New measures of masked text recognition in relation to speech-in-noise perception and their associations with age and cognitive abilities.

PURPOSE In this research, the authors aimed to increase the analogy between Text Reception Threshold (TRT; Zekveld, George, Kramer, Goverts, & Houtgast, 2007) and Speech Reception Threshold (SRT; Plomp & Mimpen, 1979) and to examine the TRT's value in estimating cognitive abilities that are important for speech comprehension in noise. METHOD The authors administered 5 TRT versions, SRT tests in stationary (SRT(STAT)) and modulated (SRT(MOD)) noise, and 2 cognitive tests: a reading span (RSpan) test for working memory capacity and a letter-digit substitution test for information-processing speed. Fifty-five adults with normal hearing (18-78 years, M = 44 years) participated. The authors examined mutual associations of the tests and their predictive value for the SRTs with correlation and linear regression analyses. RESULTS SRTs and TRTs were well associated, also when controlling for age. Correlations for the SRT(STAT) were generally lower than for the SRT(MOD.) The cognitive tests were correlated to the SRTs only when age was not controlled for. Age and the TRTs were the only significant predictors of SRT(MOD). SRT(STAT) was predicted by level of education and some of the TRT versions. CONCLUSIONS TRTs and SRTs are robustly associated, nearly independent of age. The association between SRTs and RSpan is largely age dependent. The TRT test and the RSpan test measure different nonauditory components of linguistic processing relevant for speech perception in noise.