Effects of hearing protectors on auditory localization in azimuth and elevation.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of two types of hearing protectors on auditory localization performance. Six listeners localized a 750-ms broadband noise from loudspeakers ranging in azimuth from -180 degrees to +180 degrees and in elevation from -75 degrees to +90 degrees. Independent variables included the type of hearing protector and the elevation of the source. Dependent measures included azimuth error, elevation error, and the percentage of trials resulting in a front-back confusion. Performance on each of the dependent measures was found to be mediated by one or more of the independent variables. Actual or potential applications include the generation of improved design guidelines for hearing protectors and workplace alarms.