Auditory thresholds in children for narrow-band noise and warble tones in sound field

Auditory thresholds for frequency-modulated (warble) tones and narrow bands of noise in a sound field were obtained for children between the ages of eight and 48 months. Differences between the two types of stimuli centered at either 500 Hz or 4,000 Hz and among three age groups were not statistically significant (P greater than 0.01). Auditory thresholds for these frequency-selective stimuli did coincide closely with the speech awareness and spondee threshold measurements obtained in the present study, and with thresholds for complex noise obtained in previous reports. Sound field warble tone thresholds differed, however, from published data in adults and unpublished data in children. Explanations for discrepancies between data in present study and previous studies are suggested, and a cautious recommendation for the use of frequency-selective stimuli in the assessment of auditory thresholds in children is emphasized.