Listening in a multisource environment with and without hearing aids
Resumé
The aim of the current study was to examine the challenge faced by listeners with hearing loss when selectively attending to one source in the presence of multiple competing sources and reverberation. In a series of experiments, both younger and older listeners with normal hearing or bilateral symmetric sensorineural hearing loss served as subjects. The listeners with hearing loss were experienced users of bilateral hearing aids and were tested unaided, bilaterally aided, and unilaterally aided. The task was to repeat key words spoken by a target talker located straight ahead in the presence of two colocated or symmetrically spatially separated competing talkers. On average, listeners with normal hearing demonstrated a large benefit of spatial separation which was somewhat reduced when the room reverberation was increased. The presence of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss decreased this benefit in both room conditions. Listening through bilateral personal amplification was not significantly different from unaided listening (at an adequate sensation level). However, when listening with one ear aided and one ear unaided the already small benefit was somewhat reduced. Current results suggest an interaction between peripheral hearing loss, hearing aid use, reverberation and performance in an auditory spatial attention task and present a challenge to current models.
Referencer
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