Relative intelligibility of CID spondees for normal and hearing-impaired listeners.

The relative intelligibility of the 36 CID spondees presented via tape recording was found on Ss with normal hearing, and on Ss with flat and with sloping sensorineural losses (N: 15 in each group). The spondees as a group were found not to be homogeneous in intelligibility for each group and across groups. Ss with a sloping loss identified the spondees at a significantly (p less than 0.05) higher sensation level (SL) compared with the other groups. A list of 14 spondees was derived encompassing relative intelligibility within a 5-db range for clinical use with such Ss.