The Effects of Hearing Protectors on Auditory Localization: Evidence From Audio-Visual Target Acquisitioi |
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Authors: | Robert S Bolia Richard L McKinley |
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Institution: | 1. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, USArbolia@hotmail.com;3. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, USA |
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Abstract: | Response times (RT) in an audio-visual target acquisition task were collected from 3 participants while wearing either circumaural earmuffs, foam earplugs, or no hearing protection. Analyses revealed that participants took significantly longer to locate and identify an audio-visual target in both hearing protector conditions than they did in the unoccluded condition, suggesting a disturbance of the cues used by listeners to localize sounds in space. RTs were significantly faster in both hearing protector conditions than in a non-audio control condition, indicating that auditory localization was not completely disrupted. Results are discussed in terms of safety issues involved with wearing hearing protectors in an occupational environment. |
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Keywords: | auditory localization hearing protection visual search |
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