Self-administered, internet-enabled, modified rhyme test (MRT) for evaluating consonant confusion in remote subjects

A self-administered MRT has been developed for persons unable to attend on-site for testing. Subjects remotely log on to a website and are instructed to use their own computer and headphones or earphones/earbuds and seek a quiet location without distractions for the test. After inputting personal identification, the software produces the maximum and minimum intensity sounds that will be heard to allow the subject to adjust the audio gain to a comfortable listening level. The subject is then instructed not to re-adjust the audio gain during the MRT. Each trial is initiated by the subject and consists of the forced choice of one of six rhyming words, which is embedded in a carrier sentence. The pre-recorded speech in a single test, consisting of 25 trials, is replayed at a pre-selected, fixed speech signal-to-noise ratio. The internet-enabled MRT has been validated for subjects with believed normal hearing (N = 18) by comparison with a conventional MRT in our audiology clinic in which subjects' hearing thresholds were determined, and stimuli were presented at a prescribed sensation level (N = 7). Results were also compatible with word scores obtained on-site without audiological controls when subjects wore high-fidelity headphones (N = 6). [Work supported by NIOSH and the Alpha Foundation.]