Clinical validity of the speech-sounds perception test and the seashore rhythm test

Abstract

The interpretive significance of the Speech-Sounds Perception Test (SSPT) and the Seashore Rhythm Test (SRT) was evaluated through literature review and empirical investigations. Subjects were 43 pseudoneurologic controls and 81 brain-damaged persons, divided into subgroups of subjects with left-hemisphere damage (n = 20), diffuse brain damage (n = 31), and right-hemisphere damage (n = 30). Our data indicate that the SSPT and SRT failed to discriminate left- and right-hemisphere damage. Furthermore, discriminant analyses demonstrated that these tests make no unique diagnostic contribution within the context of a neuropsychological battery. We question whether these tests should be routinely used.