Listening Difficulties Research Articles

DEVELOPING SPEECH PERCEPTION SKILLS FOR BETTER LISTENING COMPREHENSION

This article provides arguments for incorporating bottom-up practice activities into listening instruction at university EFL classroom. It begins with a brief overview of the current research into listening, followed by a review of main processing components involved in speech comprehension. Also, the paper discusses Ukrainian pre-service teachers’ major listening difficulties and reasons which prevent them from developing listening fluency in English. The role of the speech processor in the process of teaching listening comprehension has been determined. Psycholinguistic peculiarities of its development are discussed. It is proved that a well-developed L2 speech processor will ensure adequate perception of foreign speech and auditory self-control of one’s own articulation. Activities for enriching Ukrainian university students’ L2 perceptual experience (transcribing, noticing exercises) and training their L2 pronunciation (reading aloud, shadow reading) are suggested. Finally, it is concluded that improvement in speech perception makes listening process increasingly automatic, which in turn makes the development of top-down listening skills more effective.

Contralateral suppression of otoacoustic emissions in a clinical sample of children with auditory processing disorder

Objective: The suppression of evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) may serve as a clinical tool to evaluate the medial olivocochlear (MOC) reflex, which is thought to aid speech discrimination (particularly in noise) by selectively inhibiting cochlear amplification. The present study aimed to determine if contralateral transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) suppression was present in a clinical sample of children with listening difficulties with and without auditory processing disorder (APD).Design: A three-group, repeated measure design was used.Study sample: Forty three children aged 8–14 years underwent an auditory processing assessment and were divided into three groups: children with reported listening difficulties with APD, children with reported listening difficulties without APD, and children with normal hearing. APD was defined as per British Society of Audiology.Results: TEOAE suppression was present in all three participant groups. No significant group, age or ear effects were observed for TEOAE suppression in dB or as a normalised index.Conclusion: Contralateral TEOAE suppression method could not be used as a clinical tool to identify APD in this study’s participating children and did not support the hypothesised link between reduced MOC function and general listening difficulties in background noise in children with or without APD.

The Correlation between Students’ Learning Motivation and Their Listening Comprehension

Based on the preliminary research, it was found that the eleventh grade students at senior high school 1 Kateman Indra Giri Hilir get difficulties in listening. It can be seen some of students were not able to express their ideas of speaker. The aimed of the research was to find out the correlation students’ learning motivation and their listening comprehension of the second grade at the senior high school 1 Kateman Indra Giri Hilir. The design of this research was correlational research design. The population was the second grade students at Senior High School 1 Kateman Indra Giri Hilir. Because of large, the researchers took the sample was selected by using simple random sampling technique. In getting the data, the researchers gave questionnaire and test, and analyzing the data by using person product moment calculated by SPSS 16.0 program. After analyzing the data, the result of sig.t.0.000 is smaller than 0.05 (sig≤0.05). It could be stated that H a (alternative hypothesis) was accepted. In other words, there was a significant correlation between students’ learning motivation and their listening comprehension of the Senior High School 1 Kateman Indra Giri Hilir.

The Medial Olivocochlear Reflex Is Unlikely to Play a Role in Listening Difficulties in Children.

The medial olivocochlear reflex (MOCR) has been implicated in several auditory processes. The putative role of the MOCR in improving speech perception in noise is particularly relevant for children who complain of listening difficulties (LiD). The hypothesis that the MOCR may be impaired in individuals with LiD or auditory processing disorder has led to several investigations but without consensus. In two related studies, we compared the MOCR functioning of children with LiD and typically developing (TD) children in the same age range (7–17 years). In Study 1, we investigated ipsilateral, contralateral, and bilateral MOCR using forward-masked click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs; n = 17 TD, 17 LiD). In Study 2, we employed three OAE types: CEOAEs (n = 16 TD, 21 LiD), stimulus frequency OAEs (n = 21 TD, 30 LiD), and distortion product OAEs (n = 17 TD, 22 LiD) in a contralateral noise paradigm. Results from both studies suggest that the MOCR functioning is not significantly different between the two groups. Some likely reasons for differences in findings among published studies could stem from the lack of strict data quality measures (e.g., high signal-to-noise ratio, control for the middle ear muscle reflex) that were enforced in the present study. The inherent variability of the MOCR, the subpar reliability of current MOCR methods, and the heterogeneity in auditory processing deficits that underlie auditory processing disorder make detecting clinically relevant differences in MOCR function impractical using current methods.

