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.

Speech understanding in noisy environments depends not only on hearing acuity but also on a host of other cognitive skills including attention, working memory, and executive function that support listeners’ ability to segregate, track and attend to a “target” signal while tuning out other unwanted signals. Identifying the cognitive aspects that affect listening outcomes in complex listening environment is critical for interpreting individual variability and understanding the challenges listeners with different cognitive profiles might face during listening in such environments. The latter is important for characterizing the listening deficits in older adults who, in addition to impaired peripheral auditory processing, also tend to exhibit a decline in various cognitive abilities that might affect listening. Here, we present data from a large cohort of younger listeners on various working memory (Reading Span Test), attention (auditory and visual single and dual task), processing (trail making task), executive control (flanker task), inhibition (Stroop task), and speech in noise tests (spatial release from masking using coordinate Response Measure sentences). The relationship between these various attention, working memory, and cognitive components to speech understanding in complex listening environments will be discussed.