Computer simulation of audiometric threshold procedures

Abstract

Currently several clinical procedures are being advocated by various organizations for determination of an auditory threshold for pure tones. While little is known of how the procedures compare, they are being implemented on currently marketed microprocessor based equipment. We have examined the methods recommended by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), and the British Society of Audiology (BSA) by modeling the performance of a subject according to the psychometric function for detection of a pure tone. This approach has the advantage of allowing control or systematic variation of subject variables so that only the characteristics of the methods themselves become apparent. It also permits the generation of large sample sizes. Using a microcomputer, programmed in BASIC, the three procedures were simulated and compared with respect to number of presentations required to obtain a threshold, number of threshold crossings and threshold obtained for three slopes of the psychometric function. Results suggest that the ANSI recommendation has advantages over the ASHA and BSA methods.