Abstract
This final chapter describes the sound-localization abilities of hearing-impaired listeners. We distinguish listeners with a conductive hearing loss from sensory–neural impairments, and describe current technologies to restore impaired hearing: hearing aids, bone-conduction devices, middle-ear implants, and cochlear implants. Single-sided deaf listeners lack binaural hearing and may only use spectral cues from their hearing ear, and the head–shadow effect. Despite the fact that the latter cue is ambiguous, all SSD patients rely heavily on this cue. We argue that this behavior reflects a Bayesian strategy in which prior information is weighted more heavily than less reliable spectral cues. Listeners with a unilateral conductive hearing loss adopt a flexible localization strategy in which they weigh potentially remnant binaural cues, spectral cues, and the head–shadow effect to estimate the azimuth of a sound-source under varying acoustic conditions. Finally, we propose that modest age-related high-frequency hearing loss may be partially compensated by the acoustic effects of pinna growth. For certain sounds the elderly may thus outperform young listeners in localizing source elevation.
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