Role of spatial positioning strategy for speech recognition in a simulated environment: Effects of age and hearing loss

In realistic listening environments, the physical position of the listener and target talker, relative to competing talkers, affects the signal-to-noise ratio and availability of spatial cues for release from masking. While the importance of signal-to-noise ratio and spatial cues for speech recognition has been demonstrated in the laboratory, a listener’s ability to leverage these acoustic cues by manipulating their position in an environment has received less attention. This study evaluated how changes in listener position within a simulated environment effect speech recognition for four listener groups that differed in age (younger or older) and hearing status (normal or impaired hearing). The simulated environment consisted of 8–10 speech maskers, individually rendered under headphones for specific locations within the space, with target and listener positions that varied across conditions. The intensity of the target varied throughout testing to estimate the psychometric function for keyword recognition of each listener in each position. Subjective reports of preferred listening position were collected before and after testing to determine the extent to which these listener groups strategically position themselves to maximize their speech recognition in noise. Results will be discussed in terms of the potential gains in speech recognition associated with optimal positioning strategies.