Abstract
A target within a spectrally notched masker can be enhanced by a preceding copy of the masker. Enhancement can also increase the effectiveness of the target as a forward masker. Enhancement has been reported in hearing-impaired listeners under simultaneous but not forward masking. However, previous studies of enhancement under forward masking did not fully assess the potential effect of differences in sensation level or spectral resolution between the normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. This study measured enhancement via forward masking in hearing-impaired and age-matched normal-hearing listeners with different spectral notches in the masker, to account for potential differences in frequency selectivity, and with levels equated by adding a background masking noise to equate both sensation level and sound pressure level or by reducing the sound pressure level of the stimuli to equate sensation level.
Description
Two files are included: ReadMe.txt (general layout of the data in the Excel Workbook) and DRUM_HIENH.xls (Excel document with 40 sheets that contain individual data for each participant and condition). The archival copy of the DRUM_HIENH file is a zip folder containing .csv, .txt., and .html files of the relevant data, formulas, and formatting in the excel document.
Funding information
Sponsorship: NIH NIDCD Grant R01 DC 012262