Listening Levels Research Articles

Gender categorization is abnormal in cochlear implant users.

In normal hearing (NH), the perception of the gender of a speaker is strongly affected by two anatomically related vocal characteristics: the fundamental frequency (F0), related to vocal pitch, and the vocal tract length (VTL), related to the height of the speaker. Previous studies on gender categorization in cochlear implant (CI) users found that performance was variable, with few CI users performing at the level of NH listeners. Data collected with recorded speech produced by multiple talkers suggests that CI users might rely more on F0 and less on VTL than NH listeners. However, because VTL cannot be accurately estimated from recordings, it is difficult to know how VTL contributes to gender categorization. In the present study, speech was synthesized to systematically vary F0, VTL, or both. Gender categorization was measured in CI users, as well as in NH participants listening to unprocessed (only synthesized) and vocoded (and synthesized) speech. Perceptual weights for F0 and VTL were derived from the performance data. With unprocessed speech, NH listeners used both cues (normalized perceptual weight: F0 = 3.76, VTL = 5.56). With vocoded speech, NH listeners still made use of both cues but less efficiently (normalized perceptual weight: F0 = 1.68, VTL = 0.63). CI users relied almost exclusively on F0 while VTL perception was profoundly impaired (normalized perceptual weight: F0 = 6.88, VTL = 0.59). As a result, CI users' gender categorization was abnormal compared to NH listeners. Future CI signal processing should aim to improve the transmission of both F0 cues and VTL cues, as a normal gender categorization may benefit speech understanding in competing talker situations.

The Effects of Familiarization with Oral Expository Text on Listening and Reading Comprehension Levels

This study examined the effects of text type and early familiarization with oral expository text structures on listening and reading comprehension levels. Second-grade students read and listened to narrative and expository texts, and their comprehension was assessed with a sentence verification task. Half of the students had participated in a nine-week long intervention designed to familiarize them with oral expository structures in the previous year while in first grade. The findings indicated that familiarization did not lead to the expected advantage of listening over reading for either expository or narrative text. Implications concerning the conceptualization of comprehension as a unitary process construct are discussed.

Relationship between leisure noise exposure and otoacoustic emissions in a young Asian population

Objective: This study compared the otoacoustic emissions amplitudes of Asian youths at risk of leisure noise exposure through the use of portable music players with their less exposed counterparts. Design: A listening habit survey was conducted. Subjects were divided into two groups for analysis. A subject was placed within the high risk group if he/she reported listening to music at near maximum volume and had a physical measurement of his/her preferred listening level recorded at > 85 dBA. DPOAE and TEOAE levels were measured and compared between the two groups. Study sample: A total of 1928 students from a tertiary educational institution in Singapore. Results: TEOAE levels were found to be significantly lower in the high risk group at 4 kHz. DPOAE levels were also found to be significantly depressed in the high risk group at 1, 2, 3, and 4 kHz with the largest mean difference at 4 kHz. A four-way ANOVA carried out for OAE amplitudes using gender, ear laterality, risk profile, and years of usage as independent factors also showed that risk profile was a significant factor in determining the OAE amplitude at 4 kHz. Conclusion: We have demonstrated that both DPAOE and TEOAE values are diminished in the Asian subjects at high risk for noise exposure.

Difference in optimum listening level for reproduced music between men and women

Difference in optimum listening level for reproduced music between men and women

Robust cortical entrainment to the speech envelope relies on the spectro-temporal fine structure

Speech recognition is robust to background noise. One underlying neural mechanism is that the auditory system segregates speech from the listening background and encodes it reliably. Such robust internal representation has been demonstrated in auditory cortex by neural activity entrained to the temporal envelope of speech. A paradox, however, then arises, as the spectro-temporal fine structure rather than the temporal envelope is known to be the major cue to segregate target speech from background noise. Does the reliable cortical entrainment in fact reflect a robust internal “synthesis” of the attended speech stream rather than direct tracking of the acoustic envelope? Here, we test this hypothesis by degrading the spectro-temporal fine structure while preserving the temporal envelope using vocoders. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings reveal that cortical entrainment to vocoded speech is severely degraded by background noise, in contrast to the robust entrainment to natural speech. Furthermore, cortical entrainment in the delta-band (1–4Hz) predicts the speech recognition score at the level of individual listeners. These results demonstrate that reliable cortical entrainment to speech relies on the spectro-temporal fine structure, and suggest that cortical entrainment to the speech envelope is not merely a representation of the speech envelope but a coherent representation of multiscale spectro-temporal features that are synchronized to the syllabic and phrasal rhythms of speech.

