title: Localization in speech mixtures by listeners with hearing loss.
abstract: The ability of listeners with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss to localize a speech source in a multitalker mixture was measured. Five simultaneous words spoken by different talkers were presented over loudspeakers in a small room, and listeners localized one target word. Errors were significantly larger in this group compared to a control group with normal hearing. Localization of the target presented alone was not different between groups. The results suggest that hearing loss does not impair spatial hearing per se, but degrades the spatial representation of multiple simultaneous sounds.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences and The Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. virginia.best@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Best
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carlile
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kopco
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Schaik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D005260:Female; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology*; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult