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The active mechanism in the cochlea is thought to depend on the integrity of the outer hair cells (OHCs). Cochlear hearing loss is usually associated with damage to both inner hair cells (IHCs) and OHCs, with the latter resulting in a reduction in or complete loss of the function of the active mechanism. It is believed that the active mechanism contributes to the sharpness of tuning on the basilar membrane (BM) and is also responsible for compressive input–output functions on the BM. Hence, one would expect a close relationship between measures of sharpness of tuning and measures of compression. This idea was tested by comparing three different measures of the status of the active mechanism, at center frequencies of 2, 4, and 6 kHz, using subjects with normal hearing, with unilateral or highly asymmetric cochlear hearing loss, and with bilateral loss. The first measure, was an indirect measure of the amount of the …