J Audiol Otol.  2022 Jul;26(3):113-121. 10.7874/jao.2021.00451.

Effects of Spatial Training Paradigms on Auditory Spatial Refinement in Normal-Hearing Listeners: A Comparative Study

• Nisha KV
• Kumar AU

• KMID: 2531423
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7874/jao.2021.00451

Abstract

Background and Objectives
This study compared the effectiveness of two spatial training programs using real and virtual sound sources in refining spatial acuity skills in listeners with normal hearing.
Subjects and Methods
The study was conducted on two groups of 10 participants each; groups I and II underwent spatial training using real and virtual sound sources, respectively. The study was conducted in three phases: pre-training, training, and post-training phases. At the pre- and post-training phases, the spatial acuity of the participants was measured using real sound sources through the localization test, and virtual sound sources through the virtual acoustic space identification (VASI) test. The thresholds of interaural time difference (ITD) and interaural level difference (ILD) were also measured. In the training phase, Group I participants underwent localization training using loudspeakers in free field, while participants in Group II were subjected to virtual acoustic space (VAS) training using virtual sound sources from headphones. Both the training methods consisted of 5-8 sessions (20 min each) of systematically presented stimuli graded according to duration and back attenuation (for real source training) or number of VAS locations (for virtual source training).
Results
Results of independent t-scores comparing the spatial learning scores (pre vs. post-training) for each measure showed differences in performance between the two groups. Group II performed better than Group I on the VASI test, while the Group I out-performed Group II on the ITD. Both groups improved equally on the localization test and ILD.
Conclusions
Based on the present findings, we recommend the use of VAS training as it has practical implications due to its cost effectiveness, need for minimal equipment, and end user usefulness.

Keyword

Training; Hearing; Acoustic; Psychoacoustics; Perception