Final answer:
A person with moderate hearing loss will struggle with speech recognition due to difficulty hearing higher frequencies, which makes speech seem indistinct and understanding female voices particularly challenging. Conversational speech and music appreciation are impaired with age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis. Amplification of sounds can help but must be done cautiously to prevent further damage.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a person has a moderate degree of hearing loss and is in a quiet environment, the effects on speech recognition can be quite significant. Individuals with a moderate hearing impairment, such as a 60-phon loss, will primarily hear only the lower frequencies, and as a result, speech will need to be considerably louder than normal for it to be understood. Furthermore, due to the decreased perception of higher frequencies, speech may still seem indistinct even when the volume is increased. Female voices, which often have higher pitch frequencies, can be especially difficult for the person with moderate hearing loss to comprehend during conversation.
Most conversational sounds are within a certain frequency and intensity region, and for conversational speech, this is vital for understanding spoken words. People do not typically use their full range of hearing, especially frequencies above 8000 Hz, which are unnecessary for understanding conversation or music. However, the inability to hear these frequencies may not be noticed until a hearing test is done. With age, a common form of hearing loss known as presbycusis occurs, and this leads to hearing becoming increasingly worse at higher frequencies, making speech recognition and music appreciation more difficult.
Therefore, the impact of hearing loss on speech recognition is not only about amplifying sound to make it audible but also about addressing the clarity and comprehension of speech, which can be affected by the specific frequencies that are lost. Notably, if a person with hearing loss requires amplification for lower-intensity sounds, it must be done carefully to avoid further hearing damage, especially for sounds above 90 dB.