Historical and Critical Review of Loudness Recruitment.

摘要

Some partially-deaf ears are paradoxically much more sensitive to the loudness of sounds than normal-hearing ears. As the physical energy of a sound is increased from the point at which it can just barely be heard, the sound quickly leaps into consciousness and accelerates in dramatic fashion. A sound only 15 decibels above threshold in such an ear may seem as loud as a sound 60 decibels above threshold in a normal ear. This so-called 'recruitment' phenomenon has both good and bad consequences which are examined. The present paper brings together in a critical review practically all that is now known of this interesting and important phenomenon. Following an historically-oriented review, a summary is given of 13 methods of determining recruitment, its clinical significance, its rate and type, some theoretical explanations, and certain analogies in the normal ear.