Effects of age and hearing loss on concurrent vowel identification

Differences in formant frequencies and fundamental frequencies (F0) are important cues for segregating and identifying two simultaneous vowels. This study assessed age- and hearing-loss-related changes in the use of these cues for recognition of one or both vowels in a pair and determined differences related to vowel identity and specific vowel pairings. Younger adults with normal hearing, older adults with normal hearing, and older adults with hearing loss listened to different-vowel and identical-vowel pairs that varied in F0 differences. Identification of both vowels as a function of F0 difference revealed that increased age affects the use of F0 and formant difference cues for different-vowel pairs. Hearing loss further reduced the use of these cues, which was not attributable to lower vowel sensation levels. High scores for one vowel in the pair and no effect of F0 differences suggested that F0 cues are important only for identifying both vowels. In contrast to mean scores, widely varying differences in effects of F0 cues, age, and hearing loss were observed for particular vowels and vowel pairings. These variations in identification of vowel pairs were not explained by acoustical models based on the location and level of formants within the two vowels.