Known-Groups and Concurrent Validity of the Mandarin Tone Identification Test (MTIT)

OBJECTIVE The Mandarin Tone Identification Test (MTIT) is a new test designed to assess the tone identification abilities of children with hearing impairment (HI). Evidence for reliability and sensitivity has been reported. The present study aimed to evaluate the known-groups and concurrent validity of the MTIT. DESIGN The MTIT and Mandarin Pediatric Speech Intelligibility test (MPSI) were administered in quiet and in noise conditions. The known-groups validity was evaluated by comparing the performance of the MTIT on children with two different levels of HI. The MPSI was included to evaluate the concurrent validity of the MTIT. STUDY SAMPLE 81 children with HI were recruited in the present study. They were Mandarin-speaking children with profound HI (mean age = 9; 0, n = 41) and with moderate to severe HI (mean age = 8; 9, n = 40). RESULTS Scores on the MTIT differed between the two groups with different hearing levels suggesting good known-groups validity. A strong relationship between tone and sentence perception both in quiet and in noise provided preliminary evidence for concurrent validity. CONCLUSIONS The present study confirmed that the MTIT has good known-groups validity and provided preliminary evidence for concurrent validity. The MTIT could be used to evaluate tone identification ability in children with HI with confidence.