Question
I'm confused as to how signal-to-noise ratio scores are not related to Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) measurements. I use the QuickSIN and it seems to measure the same thing as ANL. What is key to both is the ability to understand the speech when background noise is present. Can you explain the difference?
Answer
ANL is simply not an intelligibility task. I think that Audiologists have spent so much time working towards improving intelligibility in noise with various products that it is hard to get past the idea that ANL does not measure intelligibility. When someone is using the HINT or SPIN or QuickSIN, they are getting a very definite score. As an example, the HINT measures the level at which the patient can correctly identify 50% of sentences. An ANL is a little more subjective. You have to remember that our instructions are "...select the level of background noise that is the MOST you would be willing to accept of "put-up-with" without becoming tense and tired while following the story." This is very different than straining to get 50% correct, regardless of the signal-to-noise ratio. When an ANL is measured the listener may be identifying 40% or 50% or 60% of what the talker is saying to understand the story and tolerate the amount of noise that is present. This has been supported by our research in that we do not see a relationship between scores from tests like the HINT and ANLs. In other words, ANLs and speech perception tests measure two different reactions to background noise.
Melinda C. Freyaldenhoven, Ph.D., CCC-A (Assistant Professor): Mindy earned the Ph.D. degree in Speech and Hearing Science from The University of Tennessee (Knoxville) in 2006. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Louisiana Tech University (Ruston).
Patrick N. Plyler, Ph.D., CCC-A (Assistant Professor): Patrick earned the Ph.D. degree in Speech and Hearing Science from The University of Tennessee (Knoxville) in 1998. He then moved to Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge), where he was an Assistant Professor for 5 years. In 2004, Patrick returned to The University of Tennessee (Knoxville) as an Assistant Professor.
Melinda C. Freyaldenhoven, MA, CCC-A
Melinda Freyaldenhoven received the Master of Arts degree in Audiology in May 2003 and will receive the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Speech and Hearing Science in August 2006. Ms. Freyaldenhoven’s research has concentrated on the Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) procedure. She has 6 research manuscripts “in print” or “in press,” presented research at 12 national or international conferences, and received 5 grants/scholarships. Ms. Freyaldenhoven also served as an instructor for an Amplification Technology at The University of Tennessee.
Patrick N. Plyler, PhD, CCC-A
Assistant Professor.
Patrick Plyler graduated from The University of Tennessee with his Doctor of Philosophy in 1998. He then moved to Louisiana State University, where he was an Assistant Professor for 5 years. In 2004, Dr. Plyler returned to The University of Tennessee as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Plyler’s research interests are in the areas of diagnostic audiology, efficacy of advanced features in modern hearing instruments, and speech perception in quiet and in noise. Dr. Plyler has received external support for several research projects, most of which have investigated various features in digital hearing instruments. Dr. Plyler has published articles in the following journals: Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, Journal of Educational Audiology, Clinical Neurophysiology, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, and Journal of Speech-Language Hearing Research. In addition, Dr. Plyler serves as an editorial consultant for the American Journal of Audiology, the Journal of Educational Audiology, Trends in Amplification, and the Journal of Speech-Language Hearing Research. Melinda Freyaldenhoven and Patrick Plyler have nothing to disclose.
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