title: Improved estimation of frequency importance functions.
abstract: The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) estimates speech intelligibility based on the audibility of speech cues across frequency. The frequency importance function gives the relative contribution to the SII of the speech audibility at different frequencies. The frequency importance function is usually estimated from the intelligibility data using a complicated multi-step procedure. This paper presents a new procedure for computing the frequency importance function directly from the intelligibility data based on nonlinear joint optimization of the frequency importance function and the SII curve-fitting parameters. An example of using the new approach is presented for previously published W-22 word list intelligibility data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, 2501 Kittredge Loop Road 409 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 James.Kates@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kates
mesh_terms: D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D014833:Voice Quality