Spectral and threshold effects on recognition of speech at higher-than-normal levels

To examine spectral and threshold effects for speech and noise at high levels, recognition of nonsense syllables was assessed for low-pass-filtered speech and speech-shaped maskers and high-pass-filtered speech and speech-shaped maskers at three speech levels, with signal-to-noise ratio held constant. Subjects were younger adults with normal hearing and older adults with normal hearing but significantly higher average quiet thresholds. A broadband masker was always present to minimize audibility differences between subject groups and across presentation levels. For subjects with lower thresholds, the declines in recognition of low-frequency syllables in low-frequency maskers were attributed to nonlinear growth of masking which reduced "effective" signal-to-noise ratio at high levels, whereas the decline for subjects with higher thresholds was not fully explained by nonlinear masking growth. For all subjects, masking growth did not entirely account for declines in recognition of high-frequency syllables in high-frequency maskers at high levels. Relative to younger subjects with normal hearing and lower quiet thresholds, older subjects with normal hearing and higher quiet thresholds had poorer consonant recognition in noise, especially for high-frequency speech in high-frequency maskers. Age-related effects on thresholds and task proficiency may be determining factors in the recognition of speech in noise at high levels.