Electroacoustic Evaluation of Smartphone-Based Hearing Aid Applications.

Objectives: This study evaluated the electroacoustic characteristics of smartphone-based hearing aid applications (apps).

Methods: We investigated hearing aid apps based on processing delay measurements, hearing instrument testing, simulated real ear measurements, and a head-and-torso simulator.

Results: Many apps exceeded the recommended level for processing delay.

Recall of Reverberant Speech in Quiet and Four-Talker Babble Noise.

Using behavioral evaluation of free recall performance, we investigated whether reverberation and/or noise affected memory performance in normal-hearing adults. Thirty-four participants performed a free-recall task in which they were instructed to repeat the initial word after each sentence and to remember the target words after each list of seven sentences, in a 2 (reverberation) × 2 (noise) factorial design. Pupil dilation responses (baseline and peak pupil dilation) were also recorded sentence-by-sentence while the participants were trying to remember the target words.

Effects of Noise and Serial Position on Free Recall of Spoken Words and Pupil Dilation during Encoding in Normal-Hearing Adults.

This preliminary study assessed the effects of noise and stimulus presentation order on recall of spoken words and recorded pupil sizes while normal-hearing listeners were trying to encode a series of words for a subsequent recall task. In three listening conditions (stationary noise in Experiment 1; quiet versus four-talker babble in Experiment 2), participants were assigned to remember as many words as possible to recall them in any order after each list of seven sentences. In the two noise conditions, lists of sentences fixed at 65 dB SPL were presented at an easily audible level via a loudspeaker.

Analysis of Output Levels of an MP3 Player: Effects of Earphone Type, Music Genre, and Listening Duration.

Background And Objectives: To prevent noise induced hearing losses caused by listening to music with personal listening devices for young adults, this study was aimed to measure output levels of an MP3 and to identify preferred listening levels (PLLs) depending on earphone types, music genres, and listening durations.

Subjects And Methods: Twenty-two normal hearing young adults (mean=18.82, standard deviation=0.

Mass and Stiffness Impact on the Middle Ear and the Cochlear Partition.

Mass and stiffness affect on the peculiar characteristics of transmission of the middle ear and the distinctive behavior of the cochlear mechanics. Applying the principle of the mass and stiffness, the band-pass characteristic transfer function of the middle ear has been explained. The greatest transfer function of the middle ear, approximately 24-29 dB, is observed at 1-2 kHz in both cat and human species.