Audiological outcomes utilizing a transcutaneous ossseointegrated implant system in pediatric patients

Background: Percutaneous bone conduction hearing aids have proven to be audiometrically successful, but too often result in soft tissue issues at the abutment site. To counter this possibility, a magnetized, transcutaneous bone conduction hearing aid has been developed, the Baha Attract®. However, only limited research exists to demonstrate efficacy and verification measures of the Baha Attract® System. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate audiologic outcomes when using the Baha Attract® magnetic osseointegrated system in pediatric patients by measuring functional gain and post-implant user satisfaction with the Children’s Home Inventory for Listening Difficulties (CHILD) scale. Research design: The authors used a retrospective chart review of pediatric patients implanted with the Attract® System from 2014 to 2017 at Cook Children's Medical Center located in Fort Worth, Texas. Study sample: One ear of fourteen pediatric patients aged 5 to 18 years with bilateral or unilateral conductive hearing loss implanted unilaterally (13 children) or bilaterally (1 child, 1 ear randomly chosen for inclusion) with the Cochlear Baha Attract® System. Data collection and analysis: Aided and unaided thresholds were collected for 14 patients. Effective gain testing occurred approximately three months after the initial fitting appointment. Additionally, results of the CHILD survey were collected from seven of these children. A 2-factor analysis of variance test was used to examine the audiometric data, descriptive statistics were employed for the CHILD scores and correlations were run between CHILD scores and 1) overall functional gain, 2) frequency-specific functional gain and 3) age. Results: Participants in this study showed a statistically significant improvement in bone conduction thresholds at 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz and 4000 Hz when using the Baha Attract® System compared to the unaided condition. CHILD survey results showed a mean score of 6.5 and median score of 7 on a scale of 8. Correlation R values ranged from 0.14 to 0.79. Conclusion: For these children with conductive losses, a transcutaneous, magnetic osseointegrated hearing implant is a viable treatment option that provides significant audiometric functional gain. The CHILD results suggest that the children positively benefit from the implant, and that the perceived benefit may increase with age.

Resilience of English vowel perception across regional accent variation

In two categorization experiments using phonotactically legal nonce words, we tested Australian English listeners’ perception of all vowels in their own accent as well as in four less familiar regional varieties of English which differ in how their vowel realizations diverge from Australian English: London, Yorkshire, Newcastle (UK), and New Zealand. Results of Experiment 1 indicated that amongst the vowel differences described in sociophonetic studies and attested in our stimulus materials, only a small subset caused greater perceptual difficulty for Australian listeners than for the corresponding Australian English vowels. We discuss this perceptual tolerance for vowel variation in terms of how perceptual assimilation of phonetic details into abstract vowel categories may contribute to recognizing words across variable pronunciations. Experiment 2 determined whether short-term multi-talker exposure would facilitate accent adaptation, particularly for those vowels that proved more difficult to categorize in Experiment 1. For each accent separately, participants listened to a pre-test passage in the nonce word accent but told by novel talkers before completing the same task as in Experiment 1. In contrast to previous studies showing rapid adaptation to talker-specific variation, our listeners’ subsequent vowel assimilations were largely unaffected by exposure to other talkers’ accent-specific variation.

Measuring Perceptions of Classroom Listening in Typically Developing Children and Children with Auditory Difficulties Using the LIFE-UK Questionnaire.

