Modeling Operational Criteria for Evaluating Speech Communication

Thesis: Evaluation of systems can be conducted best under controlled circumstances which approximate operational conditions. In the present paper, we have examined this thesis as it applies to the test and evaluation of multi-person systems. Our specific focus has been the development of a conceptual model of speech communication requirements and the study of the impact of degraded speech intelligibility on performance of these multi-person systems. To obtain the control necessary to evaluate performance using speech intelligibility, an electronic circuit was developed and employed in a series of simulated tests of operational tasks. The application of these research findings to the task of system test and evaluation is described in the present paper.