An Investigation of List Equivalency of the Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 in Interrupted Broadband Noise

¹ East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

stuarta{at}mail.ecu.edu

The equivalency of Lists 1 to 4 of the Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (NU-6; T. W. Tillman & R. Carhart, 1966) was investigated in interrupted broadband noise. Forty-eight young adults with normal hearing participated. All lists were administered at 50 dB sensation level re: listener spondee recognition thresholds at signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns) of 10, 5, 0, –5, –10, –15, –20, –25, and –30 dB. Significant differences in listener performance were observed only at S/Ns ranging from 10 to –10. Significant mean list differences varied from 5.8% to 12.0%. These findings support the notion that caution should be exercised in the interpretation of listener performance differences with NU-6 stimuli presented in a background of interrupted noise.

Key Words: NU-6, list equivalency, interrupted noise, word recognition, signal-to-noise ratio

Submitted on February 10, 2004
Accepted on March 26, 2004