Is there a correlation between the ability to recognise speech-in-noise and sensory memory?

Abstract: Recently, research has begun to pay more attention to the cognitive functions associated with auditory perception. In this study, two tests are performed to investigate the correlation between the ability to recognise speech-in-noise and the performance of sensory memory, as well as to investigate whether the performance would improve during the sensory memory test. For measuring speech-in-noise, the Hagerman test was used. A random noise test to detect deviant noises was used to measure sensory memory. In total 16 participantstook part in the study (mean age=24.8125, SD=3.14), half of the group began with the Hagerman test, and the other half with the random noise test. Two different statistical analyses were performed on the data. For examining the correlation between the performance on the Hagerman test and the random noise test, a Pearson correlation was used. The results were as follows: p = 0.4962, r = -0.1835734. Observing the results, the tests did indicate a slight negative correlation regarding the r-value, but not a significant correlation. Thus, the analysis did not derive any significant results. The second analysis was a dependent t-test to examine whether there was an improvement in performance during the random noise test, as it was divided into four separate blocks. The analysis showed the following results: t = 1.0266, df = 28.943, p = 0.3131. These results were not significant, though observing the block graph might indicate a tendency for improvement. For further studies, the random noise test should perhaps be modified into an easier version. This is based upon the data, as many of the participants merely got a score above, or even below, chance. Further studiesshould also use a higher number of participants as well to increase the chance of receiving significant results from the tests.