Perceived listener effort as an outcome measure for disordered speech

• Published in: Journal of communication disorders Vol. 73; pp. 34 - 49
• Main Authors: Nagle, Kathleen F., Eadie, Tanya L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-05-2018
• Subjects: Acceptability; Electrolarynx; Intelligibility; Perceived listening effort; Speech outcomes; Speech outcomes; Perceived listening effort; Electrolarynx; Intelligibility; Acceptability
• ISSN: 0021-9924; 1873-7994
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.03.003

•mean ratings of speech acceptability and listening effort are comparable.•speech intelligibility and acceptability predict mean ratings of listening effort.•perceived listening effort and intelligibility appear to have a linear association.•perceptual ratings obtained from inexperienced listeners may vary widely.
Perceived listening effort is a perceptual dimension used to identify the amount of work necessary to understand disordered speech. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of perceived listening effort to provide unique information about disordered speech. The relationships between perceived listening effort and two current outcome measures (speech acceptability, intelligibility) were examined for listeners rating electrolaryngeal speech, along with their reliability and intra-rater agreement.
Ten healthy male speakers read low-context sentences using an electrolarynx. Twenty-five inexperienced listeners orthographically transcribed and rated the stimuli for perceived listening effort and speech acceptability using a visual analog scale. Strict reliability and agreement criteria were set.
Perceived listening effort was moderately to strongly correlated with intelligibility (r = −0.76) and acceptability (r = −0.80), each of which contributed uniquely to ratings of perceived listening effort. However, only 17 listeners met stringent reliability and agreement criteria.
Ratings of perceived listening effort may provide unique information about the communicative success of individuals with communication disorders. There is great variability, however, among inexperienced listeners’ perceptual ratings of electrolaryngeal speech. Future research should investigate variables that may affect perceived listening effort specifically and auditory-perceptual ratings in general.