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ERIC Number: EJ1192001
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Sep
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Pure-Tone Frequency Discrimination in Preschoolers, Young School-Age Children, and Adults
Rose, Jane; Flaherty, Mary; Browning, Jenna; Leibold, Lori J.; Buss, Emily
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v61 n9 p2440-2445 Sep 2018
Purpose: Published data indicate nearly adultlike frequency discrimination in infants but large child -adult differences for school-age children. This study evaluated the role that differences in measurement procedures and stimuli may have played in the apparent nonmonotonicity. Frequency discrimination was assessed in preschoolers, young school-age children, and adults using stimuli and procedures that have previously been used to test infants. Method: Listeners were preschoolers (3-4 years), young school-age children (5-6 years), and adults (19-38 years). Performance was assessed using a single-interval, observer-based method and a continuous train of stimuli, similar to that previously used to evaluate infants. Testing was completed using 500- and 5000-Hz standard tones, fixed within a set of trials. Thresholds for frequency discrimination were obtained using an adaptive, two-down one-up procedure. Adults and most school-age children responded by raising their hands. An observer-based, conditioned-play response was used to test preschoolers and those school-age children for whom the hand-raise procedure was not effective for conditioning. Results: Results suggest an effect of age and frequency on thresholds but no interaction between these 2 factors. A lower proportion of preschoolers completed training compared with young school age children. For those children who completed training, however, thresholds did not improve significantly with age; both groups of children performed more poorly than adults. Performance was better for the 500-Hz standard frequency compared with the 5000-Hz standard frequency. Conclusions: Thresholds for school-age children were broadly similar to those previously observed using a forced-choice procedure. Although there was a trend for improved performance with increasing age, no significant age effect was observed between preschoolers and school-age children. The practice of excluding participants based on failure to meet conditioning criteria in an observer-based task could contribute to the relatively good performance observed for preschoolers in this study and the adultlike performance previously observed in infants.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH//DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01DC014460; T35DC008757; P20GM109023
Author Affiliations: N/A