Classrooms can be noisy and are challenging listening environments for children with auditory processing disorder (APD). This research was undertaken to determine if the Listening Inventory for Education-UK version (LIFE-UK) can differentiate children with listening difficulties and APD from their typically developing peers. To investigate reliability and validity of the student and teacher versions LIFE-UK questionnaire for assessing classroom listening difficulties. Cross-sectional quantitative study comparing children with listening difficulties with typically developing children. In total, 143 children (7-12 yr) participated; 45 were diagnosed with APD. Fifteen participants with reported listening difficulties who passed the APD test battery were assigned to a "listening difficulty" (LiD) group. Eighty three children from nine classrooms formed a Control group. Children and teachers completed the LIFE-UK questionnaire student and teacher versions. Factor analysis was undertaken, and item reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Teacher and student ratings were compared using Spearman correlations. Correlations between LIFE-UK ratings and APD test results were also investigated. Factor analysis revealed three factors accounting for 60% of the variance in the Control group LIFE-UK ratings. After removing six items with low factor loadings, a shortened seven-item version with three factors accounted for 71.8% of the variance for the student questionnaire; Cronbach's alpha indicated good internal reliability for this seven-item version of the student questionnaire. Factors were also derived for the teacher questionnaire. Teacher and student ratings were correlated when participant groups were combined. LIFE-UK ratings correlated weakly with some APD measures, providing some support for the questionnaire validity. The results support the use of either the 13- or 7-item student and the teacher versions of the LIFE-UK to evaluate classroom listening and functional consequences of APD. Factor analysis resulted in groupings of items reflecting differences in listening demands in quiet versus noise for the student questionnaire and attentional versus class participation demands for the teacher questionnaire. Further research is needed to confirm the robustness of these factors in other populations.

A Case Study of EFL Learners’ Difficulties in Listening Comprehension

This research tries to analyse the students’ level of difficulty in listening comprehension and the factors causing it. This is a case study research. This research revealed that students had many difficulties in listening comprehension. The difficulties from the biggest percentage were understanding organization, pragmatic understanding, and basic comprehension. Then, there were many factors causing students’ difficulties in listening. The factors were from the speaker, the environment, and the speaker itself. The factors causing the difficulties from the biggest percentage were the environment (noisy), poor recording, unfamiliar topics, accent of the speaker, ungrammatical sentences, long listening, concentration or focus, unknown words, uninteresting topic, and recognizing main points. Keyword: listening difficulties, factors causing listening difficulties.

A Study of the Perceptions, Needs and Satisfaction of International Students in Academic Korean Listening

외국인 유학생 10만 명 시대를 맞이하고 있다. 국내 대학이나 대학원으로 진학하는 유학생이 증가하면서, 학문 목적 한국어에 대한 연구들이 증가하고 있지만, 듣기 교육에 대한 논의는 필요성이나 중요성에 비해 연구가 부족한 현실이다. 이에 본 연구는 대학에 입학한 유학생을 대상으로 듣기 교육에 대한 이해와 요구, 인식 등을 조사하여, 이를 교육 과정에 반영하고자 하는 목적에서 실시되었다. 본 연구 에서는 학습자 인식의 변화 요인으로, 한국어를 교육받은 기간, 한국어 능력, 대학 등록 학기, 대학에서 한국어를 교육 받은 경험, 전공 등을 설정하였다. 분석 결과, 학문 목적 한국어 듣기 교육은 학습자들이 일반 듣기와 대학 강의 듣기의 담화 구 조의 차이를 인식할수록, 그리고 대학 강의 경험이 높을수록 더 그 효과에 대한 기대가 높고, 학습 전략에 대해서도 인식하고 있다고 볼 수 있었다. 이는 대학 한국어 듣기 교육과정을 개설하고 운영할 때, 실제 강의자료, 그리고 학습자의 전공과 관련된 자료를 통해, 다양한 전략을 구사할 수 있는 교육으로 이어질 필요성을 시사하였다.With a steady increase in the number of international students attending Korean universities, various studies have emerged to address these students’ approach to academic Korean. Most of the studies have focused extensively on reading and writing, with few looking beyond to what is required in regards to academic listening. The ability to listen to lectures has a decisive effect on learning and academic achievement in universities. However, a large number of international students tend to perceive listening as the easiest of the language skills, because they do not distinguish between general listening and lecture listening. Due to the difficulties in lecture listening, directly associated with understanding lecture contents, many students tend to fall behind early in the semester and resort to dropping courses and fail to graduate. The purpose of this article is to assess the perceptions and needs of first year international students in terms of academic listening. The perceptions and needs of the students to lecture satisfaction. We strived to assess factors associated with competency in academic listening in order to build a curriculum for effective lecture listening for academic purposes.

