The long-term learning effect related to the repeated use of the Finnish matrix sentence test and the Finnish digit triplet test

Abstract

Objectives: To assess are there learning-related improvements in the speech reception thresholds (SRTs) for the Finnish matrix sentence test (FMST) and the Finnish digit triplet test (FDTT) in repeated use over 12 months.

Design: Test sessions were scheduled at 0, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, and each session included five FMST measurements and four FDTT measurements. The within-session and inter-session improvements in SRTs were analysed with a linear mixed model.

Study sample: Fifteen young normal-hearing participants.

Results: Statistically significant mean improvements of 2.0 dB SNR and 1.2 dB SNR were detected for the FMST and the FDTT, respectively, over the 12-month follow-up period. For the FMST, majority of the improvement occurred during the first two test sessions. For the FDTT, statistically significant differences were detected only in comparison to the first test session and to the first test measurement of every session over the 12-month follow-up.

Conclusions: Repeated use of the FMST led to significant learning-related improvements, but the improvements appeared to plateau by the third test session. For the FDTT, the overall improvements were smaller, but a significant within-session difference between the first and consecutive FDTT measurements persisted throughout the test sessions.

Keywords:

• Matrix sentence test
• digit triplet test
• speech intelligibility test
• learning effect

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Anna Anttila, Miro Hannula, Karissa Kärtevä, Markus Laakso, Silja Salo, and Enni Stigman for assisting in data collection.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Emil Aaltonen Fund and the Finnish State Research Funding.