* Auditory Systems Lab, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) , Blacksburg , USA.
Int J Audiol. 2015 Feb;54 Suppl 1:S37-45. doi: 10.3109/14992027.2014.973538. Epub 2014 Dec 30.
To determine if training with electronically-modulated hearing protection (EMHP) and the open ear results in auditory learning on a horizontal localization task.
Baseline localization testing was conducted in three listening conditions (open-ear, in-the-ear (ITE) EMHP, and over-the-ear (OTE) EMHP). Participants then wore either an ITE or OTE EMHP for 12, almost daily, one-hour training sessions. After training was complete, participants again underwent localization testing in all three listening conditions. A computer with a custom software and hardware interface presented localization sounds and collected participant responses.
Twelve participants were recruited from the student population at Virginia Tech. Audiometric requirements were 35 dBHL at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz bilaterally, and 55 dBHL at 4000 Hz in at least one ear.
Pre-training localization performance with an ITE or OTE EMHP was worse than open-ear performance. After training with any given listening condition, including open-ear, performance in that listening condition improved, in part from a practice effect. However, post-training localization performance showed near equal performance between the open-ear and training EMHP. Auditory learning occurred for the training EMHP, but not for the non-training EMHP; that is, there was no significant training crossover effect between the ITE and the OTE devices.
It is evident from this study that auditory learning (improved horizontal localization performance) occurred with the EMHP for which training was performed. However, performance improvements found with the training EMHP were not realized in the non-training EMHP. Furthermore, localization performance in the open-ear condition also benefitted from training on the task.
确定使用电子调节听力保护（EMHP）和开放式耳朵进行训练是否会导致水平定位任务的听觉学习。
在三种听力条件（开放式耳朵、入耳式（ITE）EMHP 和耳罩式（OTE）EMHP）下进行基线定位测试。然后，参与者佩戴 ITE 或 OTE EMHP 进行 12 次，几乎每天 1 小时的训练课程。培训完成后，参与者再次在所有三种听力条件下进行定位测试。计算机具有定制的软件和硬件接口，可提供定位声音并收集参与者的响应。
从弗吉尼亚理工大学的学生群体中招募了 12 名参与者。听力要求为双侧 500、1000 和 2000 Hz 时为 35 dBHL，至少一侧耳朵为 4000 Hz 时为 55 dBHL。
使用 ITE 或 OTE EMHP 进行的预训练定位性能比开放式耳朵的性能差。在使用任何给定的听力条件进行训练后，包括开放式耳朵，该听力条件的性能得到了改善，部分原因是练习效果。然而，训练后的定位性能显示开放式耳朵和训练用 EMHP 之间的性能几乎相等。训练 EMHP 发生了听觉学习（提高了水平定位性能），但非训练 EMHP 没有发生；也就是说，ITE 和 OTE 设备之间没有显著的训练交叉效应。
从这项研究中可以明显看出，听觉学习（提高水平定位性能）发生在接受训练的 EMHP 中。然而，在非训练 EMHP 中并未发现训练 EMHP 所带来的性能提升。此外，在开放式耳朵条件下的定位性能也从任务训练中受益。
