Development of the California Consonant Test

Abstract

A 100-item, multiple-choice test for consonant identification labeled the California Consonant Test (CCT) was developed expressly for use with hearing-impaired patients. A computer-assisted analysis was obtained for the test responses of 550 patients with sensorineural hearing loss. The test seemed highly sensitive to configurations of high-tone loss, but the correlation with degree of loss, especially in the instance of flat configurations, was somewhat low (-0.40). Test-retest correlation was 0.96. A correlation of 0.35 with a W-22 list indicated that the 2 tests were measuring different aspects of speech reception. In addition to its usefulness in identifying consonant confusions for rehabilitation purposes, the CCT may prove helpful in ranking hearing aids. For the latter purpose, two 50-item subforms, designed for equivalence, are under observation for possible use when time is a critical factor. Repetitions of the 100-item list offer greater stability, however.