Effects of different frequency response strategies upon recognition and preference for audible speech stimuli.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether the amount of low- versus high-frequency amplification should change as a function of input level, as is done in some recently developed hearing aids. Adults with high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss served as subjects. Both identification performance and preference judgments for audible CV syllables were assessed as a function of input level for three different signal processing conditions both in quiet and in noise. The first signal processing condition was a conventional high-pass frequency response that did not change its transfer function as the input level increased; the second condition was similar to a typical adaptive frequency response (AFR) hearing aid: a high-pass frequency response that became increasingly high-pass as the input level increased; the third condition was similar to the K-Amp hearing aid recommended by Killion (1988): a high-pass frequency response that became more broadband as the input level increased. Results indicated no significant differences among the three different processing conditions for syllable recognition and a strong listener preference for the syllables presented via the conventional amplification scheme.
Horwitz
A R
AR
Communication Sciences and Disorders, Syracuse University, NY 13244-2280.
Turner
C W
CW
Fabry
D A
DA
D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006316:Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility