Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Occlusion Effects In Various Testing Conditions Using Insert Earphones, Amanda M. Desantolo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The occlusion effect is a well-known phenomenon that can affect audiological testing. Sound energy that would typically escape is trapped when covering the ear(s) and reflected back toward the inner ear. This increases the intensity of the sound, resulting in the “appearance” of a more sensitive threshold. Many aspects of the occlusion effect have been well researched and understood, however there are still aspects that warrant further investigation, such as the degree of occlusion with insert earphones when using partial versus full insertion and whether one or both of the ears are occluded. A within-subject design (n=5) was utilized to …