Speaking clearly for the hard of hearing
Michael Picheny, N. I. Durlach · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1979
It is obvious that the intelligibility of a given speech message depends strongly on how the message is spoken. Not only does intelligibility vary with the identity of the speaker, but also, for a given speaker, with the effort to speak clearly. Assuming that the variations in intelligibility associated with such factors are substantial, detailed knowledge of these factors could prove useful in the development of improved signal-processing schemes for hearing aids. Our initial goal is to estimate the magnitude of the intelligibility changes associated with a given speaker's attempt to speak clearly. Among the variables to be considered are presentation level of material, frequency-gain characteristic of amplification system, severity of hearing loss, identity of speaker, and degree of familiarity with speaker's voice. Preliminary results obtained using sentence material for a number of hearing-impaired listeners will be presented. [Work supported by NIH.]