Measures Of Auditory Performance Research Articles

The relationship between electrical auditory middle-latency response components and measures of auditory performance and speech intelligibility in pediatric cochlear implant recipients

Evidence for the utility of electrically-evoked auditory responses, as measures of objective hearing assessments in pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients, is proliferating. Recently, we demonstrated the relationship between electrical auditory brainstem response (EABR) and measures of auditory performance and speech intelligibility in pediatric CI users (Wang, Pan, Deshpande, & Ma, 2015). However, the EABR reflects activity only up to the auditory brainstem. The electrical auditory middle-latency response (EAMLR) is sensitive to the functioning of the sub-cortical structures as well as the auditory cortex and thus has greater utility in predicting auditory perception and processing. Here, we present data from 40 pre-lingually hearing impaired, pediatric CI recipients. The relationship between components of the EAMLR (latencies of Na, Pa, Nb, Pb; Na-Pa amplitude; and Na-Pa interval) and measures of auditory performance and speech intelligibility assessed using care-giver rating scales such as Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) (Archbold, Lutman, & Marshall, 1995) and Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) (Allen, Nikolopoulos, Dyar, & O'Donoghue, 2001), respectively, are analyzed. EAMLR profiles of “good” versus “poor” CI users (based on CAP and SIR ratings) will be discussed. Additionally, the effect of age of implantation on the EAMLR, CAP and SIR outcomes will be considered.

An exploratory factor analysis of visual performance in a large population

A factor analysis was performed on 25 visual and auditory performance measures from 1060 participants. The results revealed evidence both for a factor relating to general perceptual performance, and for eight independent factors that relate to particular perceptual skills. In an unrotated PCA, the general factor for perceptual performance accounted for 19.9% of the total variance in the 25 performance measures. Following varimax rotation, 8 consistent factors were identified, which appear to relate to (1) sensitivity to medium and high spatial frequencies, (2) auditory perceptual ability (3) oculomotor speed, (4) oculomotor control, (5) contrast sensitivity at low spatial frequencies, (6) stereo acuity, (7) letter recognition, and (8) flicker sensitivity. The results of a hierarchical cluster analysis were consistent with our rotated factor solution. We also report correlations between the eight performance factors and other (non-performance) measures of perception, demographic and anatomical measures, and questionnaire items probing other psychological variables.

Effects of the use of personal music players on amplitude modulation detection and frequency discrimination

Measures of auditory performance were compared for an experimental group who listened regularly to music via personal music players (PMP) and a control group who did not. Absolute thresholds were similar for the two groups for frequencies up to 2 kHz, but the experimental group had slightly but significantly higher thresholds at higher frequencies. Thresholds for the frequency discrimination of pure tones were measured for a sensation level (SL) of 20 dB and center frequencies of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 kHz. Thresholds were significantly higher (worse) for the experimental than for the control group for frequencies from 3 to 8 kHz, but not for lower frequencies. Thresholds for detecting sinusoidal amplitude modulation (AM) were measured for SLs of 10 and 20 dB, using four carrier frequencies 0.5, 3, 4, and 6 kHz, and three modulation frequencies 4, 16, and 50 Hz. Thresholds were significantly lower (better) for the experimental than for the control group for the 4- and 6-kHz carriers, but not for the other carriers. It is concluded that listening to music via PMP can have subtle effects on frequency discrimination and AM detection.

Audiological correlates of speech understanding deficits in elderly listeners with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. II. Correlation analysis.

The study was conducted to determine the relationship between measures of auditory performance in elderly individuals. Specifically, its goal was to uncover a set of measures correlated with the set of measures of speech understanding under specific conditions of interference to gain a better understanding of decline of the "cocktail party effect" in aging. Audiological status and auditory performance of a group of elderly (60- to 81-yr-old) individuals were determined through a test battery. When present, the hearing loss of elderly subjects was symmetrical in the two ears and, at most, moderate. The battery included tests of speech intelligibility on the word and sentence levels, with and without the presence of interfering speech. In addition pure-tone and speech reception thresholds, perception of spectrally or temporally distorted speech and auditory resolution of frequency, time, and space were tested. Two tests received special consideration: the Speech Perception In Noise Test and the Modified Rhyme Reverberation Test. Results indicated that, despite the nearly normal hearing levels that characterized much of the subject group, auditory sensitivity measures showed persistent correlation to all other measures, with the exception of auditory resolution regarding frequency, time, and space. As a set, sensitivity measures accounted for more than 85% of the variance. When auditory sensitivity was controlled for, other factors underlying speech processing in the presence of interfering stimuli were uncovered, factors most likely related to the ability to perceptually segregate one speech signal from another. The findings suggest that, to determine the relationship between audiological/auditory test results of an elderly population, it is important to remove the effects of hearing loss through appropriate statistical methods.

Independence of Performance and Self-Report Measures of Distractibility

Abstract Individual differences in susceptibility to distraction are commonly measured by performance or self-report. High performance measures of distractibility have previously been linked to low cognitive ability, whereas self-reports have been linked to the general personality dimension of neuroticism. In the present study, distractibility was measured as decrements in task performance under visual and auditory distraction. The self-report measure consisted of a series of face-valid questions concerning responsiveness to extraneous or irrelevant stimuli in the auditory and visual domains. Results showed that the visual and auditory performance measures of distractibility were highly correlated, the self-reports of distractibility were also correlated with each other and were linked to neuroticism, and the performance and self-report measures of distractibility were completely independent.

The Speech-In-Noise test: a new approach to the assessment of communication capability of elderly persons.

The present investigation measured how well elderly persons hear in everyday auditory communication situations. It was felt that traditional clinical measures of auditory performance have not been shown to be valid predictors of communication function for an elderly population. Participants ranged in age from fifty-five to seventy-two years. In addition to several standard audiometric tests, a new speech test incorporating sentence material was administered in both quiet and noise. As a measure of general communication performance, a hearing questionnaire was developed. The findings indicated that the results of the new Speech-In-Noise (SIN) test were better predictors of hearing communication performance than any of the traditional audiometric measures by a wide margin (.73 versus .62). Statistical analysis further indicated that the SIN test could replace all of the standard audiometric tests in the evaluation of hearing of elderly listeners. Because the SIN test is so brief, given in five to seven minutes, and so easily administered, this test is ideal for mass screening of hearing among the elderly.