Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Towson University, MD.
Brain Game Center, University of California, Riverside.
Am J Audiol. 2023 Mar;32(1):210-219. doi: 10.1044/2022_AJA-22-00133. Epub 2023 Feb 10.
Difficulty understanding speech in noise is a common communication problem. Clinical tests of speech in noise differ considerably from real-world listening and offer patients limited intrinsic motivation to perform well. In order to design a test that captures motivational aspects of real-world communication, this study investigated effects of gamification, or the inclusion of game elements, on a laboratory spatial release from masking test.
Fifty-four younger adults with normal hearing completed a traditional laboratory and a gamified test of spatial release from masking in counterbalanced order. Masker level adapted based on performance, with the traditional test ending after 10 reversals and the gamified test ending when participants solved a visual puzzle. Target-to-masker ratio thresholds (TMRs) with colocated maskers, separated maskers, and estimates of spatial release were calculated after the 10th reversal for both tests and from the last six reversals of the adaptive track from the gamified test.
Thresholds calculated from the 10th reversal indicated no significant differences between the traditional and gamified tests. A learning effect was observed with spatially separated maskers, such that TMRs were better for the second test than the first, regardless of test order. Thresholds calculated from the last six reversals of the gamified test indicated better TMRs in the separated condition compared to the traditional test.
Adding gamified elements to a traditional test of spatial release from masking did not negatively affect test validity or estimates of spatial release. Participants were willing to continue playing the gamified test for an average of 30.2 reversals of the adaptive track. For some listeners, performance in the separated condition continued to improve after the 10th reversal, leading to better TMRs and greater spatial release from masking at the end of the gamified test compared to the traditional test.
理解噪声中言语的困难是一种常见的交流问题。噪声下言语的临床测试与真实听力环境有很大的不同，并且患者自身的内在动机有限，无法很好地完成测试。为了设计一种能够捕捉真实交流中动机方面的测试，本研究探讨了游戏化（即包含游戏元素）对实验室空间掩蔽释放测试的影响。
54 名听力正常的年轻人以平衡的方式先后完成了传统实验室测试和游戏化空间掩蔽释放测试。根据表现调整掩蔽级，传统测试在 10 次反转后结束，游戏化测试在参与者解决视觉谜题后结束。在这两种测试中，在第 10 次反转后计算了有、无共定位掩蔽和空间释放估计的目标到掩蔽比（TMR）阈值，在游戏化测试的自适应轨迹的最后 6 次反转后计算了有、无共定位掩蔽和空间释放估计的 TMR 阈值。
从第 10 次反转计算的阈值表明传统测试和游戏化测试之间没有显著差异。对于空间分离掩蔽，观察到学习效应，即无论测试顺序如何，第二次测试的 TMR 都比第一次测试更好。从游戏化测试的自适应轨迹的最后 6 次反转计算的阈值表明，在分离条件下，TMR 优于传统测试。
在传统的空间掩蔽释放测试中加入游戏化元素不会对测试的有效性或空间释放的估计产生负面影响。参与者平均愿意继续玩游戏化测试 30.2 次自适应轨迹的反转。对于一些听众，在第 10 次反转后，分离条件下的表现继续提高，导致在游戏化测试结束时，TMR 更好，与传统测试相比，空间掩蔽释放更大。
