title: Auditory externalization in hearing-impaired listeners: the effect of pinna cues and number of talkers.
abstract: Hearing-aid wearers have reported sound source locations as being perceptually internalized (i.e., inside their head). The contribution of hearing-aid design to internalization has, however, received little attention. This experiment compared the sensitivity of hearing-impaired (HI) and normal-hearing listeners to externalization cues when listening with their own ears and simulated behind-the-ear hearing-aids in increasingly complex listening situations and reduced pinna cues. Participants rated the degree of externalization using a multiple-stimulus listening test for mixes of internalized and externalized speech stimuli presented over headphones. The results showed that HI listeners had a contracted perception of externalization correlated with high-frequency hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, United Kingdom. alan.boyd@eee.strath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Alan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Whitmer
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Soraghan
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Akeroyd
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult