Comparison of spatial release from masking threshold estimation methods

Recent efforts have focused on developing auditory assessments that are accessible to a wider range of researchers and clinicians without the need for specialized auditory equipment or expertise. Different threshold estimation methods have been developed in an effort to facilitate more efficient, automated measurements for this purpose. The current work tested whether a commonly used, simple approach to measuring performance on a spatial release from speech-on-speech masking task was equivalent to a procedure that estimates performance from individual psychometric functions. In addition,this work aimed to compare threshold estimates across a computer-based implementation of this task in MATLAB and a tablet-based implementation using the Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) app. Spatial release from speech-on-speech masking was assessed using the Coordinate Response Measure (CRM) speech corpus with a progressive tracking procedure that decreased the target-to-masker ratio (TMR) from + 10 to −8 dB in 2-dB steps with each TMR condition repeated twice. Analysis was completed on a dataset consisting of 93 participants who completed testing in MATLAB and a dataset of 44 participants who completed testing in PART. Participants varied in age and hearing sensitivity. Results have implications for the use of portable, automated methods for assessing spatial release from speech-on-speech masking.