Which type of masking is best used to eliminate crossover?

The best method to eliminate crossover in hearing assessments is through effective masking. Effective masking is designed to adequately obscure the test signal in the non-tested ear, ensuring that the participant only perceives the sound intended for the ear being tested. This is crucial in audiometric testing as it helps to avoid interaural cross-hearing, where sound presented to one ear can be heard by the opposite ear.

When effective masking is correctly applied, it raises the threshold of hearing in the non-tested ear, thereby ensuring that any responses obtained during testing are strictly from the tested ear. This approach helps yield more accurate results and a better understanding of an individual's hearing capability in each ear separately.

In contrast, other types of masking, such as sound-field masking, broadband masking, and criterion masking, may not effectively eliminate crossover to the same extent as effective masking. Sound-field masking, for example, can create a general masking effect across a wider area, which may not isolate the non-tested ear sufficiently. Similarly, broadband masking may not provide the specific frequency control needed for effective normalization of the responses. Criterion masking involves subjective thresholds that may lead to inconsistencies if not applied correctly within clinical practices.