HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal My Folders Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chang, Y.-p. Articles by Fu, Q.-J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chang, Y.-p. Articles by Fu, Q.-J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Effects of Talker Variability on Vowel Recognition in Cochlear Implants

Qian-Jie Fu
University of Southern California and House Ear Institute, Los Angeles

Contact author: Yi-ping Chang, Department of Auditory Implants and Perception, House Ear Institute, 2100 West Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057. E-mail: yipingch{at}usc.edu.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of talker variability on vowel recognition by cochlear implant (CI) users and by normal-hearing (NH) participants listening to 4-channel acoustic CI simulations.

METHOD: CI users were tested with their clinically assigned speech processors. For NH participants, 3 CI processors were simulated, using different combinations of carrier type and temporal envelope cutoff frequency (noise band/160 Hz, sine wave/160 Hz, and sine wave/20 Hz). Vowel recognition was measured for 4 talkers, presented in either a single-talker context (1 talker per test block) or a multi-talker context (4 talkers per test block).

RESULTS: CI users' vowel recognition was significantly poorer in the multi-talker context than in the single-talker context. When noise-band carriers were used in the simulations, NH performance was not significantly affected by talker variability. However, when sine-wave carriers were used in the simulations, NH performance was significantly affected by talker variability in both envelope filter conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: Because fundamental frequency was not preserved by the 20-Hz envelope filter and only partially preserved by the 160-Hz envelope filter, both spectral and temporal cues contributed to the talker variability effects observed with sine-wave carriers. Similarly, spectral and temporal cues may have contributed to the talker variability effects observed with CI participants.

KEY WORDS: talker variability, cochlear implant, speech perception

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?