What did you observe about your ability to understand the signal compared to the noise in the condition when you had background noise playing at a level of 0 foreground/background ratio to w

General instructions:
Navigate to the NIOSH hearing loss simulator website: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/niosh-mining/HLSimWeb. You will manipulate parameters such as the following:
The foreground, i.e., the sound that is in front of you that you would want to listen to.
The background, i.e., the sound that is behind you that you would not want to listen to. (To simulate a quiet condition with no background noise, you can leave this on “Select a Sound”.)
The foreground/background ratio, which adjusts how loud the sound you want to listen to is in comparison to the noise. When the slider is at the foreground side, the signal will be louder, and when the slider is at the background side, the background will be louder.
An animation of sounds in the foreground and background will appear in the gray boxes.
Frequency bands of 125, 250, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz, within each you can slide to a simulated 80 dB HL level.
Use the sliders beneath each frequency band to change the hearing threshold levels. A level of 0 means no hearing loss. A negative value means that there is hearing loss.
For example, if you want to simulate a “40 dB HL” threshold at 1000 Hz, simply move the 1000 Hz slider to -40.
How you enter the hearing loss: for this entire assignment, select “Manual adjustment by frequency”. Do not change this.
Audiogram 1:
Enter a severe to moderate, rising hearing loss. Complete the rest of the information according to what you chose:
Foreground sound: ____________________ (.5)
Background sound: ____________________ (.5)
Foreground/background ratio: ___________ (.5)
Frequency bands: (5)
125
250
500
1000
1500
2000
3000
4000
6000
8000
What did you observe about your ability to understand the signal compared to the noise in the condition when you had background noise playing at a level of 0 foreground/background ratio to when you had no background noise playing? Consider specific parts of the signal (e.g., syllables, consonants, vowels, if speech) you could or could not hear in each condition. (2.5)
Audiogram 2:
Enter a normal, steeply sloping to severe hearing loss. Complete the rest of the information according to what you chose:
Foreground sound: ____________________ (.5)
Background sound: ____________________ (.5)
Foreground/background ratio: ___________ (.5)
Frequency bands: (5)
125
250
500
1000
1500
2000
3000
4000
6000
8000
What did you observe about your ability to understand the signal compared to the noise in the condition when you had background noise playing at a level of 0 foreground/background ratio to when you had no background noise playing? Consider specific parts of the signal (e.g., syllables, consonants, vowels, if speech) you could or could not hear in each condition. (2.5)
Audiogram 3:
Enter a flat moderate hearing loss.
Foreground sound: ____________________ (.5)
Background sound: ____________________ (.5)
Foreground/background ratio: ___________ (.5)
Frequency bands: (5)
125
250
500
1000
1500
2000
3000
4000
6000
8000
What did you observe about your ability to understand the signal compared to the noise in the condition when you had background noise playing at a level of 0 foreground/background ratio to when you had no background noise playing? Consider specific parts of the signal (e.g., syllables, consonants, vowels, if speech) you could or could not hear in each condition. (2.5)
Write Up:
Compare the three audiogram configurations and severities you entered. Which ones were easiest and hardest to hear in quiet? Which ones were easiest and hardest to hear in noise? (5)
The app calls one of the sliders the “foreground/background” ratio – what do you think this means? When you increase the foreground/background ratio, does it become harder or easier for you to understand the speech? (2)
Name two ways you could use this tool: once in your typical everyday life, and once in your life as a future health care/educational professional. (2)
Choose one additional set-up on this tool and describe what you have chosen, why, and what you observed (4).