Hearing loss impairs frequency selectivity beyond what stimulus level differences explain.
Evidence
A number of studies have evaluated the effects of masking in listeners with hearing loss, with a general consensus being that listeners with hearing loss experience poorer frequency selectivity and a greater susceptibility to masking than their normal-hearing counterparts (e.g., Florentine, Buus, Scharf, & Zwicker, 1980; Leek & Summers, 1993). The high stimulus levels used may be part of the reason for poor frequency selectivity in listeners with hearing loss, due to the worsening of frequency selectivity with increasing level. However, even when stimuli are equated between the two groups of listeners and threshold elevation is taken into account, listeners with hearing loss appear to experience an additional reduction in frequency selectivity due to their auditory pathology (Dubno & Schaefer, 1995). — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 558
Categorization
- XREF: Ties to the earlier claim (locations 130s) that frequency selectivity worsens with increasing stimulus level in normal hearing; here that real effect is isolated from the pathology’s own contribution. — connects to: Hearing loss widens critical bands and alters music perception itself — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1897; Hearing loss makes listener opinions unreliable no matter how experienced; Inner-ear damage permanently corrupts higher-level auditory perception, not just thresholds — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1879 (+18 more)
- corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 558
Broader Connections
- Reduced frequency selectivity hurts speech perception less than reduced audibility does
#contradicts(0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 575 - Sensorineural hearing loss damages pitch, harming speech-in-noise communication
#expands(0.78) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1324