Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Response method in audiometry
Jeffrey J DiGiovanni1, Jennifer N Repka
1W222 Grover Center, School of Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA. digiovan@ohio.edu
Purpose:
This study compared the speed, false-alarm rate, and participant preference of different response methods (raising a hand, pushing a response button, and giving an oral response) for measuring pure-tone thresholds.
Method:
Thirty female university students with normal hearing participated. Response method order was randomly assigned to 6 different groups. Air-conduction thresholds were measured twice for each response method for each participant in octave intervals between 250 Hz and 8000 Hz. The 2nd threshold measurements were performed on a different day but within 2 weeks of the initial measurement.
Results:
A significant difference was found when comparing the amount of time necessary to complete the test for each response method. On average, it took about 1 min less when using the push-button response than when using hand-raise or verbal response methods. There was also a significant participant preference for using the response button. No significant difference between response method for threshold level and number of false positives was found.
Conclusion:
This study supports the use of the response button when measuring auditory thresholds for young adults with normal hearing.
