Perception of amplitude-compressed speech by impaired listeners
Patrick M. Peterson · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1979
CV syllable identification by practiced hearing-impaired listeners was compared for amplitude-compressed and linearly amplified speech. The amplitude-compression system (a 16-channel syllabic compressor) and the linear-amplification system were configured according to previously determined procedures [R. P. Lippmann, L. D. Braida, and N. I. Durlach, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, S90(A) (1977)]. Subjects were trained for about 30 hours to identify syllables presented at random from a set of 576 stimuli representing 24 consonants, three vowels, four speakers, and two utterances. Performance after training indicated no advantage in compression for moderate hearing loss, consistent with Lippmann's results. In the case of a severe flat loss, however, a small advantage was observed for compressed speech. Some confusions in identification were specific to the type of processing, although general patterns of confusion were roughly similar for compressed and linear speech. All confusions were further analyzed in terms of articulatory features and prominent confusions were examined more closely using a discrimination paradigm. [Work supported by NIH and NSE.]