[An audiometric method for use with children. The cochleo-palpebral reflex can be improved by visual conditioning]

It is possible, even with children and new-born babies, to condition the oculo-palpebral reflex to respond to sound. The apparatus constructed by Messrs. Gasquet and Brun achieves this conditioning on the one hand and, on the other, allows this to be used as a method of visual audiometry. This method generally enables the operator to come within twenty decibels or so of the real threshold compared with the unconditioned cochleo-palpebral reflex threshold. The use of a polygraphic recording technique for palpebral response adds precision to the results of this method, particularly by the demonstration of a phenomenon of anticipation which appears when the conditioning has been achieved. Audiometry by means of conditioning therefore represents an objective technique for detecting deafness in new-born babies.