Research on Podcast Technology Based on Multimedia Technology and Mathematics Statistics

According to the rich practical experience of the effective English teaching field, scientific research experience and the actual investigation, the author comprehensively analyzed the present situation of current college English listening teaching, conducted the English teaching mode that based on podcasting technology, used bilateral W-test of effective results, and the count materials were dealt with test, eventually the author obtained that the achievement of college English listening teaching based on podcasting technology was significant, it could effectively improve the level of English listening, and at the same time it provided the new teaching mode and scientific path for the college English listening teaching.

Ultra-fast speech comprehension in blind subjects engages primary visual cortex, fusiform gyrus, and pulvinar – a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study

BackgroundIndividuals suffering from vision loss of a peripheral origin may learn to understand spoken language at a rate of up to about 22 syllables (syl) per second - exceeding by far the maximum performance level of normal-sighted listeners (ca. 8 syl/s). To further elucidate the brain mechanisms underlying this extraordinary skill, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in blind subjects of varying ultra-fast speech comprehension capabilities and sighted individuals while listening to sentence utterances of a moderately fast (8 syl/s) or ultra-fast (16 syl/s) syllabic rate.ResultsBesides left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and left supplementary motor area (SMA), blind people highly proficient in ultra-fast speech perception showed significant hemodynamic activation of right-hemispheric primary visual cortex (V1), contralateral fusiform gyrus (FG), and bilateral pulvinar (Pv).ConclusionsPresumably, FG supports the left-hemispheric perisylvian “language network”, i.e., IFG and superior temporal lobe, during the (segmental) sequencing of verbal utterances whereas the collaboration of bilateral pulvinar, right auditory cortex, and ipsilateral V1 implements a signal-driven timing mechanism related to syllabic (suprasegmental) modulation of the speech signal. These data structures, conveyed via left SMA to the perisylvian “language zones”, might facilitate – under time-critical conditions – the consolidation of linguistic information at the level of verbal working memory.

Hearing risk associated with the usage of personal listening devices among urban high school students in Malaysia

ObjectivesTo investigate listening habits and hearing risks associated with the use of personal listening devices among urban high school students in Malaysia. Study designCross-sectional, descriptive study. MethodsIn total, 177 personal listening device users (13–16 years old) were interviewed to elicit their listening habits (e.g. listening duration, volume setting) and symptoms of hearing loss. Their listening levels were also determined by asking them to set their usual listening volume on an Apple iPod TM playing a pre-selected song. The iPod's sound output was measured with an artificial ear connected to a sound level meter. Subjects also underwent pure tone audiometry to ascertain their hearing thresholds at standard frequencies (0.5–8 kHz) and extended high frequencies (9–16 kHz). ResultsThe mean measured listening level and listening duration for all subjects were 72.2 dBA and 1.2 h/day, respectively. Their self-reported listening levels were highly correlated with the measured levels (P < 0.001). Subjects who listened at higher volumes also tend to listen for longer durations (P = 0.012). Male subjects listened at a significantly higher volume than female subjects (P = 0.008). When sound exposure levels were compared with the recommended occupational noise exposure limit, 4.5% of subjects were found to be listening at levels which require mandatory hearing protection in the occupational setting. Hearing loss (≥25 dB hearing level at one or more standard test frequencies) was detected in 7.3% of subjects. Subjects' sound exposure levels from the devices were positively correlated with their hearing thresholds at two of the extended high frequencies (11.2 and 14 kHz), which could indicate an early stage of noise-induced hearing loss. ConclusionsAlthough the average high school student listened at safe levels, a small percentage of listeners were exposed to harmful sound levels. Preventive measures are needed to avoid permanent hearing damage in high-risk listeners.

Monitoring the capacity of working memory: Executive control and effects of listening effort

In two experiments, we used an interruption-and-recall (IAR) task to explore listeners' ability to monitor the capacity of working memory as new information arrived in real time. In this task, listeners heard recorded word lists with instructions to interrupt the input at the maximum point that would still allow for perfect recall. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the most commonly selected segment size closely matched participants' memory span, as measured in a baseline span test. Experiment 2 showed that reducing the sound level of presented word lists to a suprathreshold but effortful listening level disrupted the accuracy of matching selected segment sizes with participants' memory spans. The results are discussed in terms of whether online capacity monitoring may be subsumed under other, already enumerated working memory executive functions (inhibition, set shifting, and memory updating).

Self-report and long-term field measures of MP3 player use: How accurate is self-report?

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the usage patterns of portable listening device (PLD) listeners, and the relationships between self-report measures and long-term dosimetry measures of listening habits. Design: This study used a descriptive correlational design. Study sample: Participants (N = 52) were 18–29 year old men and women who completed surveys. A randomly assigned subset (N = 24) of participants had their listening monitored by dosimetry for one week. Results: Median weekly noise doses reported and measured through dosimetry were low (9–93%), but 14.3% of participants reported exceeding a 100% noise dose weekly. When measured by dosimetry, 16.7% of participants exceeded a 100% noise dose weekly. The self-report question that best predicted the dosimetry-measured dose asked participants to report listening duration and usual listening level on a visual-analog scale. Conclusions: This study reports a novel dosimetry system that can provide accurate measures of PLD use over time. When not feasible, though, the self-report question described could provide a useful research or clinical tool to estimate exposure from PLD use. Among the participants in this study, a small but substantial percentage of PLD users incurred exposure from PLD use alone that increases their risk of music-induced hearing loss.

Effect of age on inter and intra-subject variability in acceptable noise level (ANL) in listeners with normal hearing

Article history: Received September 28, 2012 Received in revised format 19 November 2012 Accepted 20 November 2012 Available online November 27 2012 Several industrial engineering and psychological studies have shown that noise affects the important aspects of communication for both adults and children. For speech understanding by hearing aids users and language development in children, an accurate hearing is very important. A metric has been developed for measuring an individual's acceptance of noise while listening to speech in quiet. This metric is known as Acceptable Noise Levels (ANLs). Studies have shown large inter-subject variability in acceptance of background noise. An argument has been made that an acceptance of background noise is a “means” that will help to solve the puzzle and monumental problem of hearing aid rejection. Meanwhile, within subject age dependency has not been investigated. This study is conducted to determine if ANL inter and intra-subject variability under music signal depends on age. Twenty subjects participated in the study (average age = 29; SD = 3.7; range 23-35 years). All participants had hearing level not worse than 25dB HL at octave frequencies from 250Hz to 4000Hz. Listeners’ task was to adjust the level of music played in quiet to their most comfortable listening level and then to adjust the level of background noise to the maximum level that they still consider acceptable while listening to music. Further, music is not a speech signal that many researchers have used to determine the significance of age on ANL inter-subject variability. Results of this study supported the findings of others on age dependency, which shows that ANL inter and intrasubject variability is independent of age.

Training of ultra-fast speech comprehension induces functional reorganization of the central-visual system in late-blind humans

Individuals suffering from vision loss of a peripheral origin may learn to understand spoken language at a rate of up to about 22 syllables (syl) per seconds (s)—exceeding by far the maximum performance level of untrained listeners (ca. 8 syl/s). Previous findings indicate the central-visual system to contribute to the processing of accelerated speech in blind subjects. As an extension, the present training study addresses the issue whether acquisition of ultra-fast (18 syl/s) speech perception skills induces de novo central-visual hemodynamic activation in late-blind participants. Furthermore, we asked to what extent subjects with normal or residual vision can improve understanding of accelerated verbal utterances by means of specific training measures. To these ends, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed while subjects were listening to forward and reversed sentence utterances of moderately fast and ultra-fast syllable rates (8 or 18 syl/s) prior to and after a training period of ca. 6 months. Four of six participants showed—independently from residual visual functions—considerable enhancement of ultra-fast speech perception (about 70% points correctly repeated words) whereas behavioral performance did not change in the two remaining participants. Only subjects with very low visual acuity displayed training-induced hemodynamic activation of the central-visual system. By contrast, participants with moderately impaired or even normal visual acuity showed, instead, increased right-hemispheric frontal or bilateral anterior temporal lobe responses after training. All subjects with significant training effects displayed a concomitant increase of hemodynamic activation of left-hemispheric SMA. In spite of similar behavioral performance, trained “experts” appear to use distinct strategies of ultra-fast speech processing depending on whether the occipital cortex is still deployed for visual processing.

A Survey on the Factors Influencing Lower-Level l2 Listeners�� Strategies Use and Proficiency Level

This paper aims to identify the factors that cause EFL learners’ lower listening proficiency level and how these factors influence students’ performance in their listening process. Questionnaire and interview questions were designed to investigate 33 non-English majors and other EFL learners’ strategy use and proficiency levels from four aspects: the learners, the language, the language environment and the teacher. Interviews were conducted and long-term observations carried out for further information. Results show that learners themselves are the main factor that influences their listening proficiency level, personality, language and the teachers’ way of teaching also can have a negative influence on their proficiency level of listening. Thus teaching of English listening not only needs to take the training of the learners’ listening strategies into serious consideration, but also requires teachers’ modification of their teaching to suit the special requirements of students in various levels. The results may have pedagogical implications to facilitate both the college English teachers’ teaching of listening and to improve the EFL learners’ proficiency levels in listening.

