Date of Award

Spring 1981

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Niederjohn, Russell J.

Second Advisor

Sedivy, Jan K.

Third Advisor

Heinen, James A.

Abstract

The articulation index (AI) is a number that approximates the intelligibility of speech sounds through a communication system. The AI has a value which ranges from O to 1. While various graphical calculations of the AI have been proposed, a computer program for the AI calculation has not been developed. In this thesis, the 20- Band method as proposed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is the basis of the computer calculation. The computer program is written in FORTRAN on Marquette university's Xerox Sigma-9 computer. Using data from experiments on speech intelligibility, a plot was made to compare the results obtained by Kryter [14], through the graphical calculation of the AI, and the results obtained using the computer calculation. These plots were used to verify that the computer program was functioning properly. The results from articulation tests, obtained from speech and noise intelligibility experiments by previous investigators, are plotted against the AI obtained through the computer calculation. A discussion of these results is found in this thesis. A presentation of the differences between the AI methods proposed by previous authors and the AI method proposed by ANSI is also contained in this thesis.

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