ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the model on listeners with abrupt and gradually sloping high-frequency losses. According to the model of loudness summation for listeners with noise-induced hearing loss, the loudness of a stimulus can be estimated from excitation patterns based on masking patterns when these listeners’ reduced frequency selectivity and recruitment are taken into account. The total loudness of the stimulus is produced by summing the components of loudness along the critical-band-rate scale. The model predicts that listeners with abrupt high-frequency hearing losses should have reduced spread of excitation near the edge of a hearing loss. To test the model, predictions were made for published data on loudness estimation and production in listeners with high-frequency losses. Within the framework of the model, one might also expect that the growth of loudness in the region of normal hearing should be slower for listeners with abrupt high-frequency hearing losses than for listeners with normal hearing or gradually sloping high-frequency hearing losses.
