Modification of strategies in feature extraction

A training procedure is described which seems appropriate to help severe to profound hearing-impaired subjects to make better use of their residual hearing. The training starts from the assumption that an auditory training is possible, which is based on the enhancement of certain acoustic cues that are still above threshold, but which are normally largely ignored by the listener. After the listener has become more sensitive to the enhanced cues, they are reduced in small steps until the original value of the stimulus is reached again. The results of a first try-out of the training procedure with hearing-impaired subjects are presented. The procedure with enhancement was found to be superior to a procedure not involving enhancement.