Download or read book Dichotic, Binaural, and Monaural NU-6 Word Recognition Performance for Young and Older Adults written by Traci A. Hammond and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Listening to a sound with two ears, or binaural listening, helps a listener to localize and understand the message better than with one ear alone. For some older adults with hearing loss, however, binaural listening proves to be disadvantageous, especially in situations with background noise (i.e., binaural interference). The present study examined binaural processing abilities for two subject groups: young adults with normal hearing (ages 18-30 years) and older adults with sensorineural hearing loss (ages 60-90 years). Two types of speech-recognition assessments were used: (1) word recognition in noise and (2) dichotic word recognition. For the word recognition in noise tasks, subjects responded under three conditions: (1) monaural left-ear, (2) monaural right-ear, and (3) binaural. For the dichotic listening tasks, subjects were given three response conditions: (1) free recall (repeat both stimuli in any order), (2) directed-recall right (repeat stimuli heard in right ear first), and (3) directed-recall left (repeat stimuli heard in left ear first). Results showed that both subject groups exhibited expected patterns of performance for both tasks. Specifically, both young and older adults performed better in the binaural condition than with either ear alone in the word recognition in noise task. For the dichotic listening task, older adult subjects showed a larger mean REA than young adults, and both groups showed increased ear advantages in each respective directed attention condition (i.e., directed right and directed left). Further, initial results suggest that recognition performance on both speech measures was poorer for the older adults with hearing loss than for the young adults with normal hearing. Past studies have shown that older adults with hearing loss and binaural interference may have more success using one hearing aid rather than two (Carter et al., 2001; Chmiel et al., 1997). The results of the present study therefore may prove to be significant in supporting future aural rehabilitation methods and research related to geriatric audiology.