Two-eared listening in dynamic situations.

Abstract

Reports of hearing disabilities, particularly those acoustically and perceptually dynamic circumstances, are associated with compromised binaural capacities. Those disabilities that are compromised largely correspond to the areas where benefits of bilateral fitting over unilateral fitting emerge. The singular exception is for disabilities in "Sound quality and naturalness". When binaural capacities are measured by traditional static masking level difference paradigms, relationships between compromised binaural capacity and self-reports of disability are largely absent. However, when masking level differences are assessed using dynamic parameters that are more representative of the conditions experienced in everyday living then significant associations between binaural capacities and self-reports of disability do emerge. We contend that, for both the self-report domain and the psychoacoustical domain, procedures should be more properly representative of the dynamic environments that listeners are routinely exposed to.