Use of low-pass noise in word-recognition testing.
This study attempted to determine whether word-recognition scores obtained in noise were more sensitive to the presence of a hearing loss than recognition scores obtained in quiet. Subjects with normal hearing, high-frequency cochlear hearing loss, and flat cochlear hearing loss were tested in quiet and in the presence of a 500-Hz low-pass noise. Two signal-to-noise conditions were employed, -4 dB and -12 dB. Words were presented at 40dB SL in one experiment and at 96 dB SPL for normal-hearing subjects in a second experiment. The results indicated that, while the word-recognition scores of groups were similar in quiet, the more negative the signal-to-noise ratio, the greater the separation of group scores, with hearing-impaired subjects having poorer recognition scores than normal-hearing subjects. When the speech and noise were presented at high SPLs, however, the normal-hearing subjects had poorer word recognition than those with flat cochlear losses. The results are interpreted as indicating greater spread of masking in normal-hearing than hearing-impaired subjects at high sound pressure levels.
D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry / Q000379:methods*; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003051:Cochlea; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D013060:Speech