Thomas F Muller

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Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Norrix, L. W., & Muller, T. F. (2018). Author Response to Peck (2018), Questionable use of” Nonorganic” in estimating nonorganic hearing thresholds.. American Journal of Audiology, 27(3), 368-369.
• Norrix, L. W., Rubiano, V., & Muller, T. (2017). Estimating Nonorganic Hearing Thresholds Using Binaural Auditory Stimuli. American journal of audiology, 26(4), 486-495.
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  Minimum contralateral interference levels (MCILs) are used to estimate true hearing thresholds in individuals with unilateral nonorganic hearing loss. In this study, we determined MCILs and examined the correspondence of MCILs to true hearing thresholds to quantify the accuracy of this procedure.
• Norrix, L. W., Vivian, R., & Muller, T. F. (2017). ESTIMATING NONORGANIC HEARING THRESHOLDS USING BINAURAL AUDITORY STIMULI. American Journal of Audiology, 26, 486-495.
• Shehorn, J., Marrone, N., & Muller, T. (2017). Speech Perception in Noise and Listening Effort of Older Adults With Nonlinear Frequency Compression Hearing Aids. Ear and hearing.
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  The purpose of this laboratory-based study was to compare the efficacy of two hearing aid fittings with and without nonlinear frequency compression, implemented within commercially available hearing aids. Previous research regarding the utility of nonlinear frequency compression has revealed conflicting results for speech recognition, marked by high individual variability. Individual differences in auditory function and cognitive abilities, specifically hearing loss slope and working memory, may contribute to aided performance. The first aim of the study was to determine the effect of nonlinear frequency compression on aided speech recognition in noise and listening effort using a dual-task test paradigm. The hypothesis, based on the Ease of Language Understanding model, was that nonlinear frequency compression would improve speech recognition in noise and decrease listening effort. The second aim of the study was to determine if listener variables of hearing loss slope, working memory capacity, and age would predict performance with nonlinear frequency compression.
• Muller, T. F., Harris, F. P., & Ellison, J. C. (2004). Effect of release time on preferred gain and speech acoustics. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 15(9), 605-15.
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  Eighteen experienced hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss were fit with a digital hearing instrument. An adaptive procedure was used to determine their preferred gain setting for continuous speech under six conditions. Release time (RT) was set to 40, 160, or 640 msec. A prerecorded speech stimulus was presented in quiet or in the presence of multitalker babble (10 dB signal-to-babble ratio); all other compression variables were fixed. Real-ear data obtained with settings for each condition suggest that RT did not affect gain preference; however, subjects preferred higher gain in the presence of the multitalker babble. The RMS amplitudes of 30 phonemic units were calculated using ear canal recordings of the speech stimulus for each subject in each condition. Altering RT resulted primarily in decreased amplitude with increased RT, but this effect was not predictable across listeners or conditions.
• Muller, T., Ellison, J. C., Harris, F. P., & Muller, T. F. (2003). Interactions of hearing aid compression release time and fitting formula: effects on speech acoustics. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 14(2).
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  The effects of the interaction of compression release time and prescribed gain on running speech processed through a hearing aid on KEMAR was investigated. A digital instrument was programmed to fit a mild to moderate sloping hearing loss using probe microphone measures to reach targets prescribed by NAL-NL1, DSL I/O, FIG.6 or ASA2p with release times of 40 and 640 ms for each condition. Recordings were made through KEMAR and analyzed to determine the long-term-average-speech spectra, consonant-to-vowel ratios and the RMS amplitude of 32 phonemic units. Aided and unaided results were compared. Within each prescriptive formula, changes in release time affected all of the speech measures subsequent to programming the instrument to a static-composite signal. The short release-time condition produced the greatest alteration to the speech signal. Release time may need consideration when fitting hearing aids to target gain prescriptions.

Presentations

• Muller, T. F., Marrone, N. L., Norrix, L. W., Le, G., & Wong, A. A. (2015, October). Toward an Affordable Hearing Aid Option for Adult Arizonans with Limited Income. Meeting of the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
• Muller, T. F., Marrone, N. L., Norrix, L. W., Le, G., & Wong, A. A. (2015, October). Toward an Affordable Hearing Aid Option for. Meeting of the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
• Adamovich, S. L., Adamovich, S. L., Hopwood, L., Hopwood, L., Le, G., Le, G., Marrone, N. L., Marrone, N. L., Muller, T. F., Muller, T. F., Norrix, L. W., Norrix, L. W., Rubiano, V., Rubiano, V., Wong, A. A., Wong, A. A., Adamovich, S. L., Hopwood, L., Le, G., , Marrone, N. L., et al. (2014, Fall (October)). The 2014 Arizona Affordable Hearing Aid Task Force. Hearing Assistive Devices. Tucson: University of Arizona, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.
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  Adamovich, S., Hopwood, L., Le, G., Marrone, N., Muller, T., Norrix, L., Rubiano, V., Wong, A. (2014, Oct. 3). The 2014 Arizona Affordable Hearing Aid Task Force. Podium presentation at the 2014 University of Arizona, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences “Hearing Assistive Devices” Conference, Tucson, AZ.
• Adamovich, S. L., Hopwood, L., Le, G., Marrone, N. L., Muller, T. F., Norrix, L. W., Rubiano, V., Wong, A. A., Adamovich, S. L., Hopwood, L., Le, G., Marrone, N. L., Muller, T. F., Norrix, L. W., Rubiano, V., & Wong, A. A. (2014, Fall (October)). The 2014 Arizona Affordable Hearing Aid Task Force. SLHS Colloquium. Tucson: University of Arizona, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.
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  Adamovich, S., Hopwood, L., Le, G., Marrone, N., Muller, T., Norrix, L., Rubiano, V., Wong, A. (2014, Oct. 3). The 2014 Arizona Affordable Hearing Aid Task Force. Podium presentation at the 2014 University of Arizona, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences “Hearing Assistive Devices” Conference, Tucson, AZ.
• Muller, T. F. (2014, April 11). Fostering Independence in the 3rd Year Audiology Student: Lessons from the SuperClinic. Council for Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Poster Presentations

• Le, G., Le, G., Marrone, N. L., Marrone, N. L., Wong, A. A., Wong, A. A., Muller, T. F., Muller, T. F., Norrix, L. W., Adamovich, S. L., Rubiano, V., Norrix, L. W., Hopwood, L., Hopwood, L., Rubiano, V., Le, G., Marrone, N. L., Wong, A. A., Muller, T. F., , Adamovich, S. L., et al. (2015, March). Provider Perspectives on the Accessibility of Hearing Healthcare in Arizona. Meeting of the American Auditory Society. Phoenix, Arizona: American Auditory Society.

Others

• Muller, T. F., & Barakat, F. R. (2018, November). Hearing Aids. The University of Arizona Arizona Center on Aging Elder Care: A Resource for Interprofessional Providers. https://www.uofazcenteronaging.com/uploads/798_Hearing_Aids.pdf
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  single page resource on core geriatric syndromes, conditions and considerations in care.
• Muller, T. F., Muller, T. F., Marrone, N. L., Marrone, N. L., Norrix, L. W., Norrix, L. W., Le, G., Le, G., Wong, A. A., Wong, A. A., Adamovich, S. L., Adamovich, S. L., Muller, T. F., Marrone, N. L., Norrix, L. W., Le, G., Wong, A. A., & Adamovich, S. L. (2015, October). Toward an Affordable Hearing Aid Option for Adult Arizonans with Limited Income. Report Commissioned by and Presented to the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACDHH).