# Normative Values and Test/Retest Reliability of a New Test: Spatial Processing of Sentences in Noise in Portuguese

## TL;DR

This study establishes normative values and tests the reliability of a new Portuguese language test for spatial sentence processing in children aged 7–10.

## Contribution

The study introduces and validates the PROSER test for spatial sentence processing in Portuguese-speaking children.

## Key findings

- Children aged 10 performed better than 7- and 8-year-olds in spatial sentence processing.
- Test–retest results showed slight improvements in most conditions, with only one condition showing significant differences.
- Normative values were successfully established for children aged 7–10.

## Abstract

Objective: This article establishes normative values for children and analyzes test–retest results for a new test, the Spatial Processing of Sentences in Noise in Portuguese (PROSER).

Methods: To establish normative criteria, we evaluated 66 Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children aged 7–10 years using audiological assessments, school performance tests, and the PROSER test. A subset of 22 children participated in a test–retest evaluation.

Results: Examining all 66 participants, we found significant differences in the speech reception threshold (SRT) means between the 0° and ±90° interference conditions when analyzing all four test conditions. Considering the age group, the performance of 10-year-old children was superior to that of both 7- and 8-year-old children. Test–retest comparison showed slight improvements (0.11–1.13 dB) in the retest phase across most conditions and advantage measures. The difference between the average SRT in the test and retest was statistically significant only in Condition 3-DV0°.

Conclusions: The study established normative values for children aged 7–10 years, confirming PROSER as a procedure with adequate test–retest reliability.