Individual differences in speech recognition ability: implications for hearing aid selection.
Hearing-impaired listeners with similar audiometric configurations often demonstrate varying abilities to understand speech in the presence of noise and/or reverberation. To date, however, it is unclear which auditory mechanisms are responsible for these perceptual deficits. This lack of information is unfortunate, as individual susceptibility to noise and reverberation may explain why hearing-impaired listeners receive varying degrees of benefit from rehabilitative strategies. The present discussion will examine: (1) individual speech recognition susceptibility to noise and reverberation in hearing-impaired listeners and (2) auditory and cognitive hypotheses to explain individual differences in speech recognition performance. Theoretical and clinical implications for hearing aid selection procedures will be discussed.
Crandell
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CC
Callier Center for Communication Disorders, University of Texas, Dallas.
D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise; D010898:Pitch Perception; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test