Speech-understanding difficulties observed in elderly hearing-impaired listeners are predominantly errors in the recognition of consonants, particularly within consonants that share the same manner of articulation. Spectral shape is an important acoustic cue that serves to distinguish such consonants. The present study examined whether individual differences in speech understanding among elderly hearing-impaired listeners could be explained by individual differences in spectral-shape discrimination ability. This study included a group of 20 elderly hearing-impaired listeners, as well as a group of young normal-hearing adults for comparison purposes. All subjects were tested on speech-identification tasks, with natural and computer-synthesized speech stimuli, and on a series of spectral-shape discrimination tasks. As expected, the young normal-hearing adults performed better than the elderly listeners on many of the identification tasks and on all but two discrimination tasks. Regression analyses of the data from the elderly listeners revealed moderate predictive relationships between some of the spectral-shape discrimination thresholds and speech-identification performance. The results indicated that when all stimuli were at least minimally audible, some of the individual differences in the identification of natural and synthetic speech tokens by elderly hearing-impaired listeners were associated with corresponding differences in their spectral-shape discrimination abilities for similar sounds.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.2151794DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

individual differences
16
elderly hearing-impaired
16
hearing-impaired listeners
16
spectral-shape discrimination
16
elderly listeners
12
spectral shape
8
speech-identification performance
8
differences spectral-shape
8
young normal-hearing
8
normal-hearing adults
8

Similar Publications

Background: Indonesia's vast archipelago and substantial population size present unique challenges in addressing its multifaceted HIV epidemic, with 90% of its 514 districts and cities reporting cases. Identifying key populations (KPs) is essential for effectively targeting interventions and allocating resources to address the changing dynamics of the epidemic.

Objective: We examine the 2022 mapping of Indonesia's KPs to develop improved HIV and AIDS interventions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

What drives some people to save more effectively for their future than others? This multistudy investigation (N = 143,461) explores how dispositional optimism-the generalized tendency to hold positive expectations about the future-shapes individuals' financial decisions and outcomes. Leveraging both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs across several countries, our findings reveal that optimism significantly predicts greater savings over time, even when controlling for various demographic, psychological, and financial covariates. Furthermore, we find that the role of optimism varies based on socioeconomic circumstances: Among lower income individuals, optimism is more strongly associated with saving.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Symmetry in the developmental stages of permanent human teeth: a comparative study between maxilla and mandible.

Eur Arch Paediatr Dent

January 2025

Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess symmetry of developmental stage of permanent teeth between the left and right side of the jaw, as well as between the maxilla and the mandible.

Methods: A sample of 150 panoramic radiographs of individuals aged 6-20 years (69 males, 81 females) were selected from an open-access radiographic collection (Maxwell Museum of Anthropology's orthodontic collection, Albuquerque, USA). All developing immature permanent teeth (n = 489) were scored by the first author using Moorrees and Demirjian tooth stages.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Responsive cancer care in Asia: stigma and pain must be acknowledged and addressed.

Support Care Cancer

January 2025

Duke-NUS Medical School, Lien Centre for Palliative Care, 8 College Road, Level 4, Singapore, 169857, Singapore.

Purpose: This study investigates whether cancer-related stigma and pain among patients with advanced cancer influences their perceptions of receiving responsive care.

Methods: We surveyed 2138 advanced cancer patients from 11 hospitals in eight Asian countries. Participants rated their most recent healthcare visit and a hypothetical patient's experience described in vignettes concerning dignity, clarity of information, and involvement in decision-making.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this study was to investigate the level of distress and the quality of life of operated and non-operated patients with pituitary tumors. Patients who presented to a neurosurgical center and two endocrinological services for outpatient follow-up after surgical treatment, as well as those under medical therapy or radiological follow-up without treatment, were invited to participate in the study. Sociodemographic, health-related quality of life and clinical data were assessed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!