Output capabilities of personal music players and assessment of preferred listening levels of test subjects: Outlining recommendations for preventing music‐induced hearing loss

Our goal was to assess the impact of personal music players, earphones, and music styles on output, the subject's preferred listening levels, and outline recommendations for the prevention of music-induced hearing loss. Experimental study. Personal music players' output capabilities and volunteers' preferred output levels were assessed in different settings. Based on current noise-induced hearing loss exposure limits, recommendations were outlined. On three different devices and earphone types and 10 music styles, free field equivalent sound pressure output levels were assessed by applying a microphone probe inside the auditory canal. Forty-five hearing-healthy volunteers were asked to select preferred listening levels in different background noise scenarios. Sound pressure output reached 126 dB. No difference was found between device types, whereas earbud and supra-aural earphones showed significantly lower outputs than in-ear earphones (P < .001). Three distinct music style groups were identified with as much as 14.4 dB difference between them. In silence, 17.8% of volunteers spontaneously selected a listening level above 85 dB. With 90 dB background noise, 40% selected a level above 94 dB. Earphone attenuation capability was found to correlate significantly with preferred level reductions (r = 0.585, P < .001). In-ear and especially supra-aural earphones reduced preferred listening levels the most. Safe-use recommendations were outlined, whereas selecting the lowest volume setting comfortable remained the main suggestion. High background noise attenuating earphones may help in reducing comfortable listening levels and should be preferred. A risk table was elaborated, presenting time limits before reaching a risky exposure.

Pathways

Pathways

Characteristics of noise-canceling headphones to reduce the hearing hazard for MP3 users

Three pairs of headphones [standard iPod ear buds and two noise-canceling headphones (NCHs)] were chosen to investigate frequency characteristics of noise reduction, together with their attenuation effects on preferred listening levels (PLLs) in the presence of various types of background noise. Twenty-six subjects with normal hearing chose their PLLs in quiet, street noise, and subway noise using the three headphones and with the noise-canceling system on/off. Both sets of NCHs reduced noise levels at mid- and high-frequencies. Further noise reductions occurred in low frequencies with the noise canceling system switched on. In street noise, both NCHs had similar noise reduction effects. In subway noise, better noise reduction effects were found in the expensive NCH and with noise-canceling on. A two way repeated measures analysis of variance showed that both listening conditions and headphone styles were significant influencing factors on the PLLs. Subjects tended to increase their PLLs as the background noise level increased. Compared with ear buds, PLLs obtained from NCHs-on in the presence of background noise were reduced up to 4 dB. Therefore, proper selection and use of NCHs appears beneficial in reducing the risk of hearing damage caused by high music listening levels in the presence of background noise.

Comparison of User Volume Control Settings for Portable Music Players with Three Earphone Configurations in Quiet and Noisy Environments

Listening to music is one of the most common forms of recreational noise exposure. Previous investigators have demonstrated that maximum output levels from headphones can exceed safe levels. Although preferred listening levels (PLL) in quiet environments may be at acceptable levels, the addition of background noise will add to the overall noise exposure of a listener. Use of listening devices that block out some of the background noise would potentially allow listeners to select lower PLLs for their music. Although one solution is in-the-ear earphones, an alternative solution is the use of earmuffs in conjunction with earbuds. There were two objectives to this experiment. The first was to determine if an alternative to in-the-ear earphones for noise attenuation (the addition of earmuffs to earbuds) would allow for lower PLLs through a portable media player (PMP) than earbuds. The second was to determine if a surrounding background noise would yield different PLLs than a directional noise source. This was an experimental study. Twenty-four adults with normal hearing. PLLs were measured for three earphone configurations in three listening conditions. The earphone configurations included earbuds, canal earphones, and earbuds in combination with hearing protection devices (HPDs). The listening conditions included quiet, noise from one loudspeaker, and noise from four surrounding loudspeakers. Participants listened in each noise and earphone combination for as long as they needed to determine their PLL for that condition. Once the participant determined their PLL, investigators made a 5 sec recording of the music through a probe tube microphone. The average PLLs in each noise and earphone combination were used as the dependent variable. Ear canal level PLLs were converted to free-field equivalents to compare to noise exposure standards and previously published data. The average PLL as measured in the ear canal was 74 dBA in the quiet conditions and 84 dBA in the noise conditions. Paired comparisons of the PLL in the presence of background noise for each pair of earphone configurations indicated significant differences for each comparison. An inverse relationship was observed between attenuation and PLL whereby the greater the attenuation, the lower the PLL. A comparison of the single noise source condition versus the surrounding noise condition did not result in a significant effect. The present work suggests that earphones that take advantage of noise attenuation can reduce the level at which listeners set music in the presence of background noise. An alternative to in-the-ear earphones for noise attenuation is the addition of earmuffs to earbuds.

