Abstract:
The most important function of the auditory system is the role it plays in understanding everyday speech. The auditory system can be assessed with audiometry that uses speech or speech like materials as test stimuli. One such test that uses speech materials as test stimuli is the California Consonant Test (CCT).E. Owens and E.D. Schubert developed the CCT in 1977. This discrimination test assesses people's ability to discriminate initial and final target phonemes. The test currently has two lists, each consisting of one hundred items. The test items are presented via audio tape. The subject chooses the test word from a set of four written words. Of the one hundred test items, several target phonemes are repeated several times in both the initial and final positions. The one hundred items on list one are identical to the one hundred items on list two; however, they are presented in a different order.The length of the test, even though it is a test for adults, is very time consuming. When a test is lengthy, the person being tested may lose concentration or become fatigued, resulting in test results that may not represent the actual potential of the person. Since the test has many repetitions of target phonemes, the possibility of a shorter version would be helpful for the clinician as well as the person participating in the test. If the test could be shortened and keep the same validity and reliability as the original test, it would be more efficient and cost effective.Therefore, the purpose of this study is to derive from the original CCT a much shorter version of the test, both list one and list two, which correlates highly with the longer version.