Intelligibility of Synthetic Speech for Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

This study examined the perceived intelligibility of synthetic speech. Participants were adults aged 49–69, one group with normal hearing and one group with acquired sensorineural hearing impairment. Word lists were presented in two speech types: DECtalk (a high-quality speech synthesizer) and a natural male speaker. Results revealed differences between groups, with normal-hearing listeners scoring higher than hearing-impaired listeners, and between speech types, with higher scores for natural speech than for synthesized speech. There was no significant interaction of hearing level and speech type.

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