Development and validation of Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) measures for auditory research

The current state of consumer-grade electronics means that researchers, clinicians, students, and members of the general public across the globe can create high-quality auditory stimuli using tablet computers, built-in sound hardware, and calibrated consumer-grade headphones. Our laboratories have created a free application that supports this work: PART (Portable Automated Rapid Testing). PART has implemented a range of psychoacoustical tasks including: spatial release from speech-on-speech masking, binaural sensitivity, gap discrimination, temporal modulation, spectral modulation, and spectrotemporal modulation (STM). Here, data from the spatial release and STM tasks are presented. Data were collected across the globe on tablet computers using applications available for free download, built-in sound hardware, and calibrated consumer-grade headphones. Spatial release results were as good or better than those obtained with standard laboratory methods. Spectrotemporal modulation thresholds were obtained rapidly and, for younger normal hearing listeners, were also as good or better than those in the literature. For older hearing impaired listeners, rapid testing resulted in similar thresholds to those reported in the literature. Listeners at five different testing sites produced very similar STM thresholds, despite a variety of testing conditions and calibration routines. Download Spatial Release, PART, and Listen: An Auditory Training Experience for free at https://bgc.ucr.edu/games/.