Effects of harmonic content on complex-tone fundamental-frequency discrimination in hearing-impaired listeners. 1994

K H Arehart
Department of Communication Disorders and Speech Science, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309.

Complex-tone (fundamental) frequency discrimination was measured in eight well-trained listeners with moderately severe sensorineural hearing impairments as a function of parametric variations in the rank, number, and sensation level of stimulus components. Results indicate substantial differences in the effects of harmonic content on complex-tone frequency discrimination among hearing-impaired listeners and between hearing-impaired and normal-hearing listeners. Despite large variability among the hearing-impaired subjects, several patterns of results emerged: Performance of two subjects grew worse as harmonic rank increased; performance of three subjects did not change substantially with changes in harmonic rank; and performance of three impaired subjects improved as harmonic rank increased. Performance of all but two subjects was significantly degraded for stimuli containing low-order harmonics. For stimuli containing only high-order harmonics, five subjects showed performance that was comparable to that of normal-hearing subjects, and three showed abnormally poor performance. Performance of impaired subjects generally improved as the number of stimulus components increased. The sensation level of stimulus components influenced the performance of several impaired subjects, but not in a uniform manner. To the extent that complex-tone fundamental-frequency discrimination can be assumed to be a pitch perception task, the present results suggest that, in contrast to normal-hearing subjects, hearing-impaired listeners rely primarily on periodicity cues in the perception of complex-tone pitch.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009622 Noise Any sound which is unwanted or interferes with HEARING other sounds. Noise Pollution,Noises,Pollution, Noise
D010470 Perceptual Masking The interference of one perceptual stimulus with another causing a decrease or lessening in perceptual effectiveness. Masking, Perceptual,Maskings, Perceptual,Perceptual Maskings
D005260 Female Females
D006309 Hearing The ability or act of sensing and transducing ACOUSTIC STIMULATION to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is also called audition. Audition
D006311 Hearing Disorders Conditions that impair the transmission of auditory impulses and information from the level of the ear to the temporal cortices, including the sensorineural pathways. Distorted Hearing,Dysacusis,Paracousis,Paracusis,Hearing Disorder,Hearing, Distorted
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000161 Acoustic Stimulation Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system. Auditory Stimulation,Stimulation, Acoustic,Stimulation, Auditory
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths

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