Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) list equivalency was examined using 24 listeners (ages 60 to 70) with sensorineural hearing impairments. Four speech conditions were tested, including a quiet condition and three noise conditions. Results found that for the three noise conditions, all lists were within 2dB of the means, indicating list equivalency.…

A study explored gender differences in neonatal transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) by comparing the reproducibility and amplitude of TEOAEs in 392 female and 435 male newborns. Results indicate female newborns had significantly higher response reproducibility and response amplitude. (Contains references.) (CR)

The paper describes the use of an operant procedure to assess the speech perception of 11 young (7 to 35 months old) hearing impaired children and 11 normally hearing subjects. Subjects were presented with a repeating background stimulus and conditioned to turn their head on presentation of a contrasting syllable. The head-turning responses were…

Fifty-four audiologists were asked to predict future speech intelligibility in hearing-impaired children based on four pure-tone audiograms. Predictions varied significantly with degree of loss and status of high-frequency hearing. Audiologists with greater clinical experience had less faith in audiograms as predictors of speech skills than had…

Conductive hearing losses were simulated in 12 subjects aged 19-35 and performance was compared with normal hearing performance. Digit dichotic performance was affected when test intensities were within 8 dB of the "knees" (95 percent correct point) of monotic performance intensity functions, but not when test intensities were 12 dB…

Audiometric screening tests administered to students ages 5-21 in five Nigerian schools (N=2315) revealed hearing problems in 13.5% of the student population. Among findings was a high incidence of acute suppurative otitis media. Related recommendations include twice-yearly audiometric screening for children perceived to be at risk. (JW)

Describes observer-based technique for assessing auditory capacities of infants from three to 12 months of age. This technique, referred to as the Observation-based Psychoacoustic Procedure (OPP), combines features of the Forced-choice Preferential Looking Technique and of the Visual Reinforcement Audiometry. Pure-tone detection and frequency…

Audiological assessment of 86 children (mean age 38 months at last evaluation time) with congenital cytomegalovirus infection revealed progressive hearing loss in four of 12 Ss with sensorineural hearing impairments. Case descriptions documented the progression of the hearing loss. (Author)

Auditory performance of 40 5-year-old children was measured using a speech signal that simulated the amplified signal a child with hearing loss would hear. Subjects were restricted in their access to speech due to the hearing aid, the decreased sensation level (simulated hearing loss) at which they listened, and distance. (Contains references.)…

A method is presented for examining change in motor patterns used to produce linguistic contrasts. In this case study, the method is applied to a child who experienced hearing loss at age 3 and received a multi-channel cochlear implant at 7. Post-implant, acoustic durations showed a maturational change. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Variability of aided sound field thresholds (ASFTs) was examined in 30 hearing-impaired children comprising 2 age groups (5-9 and 10-14 years). Findings showed that 2 ASFTs would have to differ by more than 10 decibels across signal test frequencies to attain statistical significance. (Author/DB)

A modification of the observer-based psychoacoustic procedure was used to estimate the detectability of auditory signals by infants. Data from infants up to 3.5 months of age revealed improvement in performance as a function of increasing signal intensity and age. (BC)

A non-aversive modification of Bekesy Audiometric Procedures (BAP) used in assessing hearing ability has been found to produce interpretable audiograms from children whose responses to the unmodified BAP were erratic and uninterpretable. In an experiment with six 8-year-old children, three subjects were assigned to a condition in which a light cue…

A study was conducted to determine which factors on the Pupil Rating Scale (Revised) developed by H. Myklebust (1965) were identified by classroom teachers as being deficient in referring students for central auditory testing. The Pupil Rating Scale is a behavioral checklist for classroom teachers to use to rate students in five broad categories…

The article reports the frequency and hearing levels used in hearing screening by school districts in Minnesota. Such an array of standards probably indicates similar variation in pass-fail criteria and therefore precludes accurate reporting of the prevalence of hearing impairment in school age children. The need for standardization throughout the…