Speech recognition in the presence of speech maskers in children

Listening to a target talker in the presence of other talkers follows a protracted developmental period. Such listening skills are critical for speech-language development and have clinical value. The purpose of the present study was to examine speech-in-speech recognition ability using digits in children. The major advantages of using digits are that it overcomes the biggest challenge of test administration, and digits are among the few first words children learn. Data were collected from 32 normal-hearing children (4–12 years) using full bandwidth speech materials. The test had four conditions like the Listening in Spatial Noise test. (1) Low cue: The target (male talker) and two male maskers were presented from the front. (2) Talker advantage: The target and two female maskers were presented from the front. (3) Spatial advantage: The target was presented from the front, and two male maskers were presented, one each from ±90°. (4) The target was presented from the front, and two female maskers were presented, one from ±90°. Results demonstrate developmental effects, good test-retest reliability, and feasibility of the computerized version of the test. Furthermore, results will be discussed in the context of various conditions and potential clinical applications.