Equal-loudness level contours for pure tone under free field listening conditions. (I). Some data and considerations on experimental conditions.

A number of experimental determinations of the uncomfortable loudness level (ULL) at 1000 Hz were made on several groups of normal-hearing subjects, using various methods of stimulus presentation and applying different personality measures to the subjects. The same mean levels were found for both earphone and free-field presentations. In experienced subjects the monaural-binaural difference was between 2.5 and 4 dB in different experiments. In naive subjects this difference was 6 dB. In two groups of subjects, ULL was found to be significantly negatively correlated with their test anxiety scores, but this correlation did not hold for the other two groups tested. Naive subjects showed little difference in intersubject variance with the manual or Bekesy presentation techniques.

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Relationship of pure tone air conduction threshold, most comfortable loudness level (MCL), and uncomfortable loudness level (UCL).

AUDIOLOGY JAPAN ◽

10.4295/audiology.32.321 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 321-322

Author(s):

YOSHIKAZU OBARA

Keyword(s):

Pure Tone ◽

Loudness Level ◽

Comfortable Loudness ◽

Relationship Of ◽

Air Conduction

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Laryngeal and Manual Reaction Times of Stuttering and Nonstuttering Adults

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.2402.192 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 192-196 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Alan Reich ◽

James Till ◽

Howard Goldsmith

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Vocal Fold ◽

Pure Tone ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Motor Pathways ◽

Vocal Fold Vibration ◽

Vocal Activity ◽

The Right ◽

Previous Reaction

This investigation compared the reaction times of thirteen stuttering and thirteen nonstuttering adults for forefinger button pressing, nonspeeeh vocal initiation, and speech-mode vocal initiation. The stutterers and nonstutterers were matched individually for age, sex, and handedness. The reaction-time stimulus in all response conditions was the offset of a 1000-Hz pure tone. Two of the experimental conditions required button pressing with the right and left. forefingers. The remaining four responses required vocal-fold vibration. The nonspeech vocal activity consisted of inspiratory phonation and expiratory throat clearing. The speech-mode vocal activity required production of the isolated vowel//and the word/p/. The results demonstrated that stuttering and nonstuttering adults differed significantly only on tasks requiring speech phonation. These results are compared to previous reaction-time investigations and related to factors which may influence sensory-motor pathways prior to and during speech.

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Estimation of the Benefit of Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids

Annals of Otology Rhinology & Laryngology ◽

10.1177/000348949410301108 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 103 (11) ◽

pp. 872-878 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

George G. Browning ◽

Stuart Gatehouse

Keyword(s):

Hearing Aids ◽

Pure Tone ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Free Field ◽

Chronic Otitis Media ◽

Valuable Alternative ◽

Hearing Ability ◽

Bone Anchored Hearing Aid ◽

Bone Conduction Hearing ◽

Air Conduction

Implantable bone conduction hearing aids are a valuable alternative to conventional aids for those who cannot use a conventional air conduction aid or find it difficult to use because of an aural discharge, most commonly due to chronic otitis media. Previously reported series of the use of a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) come from the originators of this device, and an independent report of their benefit and use, especially in previous air conduction aid users, would be of value. Twenty-three patients were evaluated at least 6 months after implantation of a BAHA. All 7 previous bone conduction aid users were delighted with their BAHA, reporting increased comfort and hearing benefit that was backed by audiometric evidence. Of the 16 individuals who previously used an air conduction aid, 11 (69%) were delighted users of their BAHA. Unfortunately, the other 5 (31%) reverted to solely using their air conduction aid. There was no obvious predictor as to how these individuals might have been identified prior to implantation. In particular, their pure tone thresholds, especially the bone conduction thresholds, were no different from those of the 11 BAHA users. However, in free field audiometry, the users gained superior benefit from their BAHA compared to their air conduction aid, whereas the nonusers did not. In conclusion, in all series to date, previous users of a conventional bone conduction aid have been delighted users of a BAHA and have gained superior audiometric benefit. This is not necessarily the case with previous air conduction aid users. As most patients rate hearing ability to be more important than absence of an aural discharge, it is important to develop methods that might predict benefit from a BAHA prior to implantation.

