title: Speech-reception threshold in noise for hearing-impaired listeners in conditions with a varying amplitude-frequency response.
abstract: In a study on the effects of a frequency-dependent automatic gain control in hearing-aids, two experiments were carried out with hearing-impaired listeners. In the first experiment, the effect of varying the amplitude-frequency response on the speech-reception threshold (SRT) of sentences presented in noise was studied. The noise had the same spectrum as the long-term average spectrum of the sentences. Results suggest that the amplitude-frequency response may vary within a range from, roughly, -3 to +10 dB/oct relative to the bisector of the dynamic range, without giving an increase in SRT larger than 2 dB. In the second experiment, the effect on masked SRT of adjusting the amplitude-frequency response to situations of seriously interfering low-frequency noise was studied. Again, the noise had a spectrum identical with the long-term average spectrum of the sentences, but this time the noise level in one octave band was increased by 20 dB. Preliminary results indicate that a selective attenuation of the signal in the band containing the extra noise may give a decrease of masked SRT up to 4.5 dB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: van Dijkhuizen
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Festen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plomp
mesh_terms: D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test