LANGUAGE POLICY PLANNING AS A POLITICAL TOOL FOR SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: ANALYSING THE CASE OF PARAGUAY

English has been the medium of instruction since the beginning of the 20th century in the Philippines during the arrival of the Americans. This has been incorporated holistically in the society through the educational system, communication, mass media, publications and social media. It is given therefore that Filipino learners are bilingual-- i.e., speaking both Filipino (the native tongue) and English as Second Language (ESL). After a century though, proficiency in the language is still a difficulty and an anxiety, especially from public school learners. In Taytay Senior High School (a public senior high school), Grade 11 students were observed of certain levels of difficulties in reading, writing, speaking and listening. In this study, the researchers probed deeper into the following: a.) the difficulties experienced by grade 11 students b.) the factors that led to such difficulties and c.) the articulated ways to help them overcome such difficulties in English proficiency. As a descriptive study, the researchers used pre-survey, survey, FGD and extensive literature review as methodologies. The survey results revealed problematic stages on vocabulary, training and knowledge, confidence and self-esteem and interest. Articulated in the FGD furthermore were issues of generation, practice/articulation, and system as factors that led to difficulties in reading writing, speaking and listening. On the other hand, Grade 11 students underscored power of mind, the use of native language and practice as methodical solutions to the problem. Further directions of this study could include elaboration of the FGD results that pertain to issues of generation, practice/articulation and system. The use of native language could also be expounded on future studies.

ARTICULATED DIFFICULTIES OF GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT TAYTAY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (TSHS) IN ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

English has been the medium of instruction since the beginning of the 20th century in the Philippines during the arrival of the Americans. This has been incorporated holistically in the society through the educational system, communication, mass media, publications and social media. It is given therefore that Filipino learners are bilingual-- i.e., speaking both Filipino (the native tongue) and English as Second Language (ESL). After a century though, proficiency in the language is still a difficulty and an anxiety, especially from public school learners. In Taytay Senior High School (a public senior high school), Grade 11 students were observed of certain levels of difficulties in reading, writing, speaking and listening. In this study, the researchers probed deeper into the following: a.) the difficulties experienced by grade 11 students b.) the factors that led to such difficulties and c.) the articulated ways to help them overcome such difficulties in English proficiency. As a descriptive study, the researchers used pre-survey, survey, FGD and extensive literature review as methodologies. The survey results revealed problematic stages on vocabulary, training and knowledge, confidence and self-esteem and interest. Articulated in the FGD furthermore were issues of generation, practice/articulation, and system as factors that led to difficulties in reading writing, speaking and listening. On the other hand, Grade 11 students underscored power of mind, the use of native language and practice as methodical solutions to the problem. Further directions of this study could include elaboration of the FGD results that pertain to issues of generation, practice/articulation and system. The use of native language could also be expounded on future studies.

Speech produced in noise: Relationship between listening difficulty and acoustic and durational parameters.

