Binaural loudness summation was measured using three different paradigms with 10 normally hearing and 20 bilaterally symmetrical high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss subjects. Binaural summation increased with presentation level using the loudness matching procedure, with values in the 6-10 dB range. Summation decreased with level using the…

Ninetieth percentile cutoffs for acoustic reflex thresholds (ART) were determined for a sample of 1,374 adult subjects with normal hearing and sensorineural loss of cochlear origin. It was found that 12.2 percent had one ear ART elevated above the ninetieth percentile, but only 5.6 percent had more than one elevated ART. (DB)

The study examined the test-retest reliability in unaided and aided sound-field thresholds and the functional gain values derived from these measurements in 24 hearing-impaired adults. Test-retest standard deviations were slightly larger for functional gain than for unaided thresholds. (Author/DB)

A descending version of K. Hattler's Lengthened Off-Time (LOT) Bekesy test was administered to 24 hearing-impaired adults and 30 normal-hearing adults. The Descending LOT test substantially increased screening sensitivity relative to LOT test identifications, because of larger intertrace gaps. (Author/JDD)

This study examined developmental effects in auditory perception of word-final /s/ in inflectional morpheme contexts as a function of high-frequency (HF) bandwidth with normal hearing 5-, 7-, 10-year-olds and adults. The higher detection thresholds and larger clarity rating variances for the youngest participants support the use of extended…

Frequency difference limens (DLFs) for pure tones were obtained over a wide range of frequencies and levels from 7 normal-hearing subjects and 16 ears of 12 listeners with sensorineural hearing losses. Results indicated that it is reasonable to use data from normal listeners' DLFs to evaluate DLFs from hearing-impaired listeners. (Author/JDD)

Hearing sensitivity was examined prospectively in 114 young children as a function of otitis media with effusion (OEM)status in years 1, 2, and 3. Results indicated that children classified as bilaterally OME positive in years 1, 2, and 3 had significantly poorer hearing than children classified as bilaterally OME free at these periods. (Contains…

This study evaluated an assessment procedure designed to assess speech recognition ability in individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing losses. Sets of phonetic contrasts were presented within sentence contexts to 53 listeners (31 hearing impaired) in four listening conditions. The procedure distinguished between normal and hearing impaired…

Seventy-three children (ages 4-18) with hearing impairments were administered the Auditory Perception of Alphabet Letters test. Results indicated excellent reliability, and high intercorrelations with both open-set and closed-set auditory tests. The study concludes that spoken names of alphabet letters can be employed as an effective auditory…

Temporal envelope and spectral cue resolution were evaluated simultaneously in seven adults with severe/profound hearing impairments. Results revealed that the Auditory Numbers Test (ANT) is differentially sensitive to responses based upon gross temporal envelope and spectral cues in the speech signal. The ANT is endorsed as a screening tool for…

Simultaneous 3- channel recorded auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were obtained from 20 neonates with various high-pass filter settings and low intensity levels. Results support the advocacy of less restrictive high-pass filtering for neonatal and infant ABR screening to air-conducted and bone-conducted clicks. (Author/JDD)

This study examined the influence of stimulus context and audibility on sentence recognition in 60 normal-hearing children, 24 hearing-impaired children, and 20 normal-hearing adults. For both semantically correct and semantically anomalous sentences, there was a systematic age-related shift in the performance-intensity functions. Data from the…

This experiment sought to define a confidence limit for maximum word-recognition scores obtained from 212 young and elderly adults with confirmed cochlear hearing loss. A 95% confidence limit was found and supported through analysis, although it is suggested that, in some cases, word recognition should be measured at additional levels to obtain…

Two studies with 20 hearing-impaired and 10 normal-hearing adults found that the Hearing Performance Inventory-Revised was insensitive to differences in hearing-impaired listeners' consonant-recognition ability, whereas the Nonsense Syllable Test was sensitive to differences in overall consonant-recognition ability for normal-hearing and…

Students (n=1,500) in grades 2, 8, and 12 were given pure-tone threshold hearing tests to determine whether prevalence of hearing loss varied with age. A significantly higher prevalence of hearing loss was found in older children. Comparison with earlier data found a greater prevalence of hearing loss among second and eighth graders today than 10…