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Threshold of hearing for pure tone under free-field listening conditions.

Journal of the Acoustical Society of Japan (E) ◽

10.1250/ast.15.159 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 159-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Hisashi Takeshima ◽

Yôiti Suzuki ◽

Masazumi Kumagai ◽

Toshio Sone ◽

Takeshi Fujimori ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pure Tone ◽

Free Field

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Internally coupled middle ears enhance the range of interaural time differences heard by the chicken

10.1101/512715 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Köppl

Keyword(s):

Free Field ◽

Sound Stimulation ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Low Frequencies ◽

Interaural Time Differences ◽

Acoustic Stimuli ◽

Binaural Stimulation ◽

Neurophysiological Data ◽

Summary Statement ◽

Millisecond Range

AbstractInteraural time differences (ITD) are one of several principle cues for localizing sounds. However, ITD are in the sub-millisecond range for most animals. Because the neural processing of such small ITDs pushes the limit of temporal resolution, the precise ITD-range for a given species and its usefulness - relative to other localization cues - was a powerful selective force in the evolution of the neural circuits involved. Birds and other non-mammals have internally coupled middle ears working as pressure-difference receivers that may significantly enhance ITD, depending on the precise properties of the interaural connection. Here, the extent of this internal coupling was investigated in chickens, specifically under the same experimental conditions as typically used in neurophysiology of ITD-coding circuits, i.e. with headphone stimulation. Cochlear microphonics (CM) were recorded simultaneously from both ears of anesthetized chickens under monaural and binaural stimulation, using pure tones from 0.1 to 3 kHz. Interaural transmission peaked at 1.5 kHz at a loss of only −5.5 dB; the mean interaural delay was 264 μs. CM amplitude strongly modulated as a function of ITD, confirming significant interaural coupling. The “ITD heard” derived from the CM phases in both ears showed enhancement, compared to the acoustic stimuli, by a factor of up to 1.8. However, the closed sound delivery systems impaired interaural transmission at low frequencies (< 1 kHz). We identify factors that need to be considered when interpreting neurophysiological data obtained under these conditions, and relating them to the natural free-field condition.Summary statementThe interaural time differences that chickens can use for sound localization are significantly greater than their small head size suggests. Closed-system sound stimulation can, however, produce complex artefacts.

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A comparative study of smartphone based app with free field hearing for possible use as a screening test

International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery ◽

10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20173052 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 710

Author(s):

Himanshu Swami ◽

Aditya Bhargava ◽

Sabarigirish K. ◽

Arvind B. M.

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Gold Standard ◽

Military Service ◽

Pure Tone ◽

Early Stage ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Free Field ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

Hearing Assessment

Background:Hearing loss is an invisible injury that has been viewed as an acceptable by-product of military service. It is imperative to detect hearing loss at early stage to take immediate remedial measures. In Indian armed forces the current method of assessment of hearing is primarily by Free Field Hearing which is obsolete and has numerous shortcomings. We contucted a study using free iOS application to detect hearing loss. The objectives of the study were to investigate the validity and reproducibility of app based hearing assement and free field hearing with clinical pure tone audiometer as gold standard. It is cross sectional intra-subject comparative studyMethods:The study was conducted at CHAF where 200 patients were accrued. Hearing assessment was carried out by Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) which is gold standard. Thereafter these patients were subjected to hearing assessment by using windows application “freehearingtestsoftware.com” and by free field hearing (FFH). Results:Hearing assessment by FFH and hearing check app was compared with PTA. Hearing check app was found to be more sensitive than FFH (98% and 73%). Both modalities had high specificity (95% and 99%). The test retest reproducibility measured with Pearson correlation coefficient was high (0.99) with hearing check app.Conclusions:Smart phone application like Hearing check app is a cheap and effective way to assess hearing with reasonable accuracy. It’s high sensitivity and high test retest reproducibility makes it an ideal tool for screening and early detection of hearing loss replacing out-dated free field hearing.

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