title: Pure-Tone-Spondee Threshold Relationships in Functional Hearing Loss: A Test of Loudness Contribution.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine explanations for pure-tone average-spondee threshold differences in functional hearing loss.
  
  
  
  Loudness magnitude estimation functions were obtained from 24 participants for pure tones (0.5 and 1.0 kHz), vowels, spondees, and speech-shaped noise as a function of level (20-90 dB SPL). Participants listened monaurally through earphones. Loudness predictions were obtained for the same stimuli by using a computational, dynamic loudness model.
  
  
  
  When evaluated at the same SPL, speech-shaped noise was judged louder than vowels/spondees, which were judged louder than tones. Equal-loudness levels were inferred from fitted loudness functions for the group. For the clinical application, the 2.1-dB difference between spondees and tones at equal loudness became a 12.1-dB difference when the stimuli were converted from SPL to HL.
  
  
  
  Nearly all of the pure-tone average-spondee threshold differences in functional hearing loss are attributable to references for calibration for 0 dB HL for tones and speech, which are based on detection and recognition, respectively. The recognition threshold for spondees is roughly 9 dB higher than the speech detection threshold; persons feigning a loss, who base loss magnitude on loudness, do not consider this difference. Furthermore, the dynamic loudness model was more accurate than the static model.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Schlauch
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: Heekyung J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: Tzu-Ling J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carney
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005260:Female; D006315:Hearing Loss, Functional / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception; D055815:Young Adult