Conversational speech produced in noise can be characterised by increases in intelligibility relative to such speech produced in quiet. Listening difficulty (LD) is a metric that can be used to evaluate speech transmission performance more sensitively than intelligibility scores in situations in which performance is likely to be high. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the LD of speech produced in different noise and style conditions, to evaluate the spectral and durational speech modifications associated with these conditions, and to determine whether any of the spectral and durational parameters predicted LD. Nineteen subjects were instructed to speak at normal and loud volumes in the presence of background noise at 40.5 dB(A) and babble noise at 61 dB(A). The speech signals were amplitude-normalised, combined with pink noise to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio of -6 dB, and presented to twenty raters who judged their LD. Vowel duration, fundamental frequency and the proportion of the spectral energy in high vs low frequencies increased with the noise level within both styles. LD was lowest when the speech was produced in the presence of high level noise and at a loud volume, indicating improved intelligibility. Spectrum balance was observed to predict LD.

Escala CHILD: Validación del inventario de las dificultades auditivas de los niños en el hogar

En Colombia, es común encontrar que el Fonoaudiólogo Especialista en Audiología, no lleva a cabo en su práctica clínica diaria un control estandarizado o riguroso de la funcionalidad de las ayudas auditivas en contexto, a partir del cual pueda identificar las necesidades comunicativas y/o mejoras en las habilidades auditivas de los niños dentro del ambiente de su hogar, que es el ambiente primario de aprendizaje. La presente investigación busca evaluar el grado de validez de la escala C.H.I.L.D. (INVENTARIO DE LAS DIFICULTADES AUDITIVAS DE LOS NIÑOS EN EL HOGAR) para conocer su aplicabilidad en la población colombiana. Para ello, se solicitó a 9 jueces expertos valorar la pertinencia, suficiencia, claridad y coherencia/cohesión de contenido y sintaxis de las preguntas y opciones de respuestas en términos de si/no, y proporcionar los respectivos ajustes de la escala teniendo en cuenta las observaciones de estos. Para el análisis de la información, se usaron 2 medidas de acuerdo, el Ïndice Global de Acuerdo y el Ïndice de Acuerdo Kappa de Randolph (2005). Se obtuvieron altos índices de concordancia para las preguntas y opciones de respuestas de la escala, tanto en la versión de niños como la de padres. Se puede concluir que el proceso de validez de contenido efectuado fue eficiente para determinar su uso en Colombia.

Auditory symptoms and psychological characteristics in adults with auditory processing disorders

Most adults with auditory processing disorder (APD) often have trouble at work. It is possible that these listening problems in adults with APD influence their mental health. Thus, we have to take the subject's personality and mental status into consideration when supporting subjects with APD. However, studies on APD in adults are comparatively rare. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationships between the results of auditory tests, APD symptoms, and psychological status in subjects with APD. This study included 22 adults who complained of listening problems in everyday life, and they underwent auditory processing tests and were questioned regarding their psychological characteristics.From the results of the auditory processing tests, all subjects showed low scores on at least one test; therefore, they were suspected of having APD. Especially, the scores were low on the auditory memory test. Furthermore, subjects with APD show relatively similar psychological characteristics to each other. However, there was no significant relationship between the results of the auditory processing tests and psychological characteristics.We have to take notice of a subject's psychological state when they perceive their listening difficulties as a large-scale problem and feel anxious as a result. For this purpose, we should take psychological characteristics into consideration at the time of the medical examination interview before audio-psychological testing.

Translation and Adaptation of the Children’s Home Inventory for Listening Difficulties (CHILD) into Korean

Translation and Adaptation of the Children’s Home Inventory for Listening Difficulties (CHILD) into Korean

Setting appropriate pass or fail cut-off criteria for tests to reflect real life listening difficulties in children with suspected auditory processing disorder

