Presentation level determination for CV tokens using a computer-controlled adaptive procedure

The feasibility of using a computer-controlled adaptive procedure to find maximum monotic performance for consonant-vowel (CV) stimuli was evaluated and compared to the procedure typically used to determine a performance-intensity function in two experiments. In experiment I, the computer-controlled adaptive procedure and the typical manual procedure were evaluated on 26 normally hearing listeners. Results indicated that the shape of the performance-intensity functions was similar for both procedures with the computer-controlled adaptive procedure selecting a higher presentation level. The test-retest reliability for the computer-controlled adaptive procedure was good with a mean difference on retest of 1.2 dB. In experiment II, the same procedures were evaluated using 9 sensorineural hearing impaired subjects. Again similar configuration between functions was observed. The primary advantage of the computer-controlled adaptive procedure for both subject groups is efficiency in terms of time of administration and number of CV stimuli used.