Sentence verification task for cochlear implants (Patel et al., 2023)

<b>Purpose:</b> Tests measuring speech comprehension and listening effort for cochlear implant (CI) users may reflect important aspects of real-world speech communication. In this study, we describe the development of a multiple-talker, English-language sentence verification task (SVT) for use in adult CI users to measure speech comprehension and listening effort. We also examine whether talker differences affect speech comprehension and listening effort.<b>Method:</b> Thirteen experienced adult CI users participated in the study and underwent testing using a newly developed multiple-talker SVT. Participants were sequentially presented with audio recordings of unique sentences spoken in English by six different talkers. Participants classified each sentence as either true or false. Accuracy of classification and the response time (RT) for correct responses were used as measures of comprehension and listening effort, respectively. The effect of talker on the results was further analyzed.<b>Results: </b>All 13 participants successfully completed the SVT. The mean verification accuracy for participants was 87.2% ± 8.8%. The mean RT for correct responses across participants was 1,050 ms ± 391 ms. When stratified by talker, verification accuracy ranged from 83.7% to 95.2% and mean RTs across participant ranged from 786 ms to 1,254 ms. Talker did not have a significant effect on sentence classification accuracy, but it did have a significant effect on RTs (p &lt; .001).<b>Conclusions:</b> The SVT is an easily implemented test that can assess speech comprehension and listening effort simultaneously. CI users may experience increased effort for comprehending certain talkers’ speech, despite showing similar levels of comprehension accuracy.<b>Supplemental Material S1</b>. List of all 48 sentences used in the SVT. Sentence classification accuracy in the pilot testing performed with NH participants in both quiet and vocoder conditions is listed. The talker who produced each sentence for the main experiment along with accuracy achieved by the CI users in the main experiment for each sentence are also listed.Patel, T. R., Moberly, A. C., &amp; Tamati, T. N. (2023). Development of a sentence verification task to measure speech comprehension and listening effort in cochlear implant users. <i>Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66</i>(10), 4150–4159. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00362**研究目的**：针对人工耳蜗植入（cochlear implant, CI）使用者的言语理解与听觉负荷测试，可反映真实世界言语交流的重要维度。本研究详述了一款面向成人CI使用者的多说话人英语句子验证任务（sentence verification task, SVT）的开发流程，该工具可用于评估言语理解能力与听觉负荷；同时本研究还考察了说话人差异是否会对言语理解及听觉负荷产生影响。 **研究方法**：本研究招募了13名具有丰富使用经验的成人CI使用者，采用新开发的多说话人SVT开展测试。实验依次向被试播放由6名不同说话人录制的英语独立语句音频，要求被试对每句语句的真伪进行判断。以分类正确率作为言语理解能力的评估指标，以正确作答的反应时（response time, RT）作为听觉负荷的评估指标，并进一步分析说话人对测试结果的影响。 **研究结果**：13名被试均顺利完成SVT测试。全体被试的平均验证正确率为87.2%±8.8%，正确作答的平均反应时为1050ms±391ms。按说话人分层分析后，验证正确率分布于83.7%至95.2%之间，被试平均反应时分布于786ms至1254ms之间。说话人差异对语句分类正确率无显著影响，但对反应时存在显著影响（p<0.001）。 **研究结论**：SVT是一款易于实施的测试工具，可同时评估言语理解能力与听觉负荷。尽管CI使用者在不同说话人的言语理解正确率上差异不大，但部分说话人的言语会使其听觉负荷显著提升。 **补充材料S1**：包含本研究SVT所用的全部48句语句清单；同时列出了正常听力（normal hearing, NH）被试在安静环境及声码器模拟条件下的预实验语句分类正确率；此外还标注了主实验中每句语句对应的录制说话人，以及CI使用者在主实验中针对每句语句的作答正确率。 **参考文献**：Patel, T. R., Moberly, A. C., & Tamati, T. N. (2023). 面向人工耳蜗植入使用者的言语理解与听觉负荷测量用句子验证任务的开发. 《言语、语言与听力研究杂志》, 66(10), 4150–4159. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00362