ObjectiveThis paper explores the pass or fail cut-off criteria, the number of test fails, and the nature of tests that are most appropriate in predicting listening difficulties (LiD) in children with suspected APD (SusAPD). MethodsOne hundred and nine English-speaking children (67 males, 42 females) aged between 6 and 11 years with SusAPD were assessed. The Children's Auditory Performance Scale (CHAPS) scores 2 SD below the mean were taken as markers of LiD in different listening conditions. Binary logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the cut-off criterion (2 SD or 1.5 SD or 1 SD below the mean) of failing at least two tests, from the SCAN-C and IMAP test batteries, which significantly predicted LiD. Analyses were also carried out to assess if the group of auditory processing (AP) or cognitive or combination of AP plus cognitive tests were significant in predicting LiD. Receiver Operative Characteristic (ROC) curves were also explored to evaluate how the sensitivity and specificity in confirming LiD varied with the number of test fails. ResultsFiltered Words, Competing Words, Competing Sentences, VCV in ICRA noise, Digit Span, Sight Word Reading and the Cued Auditory Attention tests correlated with one or more of the CHAPS domains. Failing at least two of these tests 1.5 SD below the mean significantly predicted (p<.05) CHAPS Ideal scores 2 SD below the mean, and failing at least two of the tests 1 SD below the mean significantly predicted (p<.05) CHAPS Memory and CHAPS Attention scores 2 SD below the mean. The combination of AP plus cognitive tests had significantly higher ability to predict CHAPS Ideal, Memory and Attention scores, compared to the group of AP or cognitive tests separately. ROC curves showed that failing at least two of the tests was associated with the best sensitivity and specificity in predicting LiD. ConclusionOf the different CHAPS domains only the CHAPS Ideal, Memory and Attention correlated with the APD tests. Failing at least two APD tests from a combination of AP and cognitive tests 1 SD and 1.5 SD below the mean, but not 2 SD, is more appropriate in confirming LiD.

What Can We Learn about Auditory Processing from Adult Hearing Questionnaires?

Questionnaires addressing auditory disability may identify and quantify specific symptoms in adult patients with listening difficulties. (1) To assess validity of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ), the (Modified) Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability (mAIAD), and the Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HYP) in adult patients experiencing listening difficulties in the presence of a normal audiogram. (2) To examine which individual questionnaire items give the worse scores in clinical participants with an auditory processing disorder (APD). A prospective correlational analysis study. Clinical participants (N = 58) referred for assessment because of listening difficulties in the presence of normal audiometric thresholds to audiology/ear, nose, and throat or audiovestibular medicine clinics. Normal control participants (N = 30). The mAIAD, HYP, and the SSQ were administered to a clinical population of nonneurological adults who were referred for auditory processing (AP) assessment because of hearing complaints, in the presence of normal audiogram and cochlear function, and to a sample of age-matched normal-hearing controls, before the AP testing. Clinical participants with abnormal results in at least one ear and in at least two tests of AP (and at least one of these tests to be nonspeech) were classified as clinical APD (N = 39), and the remaining (16 of whom had a single test abnormality) as clinical non-APD (N = 19). The SSQ correlated strongly with the mAIAD and the HYP, and correlation was similar within the clinical group and the normal controls. All questionnaire total scores and subscores (except sound distinction of mAIAD) were significantly worse in the clinical APD versus the normal group, while questionnaire total scores and most subscores indicated greater listening difficulties for the clinical non-APD versus the normal subgroups. Overall, the clinical non-APD group tended to give better scores than the APD in all questionnaires administered. Correlation was strong for the worse-ear gaps-in-noise threshold with the SSQ, mAIAD, and HYP; strong to moderate for the speech in babble and left-ear dichotic digit test scores (at p < 0.01); and weak to moderate for the remaining AP tests except the frequency pattern test that did not correlate. The worse-scored items in all three questionnaires concerned speech-in-noise questions. This is similar to worse-scored items by hearing-impaired participants as reported in the literature. Worse-scored items of the clinical group also included quality aspects of listening questions from the SSQ, which most likely pertain to cognitive aspects of listening, such as ability to ignore other sounds and listening effort. Hearing questionnaires may help assess symptoms of adults with APD. The listening difficulties and needs of adults with APD to some extent overlap with those of hearing-impaired listeners, but there are significant differences. The correlation of the gaps-in-noise and duration pattern (but not frequency pattern) tests with the questionnaire scores indicates that temporal processing deficits may play an important role in clinical presentation.

