Relationship of training of pitch-pattern reconstruction ability to speech perception in normal-hearing young adults

Abstract

Previous research has indicated that processing of pitch changes is related to speech perception. Current work investigated the relationship of pitch-pattern training to speech perception in young normal-hearing adults. The training protocol was based on an interactive pattern-reconstruction task in which listeners assembled four or five tones (frequency: 400–1750 Hz, duration: 75–600 ms) to match a random target sequence. Control and experimental groups, of 13 subjects each, were tested. The study included a pretest, three training sessions (experimental group only), and a posttest. Training consisted of three 40-min sessions of interactive pitch-pattern reconstruction. In the pre- and posttest, listeners also reconstructed patterns of sinewave speech, and completed measures of speech perception which included sinewave speech and speech-in-noise tasks. Despite training with only tonal patterns, results showed significant improvement in the ability to reconstruct patterns for both tonal and sinewave-speech stimuli. Significant improvements were obtained for intelligibility of sinewave speech between pre- and posttest, which were greater for the experimental than control group. A greater relationship between results from the intelligibility and pattern-reconstruction conditions post training was also found. Overall, results suggest that the training protocol may benefit speech perception, especially in conditions of degraded speech. [Work supported by NIDCD.]