Response of Infants and Young Children as a Function of Auditory Stimuli and Test Methods

Responses of infants and young children with normal hearing were assessed using five auditory stimuli at different hearing levels. The stimuli included broad-band and high-pass filtered signals and a 3-k Hz pure tone. The infants were tested with a behavioral observation test method. The young children were tested by either COR or play-audiometric test methods. The infants' responses varied as a function of the stimulus used. For this group, the 3-k Hz tone clearly produced fewer responses than did the other stimuli. This result is important for the assessment of high-frequency hearing loss in infants and young children. Differences between stimuli were not apparent for young children, although a comparison of test methods showed that play-audiometry resulted in more responses than COR audiometry, regardless of the stimulus used.