The development of the text reception threshold test: a visual analogue of the speech reception threshold test.
OBJECTIVE
In this study, the authors aimed to develop a visual analogue of the widely used Speech Reception Threshold (SRT; R. Plomp & A. M. Mimpen, 1979b) test. The Text Reception Threshold (TRT) test, in which visually presented sentences are masked by a bar pattern, enables the quantification of modality-aspecific variance in speech-in-noise comprehension to obtain more insight into interindividual differences in this ability.


METHODS
Using an adaptive procedure similar to the SRT test, the TRT test determines the percentage of unmasked text needed to read 50% of sentences correctly. SRTs in stationary noise (SRT(STAT)), modulated noise (SRT(MOD)), and TRTs were determined for 34 participants with normal hearing, aged 19 to 78 years.


RESULTS
The results indicate that about 30% of the variance in SRT(STAT) and SRT(MOD) is shared with variance in TRT, which reflects the shared involvement of a modality-aspecific cognitive or linguistic ability in forming meaningful wholes of fragments of sentences.


CONCLUSIONS
The TRT test, a visual analogue of the SRT test, has been developed to measure the variance in speech-in-noise comprehension associated with modality-aspecific cognitive skills. In future research, normative data of the TRT test should be developed. It would also be interesting to measure TRTs of individuals experiencing difficulties understanding speech.
Zekveld
Adriana A
AA
EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, the Netherlands. aa.zekveld@vumc.nl
George
Erwin L J
EL
Kramer
Sophia E
SE
Goverts
S Theo
ST
Houtgast
Tammo
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D014796:Visual Perception