Reliability of the Speech Sounds Perception Test

Abstract

Several studies have examined the test-retest reliability of the Halstead-Reitan battery of which the Speech Sounds Perception Test is one component. However, there are no data on internal reliability. Clinical experience with the test suggests that the subtests are not equally difficult. The present study examined the internal reliability in two independent samples ( ns = 106 and 81). In both samples, a significantly greater number of errors was found on the first half of the test. Also in both samples, the largest number of errors occurred on Subtests B and A, while the fewest errors were found on Subtests E and D. The split-half reliability coefficients for the two samples were .74 and .87. There was also some tentative support for the use of an abbreviated version. A formula was generated (Series A + Series B + Series C + 2) which correctly classified a high percentage of patients in both samples (96% and 90%) using performance above and below the conventional cutoff score of eight errors.