Spatially separating language masker from target results in spatial and linguistic masking release

Several studies demonstrate that in complex auditory scenes, speech recognition is improved when the competing background and target speech differ linguistically. However, such studies typically utilize spatially co-located speech sources which may not fully capture typical listening conditions. Furthermore, co-located presentation may overestimate the observed benefit of linguistic dissimilarity. The current study examines the effect of spatial separation on linguistic release from masking. Results demonstrate that linguistic release from masking does extend to spatially separated sources. The overall magnitude of the observed effect, however, appears to be diminished relative to the co-located presentation conditions.