The long term objectives of our research are to solve the puzzle of why hearing-impaired listeners achieve, variously, good or poor word recognition scores when signals are presented at suprathreshold levels and to define signal modifications, other than amplification, which will benefit the hearing-impaired listener. The short-term objectives of the proposed research are: (1) to assess the contributions of spectral tilt at signal onset, burst/voice onset time (VOT) duration, and burst/formant frequency information to the identification of /bdgptk/ when combined with /iau/ and created to simulate male and female voices presented both in quiet and against background noise; and (2) to assess how the listeners' age, hearing impairment, temporal resolution capacity, and prior hearing experience (i.e., age of onset of impairment) affect usage of the several cues to place of articulation. Our methodology involves creating stimuli by factorily combining the frequency, tilt, and temporal cues for labial, alveolar, and velar place of articulation. For some signals all of the cues will be appropriate for a given place, while for others, one or more of the cues will be inappropriate for that place. Our pilot data demonstrate that the identification of these signals differentiates normal and hearing-impaired listeners. For example, the information provided by the tilt of the onset spectrum and by burst/VOT duration affects the performance of hearing-impaired listeners more than normal hearing listeners. This outcome, in turn, suggests that strategies for signal modification, other than simple amplification, may be of benefit to hearing-impaired individuals.
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