The current state of consumer-grade electronics means that researchers, clinicians, students, and members of the general public across the globe can create high-quality auditory stimuli using tablet computers, built-in sound hardware, and calibrated consumer-grade headphones. Our laboratories have created a free application that supports this work: PART (Portable Automated Rapid Testing). PART has implemented a range of psychoacoustical tasks including: spatial release from speech-on-speech masking, binaural sensitivity, gap discrimination, temporal modulation, spectral modulation, and spectrotemporal modulation (STM). Here, data from the spatial release and STM tasks are presented. Data were collected across the globe on tablet computers using applications available for free download, built-in sound hardware, and calibrated consumer-grade headphones. Spatial release results were as good or better than those obtained with standard laboratory methods. Spectrotemporal modulation thresholds were obtained rapidly and, for younger normal hearing listeners, were also as good or better than those in the literature. For older hearing impaired listeners, rapid testing resulted in similar thresholds to those reported in the literature. Listeners at five different testing sites produced very similar STM thresholds, despite a variety of testing conditions and calibration routines. Download Spatial Release, PART, and Listen: An Auditory Training Experience for free at https://bgc.ucr.edu/games/.

Early reflections have been linked to improved speech intelligibility, while later-arriving reverberant sound has been shown to limit speech understanding. Here, these effects were examined by artificially removing either early reflections or late reflections. Removing late reflections improved performance more for colocated than for spatially separated maskers. Results of a multiple regression analysis suggest that pure-tone average (PTA) is a significant predictor of spatial release from masking (SRM) in all acoustic conditions. Controlling for the effects of PTA, age is a significant predictor of SRM only when early reflections are absent.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare speech identification abilities of individuals of various ages and hearing abilities using traditional methods and Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) iPad app. Method: Speech identification data were collected using three techniques: over headphones using a virtual speaker array, using PART iPad app (UCR Brain Game Center, 2018), and using loudspeaker presentation in a sound-attenuated room. For all three techniques, Coordinate Response Measure sentences were used as the stimuli and “Charlie” was used as the call sign. A progressive tracking procedure was used to estimate the speech identification thresholds for listeners with varying hearing thresholds. The target sentence was always presented at 0° azimuth angle, whereas the maskers were colocated (0°) with the target or symmetrically spatially separated by ±15°, ±30°, or ±45°. Results: Data analysis revealed similar speech identification thresholds for the iPad and headphone conditions and slightly poorer thresholds for the loudspeaker array condition across participant groups. This was true for all spatial separations between the target and the maskers. Conclusion: Strong correlation between the headphone and iPad data presented in this study indicated that the spatial release from masking module in the PART iPad app can be used as a clinical tool to assess spatial processing ability prior to audiologic evaluation in the clinic and can also be used to make recommendations for and to track progress with aural rehabilitation programs over time.

The Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) and the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) are two most commonly used questionnaires in the audiology clinic to assess an individual’s self-perception of their hearing ability. Here, we present the outcomes of these two questionnaires on a large group of self-reported normal hearing adult listeners. A total of 254 self-reported normal-hearing younger and older adults completed the SSQ and the APHAB questionnaire. The younger participants completed the questionnaires through Qualtrics, whereas the older participants completed the questionnaire through Qualtrics and a traditional pen-and-paper method. The younger listeners perceived a higher ability compared to the older adults in all the SSQ subscales (Speech, Spatial, and Qualities) and reported a lesser frequency of the problems in three of the four APHAB subscales (Ease of communication, Reverberation, and Background Noise). There was no significant difference in the frequency of the problems reported in the Aversiveness subscale. Self-reported normal-hearing listeners do not rate their listening ability at the top of the ability scale. Additionally, the large dataset presented here has a potential normative value for the SSQ and the APHAB questionnaires for self-reported normal-hearing adult listeners.

In this study, the physiological and perceptual correlates of auditory function in student musicians and nonmusicians with normal hearing thresholds were investigated. The measures involved were auditory brainstem responses as a function of stimulation rate, spatial release from masking, and word intensity rollover functions. The results indicated that as the stimulation rate was increased, the wave I amplitude reductions were more abrupt in musicians than in nonmusicians. However, no significant group differences were observed for speech tasks. There were also no significant correlations between the results of speech perception and the measures of peripheral neural function.

The primary objective of this experiment was to measure the temporal and spatial processing capabilities of older individuals and use statistical models to identify the individual contributions of these temporal and spatial processing capabilities to spatial release from masking (SRM). Repeated measures Twenty-five older listeners with varying degrees of hearing loss participated in this experiment. SRM using the coordinate response measure, gap detection thresholds and localisation acuity for 1/3-octave-wide Gaussian noise bands centred at 500 and 4000 Hz were measured for all the listeners. Older listeners had better speech recognition thresholds when target and maskers were spatially separated as compared to when they were co-located. In addition, hearing loss and localisation acuity at 500 Hz were significant predictors in a multiple regression model predicting SRM. However, gap detection thresholds did not significantly contribute to the multiple regression model predicting SRM. Based on our data, we conclude that SRM at 30° spatial separation between the target and symmetric maskers is driven by the ability of the individuals to use interaural time difference cues.