The use of visual stimuli during auditory assessment

Two groups of male subjects beyond 50 years of age were given audiometric tasks with and without visual stimulation to determine if visual stimuli changed auditory perception. The first group consisted of 10 subjects with normal auditory acuity; the second, 10 with sensorineural hearing losses greater than 30 decibels. The rate of presentation of the visual stimuli, consisting of photographic slides of various subjects, was determined in experiment I of the study. The subjects, while viewing the slides at their own rate, took an audiotry speech discrimination test. Advisedly they changed the slides at a speed which they felt facilitated attention while performing the auditory task. The mean rate of slide-changing behavior was used as the "optimum" visual stimulation rate in experiment II, which was designed to explore the interaction of the bisensory presentation of stimuli. Bekesy tracings and Rush Hughes recordings were administered without and with visual stimuli, the latter presented at the mean rate of slide changes found in experiment I. Analysis of data indicated that (1) no statistically significant difference exists between visual and nonvisual conditions during speech discrimination and Bekesy testing; and (2) subjects did not believe that visual stimuli as presented in this study helped them to listen more effectively. The experimenter concluded that the various auditory stimuli encountered in the auditory test situation may actually be a deterrent to boredom because of the variety of tasks required in a testing situation.