language group of the patient. In Slovenia, the otorinolaringological clinics use a version of the Freiburg speech recognition test. This version has certain weaknesses from diagnostical and methodological point of view. The quality of adapted speech material is far from optimal, the phonetic structure of speech material is not perfectly balansed, and the used monosyllabic words are not comparable in comprehesiveness, discriminability, and the frequency of use in everyday language. The basic drawback of the test is that it is time consuming, which results in fatigue and large variation of the measured speech recognition thresholds within and across the measurement sessions. The purpose of the research project is to develop (improve) speech audiometry tests in order to provide faster and more efficient testing. The new version should have better reliability, validity, objectivity, and discriminativity for measuring speech processing. At the same time, the semantic and phonetic aspects of the speech material should be better controlled and the test should be applicable to different age groups. Test development will be based on contemporary psychophysical methodology, psychophysical models of hearing, and findings of cognitive psychological studies of speech processing. The results of the project will enable clinical diagnostics of speech impairments to be more accurate and also applicable to children, which will have positive consequences for patients, producers of digital hearing aids, public health institutions, and clinics where speech audiometry services are offered. With the new procedure patient examinations could be less time consuming and more efficiently organised, and the rehabilitation of hearing impairments could be started as soon as possible and could be more effectively planned and monitored.
