Experts gathered around the Eikholt test

Several people are seated at tables shaped like a square. In front of a person sitting at a screen and one with a PC in front of him.

Recently, a group of hearing and linguistics experts gathered at Eikholt for a workshop on what's happening around The Eikholt test.

The Eikholt test is an audiovisual test of speech understanding that was launched in August 2023. It provides professionals with a good tool for mapping functional vision and hearing ability.

A competent group and an exciting programme

Several highly competent professional environments have tested and utilised the Eikholt test. This was the starting point for the workshop this day. What lessons have been learnt, what opportunities lie in the Eikholt test and what is the way forward?

Present at workshop on the Eikholt test

  • Arne K. Rødvik, audiophysicist at the CI team at The National HospitalMarte Myhrum, senior engineer at the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat at Rikshospitalet, and Heidi Borge, audiologist at Rikshospitalet. They shared their experiences of using the Eikholt test in the clinic.
  • Sara Skogli Wiik, Audiopedagogue and Johanne Fossen, Senior Advisor.  HLF Development and HLF Rehabilitation. Leads project at Briskeby where the Eikholt test is used today.
  • Maria Kleven and Sarah Aelia Røsandhaug - master students at University of Oslo, Department of Special Needs Education.
  • Simon Sundstrøm - Associate Professor at the University of Oslo, Department of Special Needs Education, and supervisor for Maria and Sarah
  • Erik Witte, associate professor at Örebro University. Audionomog PhD in Disability Research specialising in audiology was prevented from coming. He has translated the test into Swedish.                                        
  • Rolf Mjønes, audiographer at Eikholt. Developer of the Eikholt test and involved in most things. Is also working on his own master's thesis at University of South East Norway.
From left: Kari Jokstad, Anne-May Førland, Rolf Mjønes, Marte Myhrum, Arne K- Rødvik, Heidi Borge, Sara Skogli Wiik, Johanne Fossen, Maria Kleven, Sarah Aelia Røsandhaug and Simon Sundstrøm.

Next version of the Eikholt test

The workshop opened with a brief history of the development of the Eikholt test by founder Rolf Mjønes. He then revealed what he calls version 2.0 of the Eikholt test, which is likely to be ready in the autumn of 2024.

Rolf Mjønes presents further development of the Eikholt test

Version 2.0 of the Eikholt test

In version 2.0 of the Eikholt test, user-friendliness has been given a major focus. Some of what can be expected is:

  • 2 minute video instructions on how to set up the test, calibrate audio and speakers, set up the screen, perform colour calibration and more.
  • Setting the default noise level when starting the test
  • Documentation and scientific articles
  • A new selection of 4 specialised lists of simple phrases for those with severe hearing loss or reduced vocabulary.
  • Validated version of the Eikholt test that includes norm data
  • The Swedish version of the Eikholt test will be ready in autumn 2024. These contain the same sentences as in the Norwegian material, translated into Swedish.
  • Distribution-friendly version of the Eikholt test

2025 - what happens next

The Eikholt test holds a lot of potential for further development. Rolf Mjønes explained that some of the things that will be worked on in 2025 are;

  • Listening training
  • Reading training: oral reading training
  • Support for 360-degree free-field measurements, enabling quality assurance of hearing aid features and fittings
  • Support for dialects
  • Support for sign language

Master thesis on the Eikholt test

Sarah Aelia Røsandhaug and Maria Kleven, master's students from the University of Oslo, Department of Special Needs Education, presented their work on data collection and validation of the test.

Thanks to their work, a validated version of the Eikholt test will now be available. 60 people with normal vision and hearing have completed the Eikholt test. As many as 125,000 data points have been collected, and this now forms the basis for new lists that are exactly as difficult. In addition to all lists being equally difficult, the first and last half of the lists will now also have the same level of difficulty.

Sarah and Maria have chosen different issues that were presented.

  • Are age and gender related to the participant's audio-visual speech perception results as measured by the Eikholt test?
  • How is the test subjects' mother tongue related to speech perception in Norwegian, as measured by the results from the Eikholt test.
Maria Kleven and Sarah Aelia Røsandhaug present their collection of norm data for the Eikholt test, as part of their master's thesis.

What is it like to use the Eikholt test?

59 participants were recruited via school, family, friends and acquaintances. In other words, the work carried out by the master's students is not small.

The experience of completing the Eikholt test is that it is stable. A subjective experience of completing the test is that several participants expressed that they thought they had done poorly, and that many do not realise what abilities they have to use vision to interpret speech.

Maria and Sarah say it has been very exciting to do this master's thesis, but it's also very cool that this is something that will be very useful in the future.

According to founder Rolf Mjønes, preliminary data shows that, on average, we score 50 per cent better on understanding speech in noise by using vision (30 percentage points higher score). There are many exciting opportunities here.

The Eikholt test takes over from the IOWA test at Rikshospitalet

Rikshospitalet has welcomed the Eikholt test and now uses it as one of several tools for assessing CI candidates and following up people who have received a CI. Rikshospitalet is also doing a lot of exciting development work. Among other things, Arne Kirkhorn Rødvik has developed a nonsense word test for speech comprehension that is now available as an app.

Rikshospitalet's experts also provided good input for further development. Among other things, they would like to be able to print out lists to make notes along the way and scan them into the medical record. They also see the possibility of using these lists as a basis for conversations and feedback to schools, among others.

Briskeby with new project

Recently, the National Association of the Hearing Impaired allocated funds from The Dam Foundation to a new project. The project is about reading non-verbal communication - Strategies for young people with hearing challenges.

In their work, they use the Eikholt test to see how much young people perceive in different listening environments. Audiographers recognise how energy-consuming it is for many to read lips, and they also see poor strategies where there is so much focus on the mouth that listening is lost or reduced.

The project aims to develop a systematic training programme for young people aged 16-25. This will provide them with good strategies and increase the skills associated with reading non-verbal communication.

Before the training programme starts, they will be tested with the Eikholt test. For one year, the participants will take part in joint sessions and carry out training programmes at home. After the training programme is completed, they will be retested to look at any progression.

The big question is whether it is possible to improve your listening skills through training?

Do you have questions or want to know more about the Eikholt test?

Please contact Rolf Mjønes by email: rolf.mjones@eikholt.no

Read more about the Eikholt test

On our website you will find information about the Eikholt test, as well as relevant publications about it: Eikholt testing - Eikholt

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