Pilot Data for a New Headphone-Based Assessment of Absolute Localization in the Assessment of Auditory Processing...

Background/Objectives: Localization deficit is often said to be a symptom of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). However, no clinically viable assessment of localization ability has been developed to date. The current study presents pilot data for a new assessment of absolute auditory localization using headphones. Methods: Speech phrases encoded with non-individualized head-related transfer functions (HRTF) using real-time digital processing were presented to two cohorts of participants with normal hearing. Variations in the simulated environment (anechoic and reverberant) and signal to noise ratio (SNR) were made to assess each of these factors' influences on localization performance. Experiment 1 assessed 30 young adults aged 21-33 years old and Experiment 2 assessed 28 young adults aged 21-29 years old. All participants had hearing thresholds better than 20 dB HL. Results: Participants performed the localization task with a moderate degree of accuracy (Experiment 1: Mean RMS error = 25.9°; Experiment 2: Mean RMS error 27.2°). Front-back errors (FBEs) were evident, contributing to an average RMS error that was notably elevated when compared to similar free-field tasks. There was no statistically significant influence from the simulated environment or SNR on performance. Conclusions: An exploration of test viability in the pediatric and APD-positive populations is warranted alongside further correction for FBEs; however, the potential for future clinical implementation of this measure of absolute auditory localization is encouraging.