Consonant confusions for filtered and consonant deteriorated nonsense VCV syllables (HEARCOM, WP2)

Researcher(s): R.J. Sol, MSc.
Supervisor(s): prof. W.A. Dreschler, PhD.

Background:
A sensorineural hearing impairment often results in a decreased recognition of consonants. This is mainly due to the fact that consonants contain higher frequencies, have lower intensity and a shorter duration compared to vowels. Other groups have been examining the possibilities of improving the perception of consonants. An example of this kind of signal processing is consonant enhancement where the intensity of the consonant is increased with respect to the vowel. Results for consonant enhancement generally showed a small improvement of consonant recognition.

It is interesting to investigate how critical certain signal properties are for the perception of consonants. This is determining for the degree to which hearing impaired listeners are vulnerable for certain signal processing strategies. In this project we will modify acoustically VCV nonsense words, either by filtering in the frequency domain or by local attenuation of the consonant (consonant deterioration). Using an analyses of confusions we will investigate which strategy is used by normal hearing and hearing impaired subjects.

Aim:
Analyses of consonant confusion pattern for low-pass and high-pass filtering and consonant deterioration for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

Method:
Nonsense VCV syllables are low-pass and high-pass filtered and consonant deterioration is applied. In a pilot study the signal will be presented, together with unprocessed syllables, to normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects (minimum 10) in stationary noise (S/N = 0 dB and S/N = +6 dB). Consonant confusion patterns will be analysed using INDSCAL/SINFA.

Results:
After a study of recent literature the VCV syllables are processed using PRAAT software. After the pilot study the clinical relevance for the auditory profile used in the HEARCOM-project will be evaluated.


Home Onderwijs Wetenschap Research (EN)
General Otology Prevention of hearing loss Auditory profile Sensorineural hearing loss and loudness perception Predicting the speech intelligibility under fluctuating background conditions Auditory filter measurements Auditory profile: spectral and temporal resolution (HEARCOM, WP2) Consonant confusions for filtered and consonant deteriorated nonsense VCV syllables (HEARCOM, WP2) Auditory localisation (HEARCOM, WP2) Dead Regions The perception of amplitude modulated signals Rehabilitation Hearing at work Publications Presentations	Consonant confusions for filtered and consonant deteriorated nonsense VCV syllables (HEARCOM, WP2) Researcher(s): R.J. Sol, MSc. Supervisor(s): prof. W.A. Dreschler, PhD. Background: A sensorineural hearing impairment often results in a decreased recognition of consonants. This is mainly due to the fact that consonants contain higher frequencies, have lower intensity and a shorter duration compared to vowels. Other groups have been examining the possibilities of improving the perception of consonants. An example of this kind of signal processing is consonant enhancement where the intensity of the consonant is increased with respect to the vowel. Results for consonant enhancement generally showed a small improvement of consonant recognition. It is interesting to investigate how critical certain signal properties are for the perception of consonants. This is determining for the degree to which hearing impaired listeners are vulnerable for certain signal processing strategies. In this project we will modify acoustically VCV nonsense words, either by filtering in the frequency domain or by local attenuation of the consonant (consonant deterioration). Using an analyses of confusions we will investigate which strategy is used by normal hearing and hearing impaired subjects. Aim: Analyses of consonant confusion pattern for low-pass and high-pass filtering and consonant deterioration for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Method: Nonsense VCV syllables are low-pass and high-pass filtered and consonant deterioration is applied. In a pilot study the signal will be presented, together with unprocessed syllables, to normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects (minimum 10) in stationary noise (S/N = 0 dB and S/N = +6 dB). Consonant confusion patterns will be analysed using INDSCAL/SINFA. Results: After a study of recent literature the VCV syllables are processed using PRAAT software. After the pilot study the clinical relevance for the auditory profile used in the HEARCOM-project will be evaluated.