Typical performance on the updated Connected Speech Test

What is it about?

Listening to speech in noisy environments can be a challenging task, especially for individuals with hearing impairments. The Connected Speech Test (CST) is a popular task used to assess listening performance in noisy environments. Listeners must listen to a woman's voice reciting sentences about a particular topic while simultaneously ignoring background speakers, known as "babble". Successful listening requires mental effort, known as "listening effort". The original CST contained a Southern U.S. accent, which may have made the task more challenging for listeners who are not familiar with this accent. An updated version of the CST was recorded with a General American accent, since the typical North American listener would be more familiar with this accent. The current study aimed to assess how well adults with normal hearing performed on the updated CST.

Why is it important?

Our findings revealed that adults with normal hearing performed better, believed they understood more words, and required less listening effort when the volume of the target speech was higher than the babble. Participants also performed better when the speech and babble were played from loudspeakers placed at different locations, than when the speech and babble were played from the same loudspeaker in front of the participant.