SPEECH RECOGNITION IN YOUNG AND ELDERLY NORMAL-HEARING LISTENERS IN A CLOSED RESPONSE TEST

Speech recognition has been measured in a group of elderly (age range 55-70 years) subjects with normal hearing. The results from this group were compared with the results from a young, normal-hearing group (age 19-36 years). The two groups were matched as regards education, occupation and dialect. The test material used was a four-alternative closed-response speech test composed of monosyllabic words. Each word was presented in a carrier sentence and masked by a speech-spectrum shaped modulated background noise. No significant difference was found between the speech recognition in the two groups.