Arthur Boothroyd
Orna Eran
Grad. School, City Univ. of New York, 33 W. 42 St., New York, NY 10036
The perception of speech pattern contrasts, via hearing aids, was measured in approximately 100 hearing-impaired children with a wide range of hearing losses. A regression function for performance on hearing loss were generated. Using identical tests, data were collected from approximately 60 profoundly deaf children who had been fitted with cochlear implants. Using the regression function obtained from the hearing aid users, the implantees' speech perception scores were converted to ``equivalent hearing loss.'' The cumulative distribution of equivalent hearing loss was used to estimate the probability that a child with a given hearing loss would be expected to perform better with a hearing aid than with an implant. The data suggest that the hearing loss should be in excess of 105 dB before the odds in favor of superior performance with an implant are acceptably high. A factor analysis of the implantees data suggests four relatively independent factors that were labeled: perception, age, experience, and age-at-onset. [Work supported by NIH Grant No. 2PO1DC00178.]