A computerized adaptive testing system for speech discrimination measurement: the Speech Sound Pattern Discrimination Test

Abstract

A computerized, adaptive test-delivery system for the measurement of speech discrimination, the Speech Sound Pattern Discrimination Test, is described and evaluated. Using a modified discrimination task, the testing system draws on a pool of 130 items spanning a broad range of difficulty to estimate an examinee's location along an underlying continuum of speech processing ability, yet does not require the examinee to possess a high level of English language proficiency. The system is driven by a mathematical measurement model which selects only test items which are appropriate in difficulty level for a given examinee, thereby individualizing the testing experience. Test items were administered to a sample of young deaf adults, and the adaptive testing system evaluated in terms of respondents' sensory and perceptual capabilities, acoustic and phonetic dimensions of speech, and theories of speech perception. Data obtained in this study support the validity, reliability, and efficiency of this test as a measure of speech processing ability.