Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice
Introduction: This study pursued two objectives: (1) to determine the potential association between listener (<i>n</i> = 51) judgments of 20 male tracheoesophageal speaker samples for two auditory-perceptual dimensions of voice, overall severity (OS) and listener comfort (LC); and (2) to...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/1/214 |
| _version_ | 1797359149478051840 |
|---|---|
| author | Philip C. Doyle Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh Jeff Searl |
| author_facet | Philip C. Doyle Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh Jeff Searl |
| author_sort | Philip C. Doyle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: This study pursued two objectives: (1) to determine the potential association between listener (<i>n</i> = 51) judgments of 20 male tracheoesophageal speaker samples for two auditory-perceptual dimensions of voice, overall severity (OS) and listener comfort (LC); and (2) to assess the temporal and spectral acoustic correlates for these auditory-perceptual dimensions. Methodology: Three separate correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the association between OS and LC. First, scores of OS and LC from all listeners were pooled together, and then the correlation between OS and LC was computed. Second, scores of OS and LC were averaged over all listeners to derive a single estimate of OS and LC for each TE speaker sample; the correlation between the average OS and LC was then computed. Third, listener-to-listener variability in the association between OS and LC was evaluated by computing the correlation between OS and LC scores from each listener across all TE samples. Finally, two stepwise multiple regression models were created to relate the average LC score to spectral and temporal variation in the acoustic signal. Results: While the pooled OS and LC scores had a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.66, <i>p</i> < 0.00001), the averaged OS and LC exhibited a near perfect positive correlation (r = 0.99, <i>p</i> < 0.00001). The significant differences between the pooled and averaged scores were explained by significant listener-to-listener variability in the association between OS and LC. OS and LC scores from 5 listeners had non-significant correlations, 10 had moderate correlations (r < 0.7), 35 listeners had high correlations (0.7 < r < 0.9), and 1 listener had a very high correlation (r < 0.9 < 1). Finally, the acoustic models created based on the spectral and temporal variations in the signal were able to account for 87.7% and 61.8% of variation in the average LC score. Conclusions: The strong correlations between OS and LC suggest that LC may, in fact, provide a more comprehensive auditory-perceptual surrogate for the voice quality of TE speakers. Although OS and LC are distinct conceptual dimensions, LC appears to have the advantage of assessing the social impact and potential communication disability that may exist in interactions between TE speakers and listeners. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:11:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89be606390ef473187f539118bcee51e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:11:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-89be606390ef473187f539118bcee51e2024-01-10T14:51:21ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-12-0114121410.3390/app14010214Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal VoicePhilip C. Doyle0Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh1Jeff Searl2Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Laryngology, School of Medicine Stanford University, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USACenter for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USADepartment of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USAIntroduction: This study pursued two objectives: (1) to determine the potential association between listener (<i>n</i> = 51) judgments of 20 male tracheoesophageal speaker samples for two auditory-perceptual dimensions of voice, overall severity (OS) and listener comfort (LC); and (2) to assess the temporal and spectral acoustic correlates for these auditory-perceptual dimensions. Methodology: Three separate correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the association between OS and LC. First, scores of OS and LC from all listeners were pooled together, and then the correlation between OS and LC was computed. Second, scores of OS and LC were averaged over all listeners to derive a single estimate of OS and LC for each TE speaker sample; the correlation between the average OS and LC was then computed. Third, listener-to-listener variability in the association between OS and LC was evaluated by computing the correlation between OS and LC scores from each listener across all TE samples. Finally, two stepwise multiple regression models were created to relate the average LC score to spectral and temporal variation in the acoustic signal. Results: While the pooled OS and LC scores had a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.66, <i>p</i> < 0.00001), the averaged OS and LC exhibited a near perfect positive correlation (r = 0.99, <i>p</i> < 0.00001). The significant differences between the pooled and averaged scores were explained by significant listener-to-listener variability in the association between OS and LC. OS and LC scores from 5 listeners had non-significant correlations, 10 had moderate correlations (r < 0.7), 35 listeners had high correlations (0.7 < r < 0.9), and 1 listener had a very high correlation (r < 0.9 < 1). Finally, the acoustic models created based on the spectral and temporal variations in the signal were able to account for 87.7% and 61.8% of variation in the average LC score. Conclusions: The strong correlations between OS and LC suggest that LC may, in fact, provide a more comprehensive auditory-perceptual surrogate for the voice quality of TE speakers. Although OS and LC are distinct conceptual dimensions, LC appears to have the advantage of assessing the social impact and potential communication disability that may exist in interactions between TE speakers and listeners.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/1/214tracheoesophageal speechauditory-perceptual evaluationvoice disordersperceptual psychophysics |
| spellingShingle | Philip C. Doyle Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh Jeff Searl Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice Applied Sciences tracheoesophageal speech auditory-perceptual evaluation voice disorders perceptual psychophysics |
| title | Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice |
| title_full | Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice |
| title_fullStr | Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice |
| title_short | Temporal and Spectral Models as Correlates to Auditory-Perceptual Judgments of Overall Severity and Listener Comfort in Tracheoesophageal Voice |
| title_sort | temporal and spectral models as correlates to auditory perceptual judgments of overall severity and listener comfort in tracheoesophageal voice |
| topic | tracheoesophageal speech auditory-perceptual evaluation voice disorders perceptual psychophysics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/1/214 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT philipcdoyle temporalandspectralmodelsascorrelatestoauditoryperceptualjudgmentsofoverallseverityandlistenercomfortintracheoesophagealvoice AT hamzehghasemzadeh temporalandspectralmodelsascorrelatestoauditoryperceptualjudgmentsofoverallseverityandlistenercomfortintracheoesophagealvoice AT jeffsearl temporalandspectralmodelsascorrelatestoauditoryperceptualjudgmentsofoverallseverityandlistenercomfortintracheoesophagealvoice |