FM-listening systems improve speech perception in some children with autism

In a study of 10 selected children with autism and poor speech perception ability, a 6-week trial of an FM-listening device system was performed. The use of the listening system improved discrimination of speech in noise, and 8 of 10 participants continued to be consistent FM-users at study completion. Appraisal score by teachers indicated perceived improvement in listening/comprehension, classroom behavior, and general attentiveness. With limitations of the study's numbers and methods, as acknowledged by authors, and selection of a specific subpopulation of affected children for device trial, the findings are quite positive. The two main approaches to reducing functional hearing deficit in children with difficulty of listening-in-noise are to improve the quality of signal reaching the childs ear and to train the child to make best use of the signal. This study addresses the first point, which has to be a good place to start. Article page 352▶ The Use of Listening Devices to Ameliorate Auditory Deficit in Children with AutismThe Journal of PediatricsVol. 164Issue 2PreviewTo evaluate both monaural and binaural processing skills in a group of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to determine the degree to which personal frequency modulation (radio transmission) (FM) listening systems could ameliorate their listening difficulties. Full-Text PDF

The Use of Listening Devices to Ameliorate Auditory Deficit in Children with Autism

To evaluate both monaural and binaural processing skills in a group of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to determine the degree to which personal frequency modulation (radio transmission) (FM) listening systems could ameliorate their listening difficulties. Auditory temporal processing (amplitude modulation detection), spatial listening (integration of binaural difference cues), and functional hearing (speech perception in background noise) were evaluated in 20 children with ASD. Ten of these subsequently underwent a 6-week device trial in which they wore the FM system for up to 7 hours per day. Auditory temporal processing and spatial listening ability were poorer in subjects with ASD than in matched controls (temporal: P = .014 [95% CI -6.4 to -0.8 dB], spatial: P = .003 [1.0 to 4.4 dB]), and performance on both of these basic processing measures was correlated with speech perception ability (temporal: r = -0.44, P = .022; spatial: r = -0.50, P = .015). The provision of FM listening systems resulted in improved discrimination of speech in noise (P < .001 [11.6% to 21.7%]). Furthermore, both participant and teacher questionnaire data revealed device-related benefits across a range of evaluation categories including Effect of Background Noise (P = .036 [-60.7% to -2.8%]) and Ease of Communication (P = .019 [-40.1% to -5.0%]). Eight of the 10 participants who undertook the 6-week device trial remained consistent FM users at study completion. Sustained use of FM listening devices can enhance speech perception in noise, aid social interaction, and improve educational outcomes in children with ASD.

Auditory and Cognitive Effects of Aging on Perception of Environmental Sounds in Natural Auditory Scenes

Previously, Gygi and Shafiro (2011) found that when environmental sounds are semantically incongruent with the background scene (e.g., horse galloping in a restaurant), they can be identified more accurately by young normal-hearing listeners (YNH) than sounds congruent with the scene (e.g., horse galloping at a racetrack). This study investigated how age and high-frequency audibility affect this Incongruency Advantage (IA) effect. In Experiments 1a and 1b, elderly listeners ( N = 18 for 1a; N = 10 for 1b) with age-appropriate hearing (EAH) were tested on target sounds and auditory scenes in 5 sound-to-scene ratios (So/Sc) between -3 and -18 dB. Experiment 2 tested 11 YNH on the same sound-scene pairings lowpass-filtered at 4 kHz (YNH-4k). The EAH and YNH-4k groups exhibited an almost identical pattern of significant IA effects, but both were at approximately 3.9 dB higher So/Sc than the previously tested YNH listeners. However, the psychometric functions revealed a shallower slope for EAH listeners compared with YNH listeners for the congruent stimuli only, suggesting a greater difficulty for the EAH listeners in attending to sounds expected to occur in a scene. These findings indicate that semantic relationships between environmental sounds in soundscapes are mediated by both audibility and cognitive factors and suggest a method for dissociating these factors.