title: Head angle and elevation in classroom environments: implications for amplification.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine children's head orientation relative to the arrival angle of competing signals and the sound source of interest in actual school settings. These data were gathered to provide information relative to the potential for directional benefit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty children, 4-17 years of age, with and without hearing loss, completed the study. Deviation in head angle and elevation relative to the direction of sound sources of interest were measured in 40 school environments. Measurements were made on the basis of physical data and videotapes from 3 cameras placed within each classroom.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results revealed similarly accurate head orientation across children with and without hearing loss when focusing on the 33% proportion of time in which children were most accurate. Orientation accuracy was not affected by age. The data also revealed that children with hearing loss were significantly more likely to orient toward brief utterances made by secondary talkers than were children with normal hearing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data are consistent with the hypothesized association between hearing loss and increased visual monitoring. In addition, these results suggest that age does not limit the potential for signal-to-noise improvements from directivity-based interventions in noisy environments.
authors: Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, USA. todd.a.ricketts@vanderbilt.edu
authors: Todd Andrew
authors: TA
authors: Ricketts
authors: Jason
authors: J
authors: Galster
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D006257:Head; D019416:Head Movements; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise; D009949:Orientation; D012574:Schools; D013067:Speech Perception; D014741:Video Recording