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Development of the Test of Listening Difficulties--Universal and Australian Normative Data in Children and Adults

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Title: Development of the Test of Listening Difficulties--Universal and Australian Normative Data in Children and Adults
Language: English
Authors: Harvey Dillon (ORCID 0000-0002-7036-7890), Shrutika Gaikwad, Ponsuang Luengtaweekul, Jorg Buchholz (ORCID 0000-0001-6188-9761), Sharon Cameron
Source: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 2025 68(12):6089-6099.
Availability: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 11
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Adults, Young Adults, Children, Hearing (Physiology), Auditory Stimuli, Auditory Tests, Auditory Discrimination, Morphemes, Cues, Context Effect, Simulation, Test Construction, Audio Equipment
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00330
ISSN: 1092-4388
1558-9102
Abstract: Purpose: This research was carried out to create a new realistic speech-in-noise test designed to be sensitive to several causes of difficulty understanding speech in noise. The test, conducted under headphones, simulates listening in a typically reverberant classroom. It comprises a frontal target talker speaking high-context sentences and six competing talkers at different apparent locations. Method: The first experiment initially measured the degree of context in the sentences by presenting them in writing, with one or two words missing, to adult participants who were asked to guess the missing word(s). The 48 highest context sentences were then presented to young adults through headphones, with the competing speech, to measure the relative intelligibility of every morpheme in each sentence. The levels of each morpheme were then adjusted to minimize intelligibility differences between morphemes. In the second and main experiment, the final version of the test was presented to 103 adults and 77 children (aged 6-12 years) to create normative data for an Australian-accented version of the test. Results: In children, mean speech reception threshold in noise (SRTn) improved at a rate of 0.5 dB per year, down to -12.1 dB at 12 years of age. The regression line suggests that performance reaches that of young adults (with SRTn = -13.3 dB) at 14 years of age. Conclusions: The Test of Listening Difficulties--Universal (ToLD-U) appears to be suitable for assessing speech understanding in both children and adults under realistic, challenging listening conditions. It is the first test designed to simultaneously realistically simulate real-world environments using sentence-level but morpheme intelligibility-equalized test stimuli recorded using a conversational style, with multiple competing talkers and reverberation; nonetheless, it was designed to be suitable for routine clinical use via headphone presentation. Studies evaluating the ToLD-U in a clinical setting are in progress.
Abstractor: As Provided
Notes: https://doi.org/10.25949/25909876
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1491198
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Development of the Test of Listening Difficulties--Universal and Australian Normative Data in Children and Adults
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  Data: English
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Harvey+Dillon%22">Harvey Dillon</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7036-7890">0000-0002-7036-7890</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Shrutika+Gaikwad%22">Shrutika Gaikwad</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ponsuang+Luengtaweekul%22">Ponsuang Luengtaweekul</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jorg+Buchholz%22">Jorg Buchholz</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6188-9761">0000-0001-6188-9761</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sharon+Cameron%22">Sharon Cameron</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language%2C+and+Hearing+Research%22"><i>Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research</i></searchLink>. 2025 68(12):6089-6099.
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  Data: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
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  Data: 11
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adults%22">Adults</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Young+Adults%22">Young Adults</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hearing+%28Physiology%29%22">Hearing (Physiology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditory+Stimuli%22">Auditory Stimuli</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditory+Tests%22">Auditory Tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditory+Discrimination%22">Auditory Discrimination</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Morphemes%22">Morphemes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cues%22">Cues</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Context+Effect%22">Context Effect</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Simulation%22">Simulation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Test+Construction%22">Test Construction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Audio+Equipment%22">Audio Equipment</searchLink>
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  Label: Geographic Terms
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Australia%22">Australia</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00330
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  Data: 1092-4388<br />1558-9102
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Purpose: This research was carried out to create a new realistic speech-in-noise test designed to be sensitive to several causes of difficulty understanding speech in noise. The test, conducted under headphones, simulates listening in a typically reverberant classroom. It comprises a frontal target talker speaking high-context sentences and six competing talkers at different apparent locations. Method: The first experiment initially measured the degree of context in the sentences by presenting them in writing, with one or two words missing, to adult participants who were asked to guess the missing word(s). The 48 highest context sentences were then presented to young adults through headphones, with the competing speech, to measure the relative intelligibility of every morpheme in each sentence. The levels of each morpheme were then adjusted to minimize intelligibility differences between morphemes. In the second and main experiment, the final version of the test was presented to 103 adults and 77 children (aged 6-12 years) to create normative data for an Australian-accented version of the test. Results: In children, mean speech reception threshold in noise (SRTn) improved at a rate of 0.5 dB per year, down to -12.1 dB at 12 years of age. The regression line suggests that performance reaches that of young adults (with SRTn = -13.3 dB) at 14 years of age. Conclusions: The Test of Listening Difficulties--Universal (ToLD-U) appears to be suitable for assessing speech understanding in both children and adults under realistic, challenging listening conditions. It is the first test designed to simultaneously realistically simulate real-world environments using sentence-level but morpheme intelligibility-equalized test stimuli recorded using a conversational style, with multiple competing talkers and reverberation; nonetheless, it was designed to be suitable for routine clinical use via headphone presentation. Studies evaluating the ToLD-U in a clinical setting are in progress.
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  Label: Abstractor
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  Data: As Provided
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  Data: https://doi.org/10.25949/25909876
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  Label: Entry Date
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  Data: 2025
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  Data: EJ1491198
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00330
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      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 11
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adults
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      – SubjectFull: Young Adults
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      – SubjectFull: Children
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      – SubjectFull: Hearing (Physiology)
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      – SubjectFull: Auditory Stimuli
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      – SubjectFull: Morphemes
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      – SubjectFull: Cues
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      – SubjectFull: Context Effect
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      – SubjectFull: Test Construction
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      – SubjectFull: Audio Equipment
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      – SubjectFull: Australia
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      – TitleFull: Development of the Test of Listening Difficulties--Universal and Australian Normative Data in Children and Adults
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