Patent ID: 8238591

Claim:
A method for determining a time constant of a hearing of a user comprising the steps: a) receiving a first acoustic test signal with a hearing aid of a user; b) processing the received first acoustic test signal using a signal processing unit of the hearing aid, the signal processing unit having an adjustable time constant that affects a time to reach a target acoustic pressure level, wherein the signal processing unit uses a first time constant to form a first processed acoustic signal output to the user; c) assigning the first processed acoustic signal to a first loudness level as perceived by the user, d) receiving a second acoustic test signal equivalent to the first acoustic test signal with the hearing aid of the user; e) processing the received second acoustic test signal using the signal processing unit of the hearing aid, wherein the signal processing unit uses a second time constant which is shorter than the first time constant to form a second processed acoustic signal output to the user; f) assigning the second processed acoustic signal to a second loudness level as perceived by the user, and g) comparing the first loudness level to the second loudness level, wherein: when the compared first loudness level does not equal the compared second loudness level, the method further comprises the steps of: reducing the first time constant; and repeating steps a through g, and when the compared first loudness level equals the compared second loudness level, the method further comprises the steps of: defining the first time constant or the second time constant as the time constant of the hearing of the user, the time constant representing a time resolution ability of the hearing of the user based on the user's loudness perception.