Listening Levels of Teenage iPod Users: Does Measurement Approach Matter?

The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of background noise levels and measurement approach on user-selected listening levels (USLLs) chosen by teenaged MP3 player users. It was hypothesized that the presence of background noise would (i) increase the USLL across all measurement approaches, (ii) result in no significant USLL differences between survey reports, objective lab measures or calibrated self-report field measures, and (iii) cause no interaction effect between level of background noise and measurement approach. There were two independent variables in this study: the level of background noise and measurement approach. The first independent variable, level of background noise, had two levels: quiet and transportation noise. The second independent variable, measurement approach, had three levels: survey, objective in-ear lab measurement and calibrated self-report field measurement. The dependent variable was ear canal A-weighted sound pressure level (dBA SPL). A 2 × 3 repeated-measures ANOVA was used to determine the significance of the main and interaction effects. USLLs increased in the presence of background noise, regardless of the measurement approach used. However, the listening levels estimated by the participants using the survey and self-report field measure were significantly lower than those recorded using in-ear laboratory measurements by 9.6 and 3.3 dBA respectively. In-ear laboratory measures yielded the highest listening levels. Higher listening levels were observed in the presence of background noise for all measurement approaches. It appears that subjects' survey responses underestimate true listening levels in comparison to self-report calibrated field measures, and that both underestimate listening levels measured in the laboratory setting. More research in this area is warranted to determine whether measurement techniques can be refined and adjusted to accurately reflect real-world listening preferences.

Preferred listening levels of personal listening devices in young teenagers: Self reports and physical measurements

Objective: To assess the potential risk of hearing loss to young listeners, due to the use of personal listening devices (PLDs). Design: The study included two parts: (1) A self-report questionnaire on music listening habits, and (2) Physical measurements of preferred listening levels, in quiet and in everyday background noise. Study sample: Young teenagers aged 13 to 17 years. Part 1 included 289 participants with mean age of 14 years. Part 2 included 11 and 74 participants (2A and 2B) with a mean age of 15 years. Eleven listened to PLDs in quiet conditions (2A) and 74 in everyday background noise (2B). Results: Questionnaire main findings indicated that most of the participants reported high or very high volume settings and demonstrated low awareness towards loud music listening consequences. Physical measurements corrected for diffuse field indicated mean preferred listening levels of: 82 (SD = 9) dBA in quiet, and 89 (SD = 9) dBA in the presence of background noise. The potential risk to hearing of PLDs users was calculated using the 8 hour equivalent level. Conclusion: More than 25% of the participants in the noisy condition were found to be at risk according to occupational damage risk criteria NIOSH, 1998.

Teenage Use of Portable Listening Devices: A Hazard to Hearing?

Recently, a number of popular media articles have raised some concern that portable listening devices (PLDs) may be increasing the risk for music-induced hearing loss (MIHL). However, literature regarding adolescents' listening behavior and how their attitudes and beliefs relate to behavior is currently limited. The purposes of this study were (1) to investigate the relationship between volume control settings and output levels of PLDs, (2) to examine how adolescents' listening behavior changes as a function of background noise and noise isolation, (3) to investigate the relationship between self-reported listening levels and laboratory-measured listening levels, and (4) to evaluate the validity of the Listening Habits Questionnaire as a research tool for evaluating how attitudes and beliefs relate to PLD use behavior. A descriptive study. Experiment 1 evaluated the output levels of a set of PLDs, and Experiment 2 characterized the listening behavior and attitudes toward PLD use of a group of adolescents. Twenty-nine adolescents aged 13-17 yr, with normal hearing, participated in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 evaluated the output levels of a set of PLDs with stock and accessory earphones using an acoustic manikin. Experiment 2 included survey measures of listening behavior and attitudes as well as output levels measured using a probe microphone. The output levels of PLDs are capable of reaching levels that could increase the risk for MIHL, and 14% of teenagers in this study reported behavior that puts them at increased risk for hearing loss. However, measured listening levels in the laboratory settings did not correlate well with self-reported typical listening levels. Further, the Listening Habits Questionnaire described in this study may provide a useful research tool for examining the relationship between attitudes and beliefs and listening behavior.