The Influence of the Stimulus Level Used to Prescribe Nonlinear Frequency Compression on Speech Perception.

Background:  Nonlinear frequency compression (NFC) is a signal processing technique designed to lower high-frequency inaudible sounds for a listener to a lower frequency that is audible. Because the maximum frequency that is audible to a listener with hearing loss will vary with the input speech level, the input level used to set NFC could impact speech recognition.

Purpose:  The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the input level used to set NFC on nonsense syllable recognition.

FORUM: Remote testing for psychological and physiological acoustics.

Acoustics research involving human participants typically takes place in specialized laboratory settings. Listening studies, for example, may present controlled sounds using calibrated transducers in sound-attenuating or anechoic chambers. In contrast, remote testing takes place outside of the laboratory in everyday settings (e.

Evaluation of Remote Categorical Loudness Scaling.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to (a) demonstrate the feasibility of administering categorical loudness scaling (CLS) tests in a remote setting, (b) assess the reliability of remote compared with laboratory CLS results, and (c) provide preliminary evidence of the validity of remote CLS testing.

Method: CLS data from 21 adult participants collected in a home setting were compared to CLS data collected in a laboratory setting from previous studies. Five participants took part in studies in both settings.

Understanding Self-reported Hearing Disability in Adults With Normal Hearing.

Objectives: Despite a diagnosis of normal hearing, many people experience hearing disability (HD) in their everyday lives. This study assessed the ability of a number of demographic and auditory variables to explain and predict self-reported HD in people regarded as audiologically healthy via audiometric thresholds.

Design: One-hundred eleven adults (ages 19 to 74) with clinically normal hearing (i.

Maximum Expected Information Approach for Improving Efficiency of Categorical Loudness Scaling.

Categorical loudness scaling (CLS) measures provide useful information about an individual's loudness perception across the dynamic range of hearing. A probability model of CLS categories has previously been described as a multi-category psychometric function (MCPF). In the study, a representative "catalog" of potential listener MCPFs was used in conjunction with maximum-likelihood estimation to derive CLS functions for participants with normal hearing and with hearing loss.