Department of Veterans Affairs compact disc recording for auditory perceptual assessment: background and introduction

Materials for use in auditory perceptual assessment of central auditory problems are widely divergent in quality, usefulness, and complexity. These circumstances make interpreting results a highly provincial affair. Comparison of results between different clinics and laboratories is often difficult or impossible. Norms by which to judge an individual's performance are often applicable for only one version of a given test and may not be appropriate for another version of the "same" test. The pressing need for standardization of a battery of central auditory tasks that is useful in clinical endeavors and in laboratory experiments is obvious. If that battery could encompass a wide range of complexity, and if the items in it were produced with very high quality, then its value would increase. The materials previewed in this introductory article and in seven other articles in this journal edition were developed to address some of these issues. Monotic, diotic, and dichotic materials using speech and tone stimuli were created. They were produced on compact disc under the sponsorship of the Department of Veterans Affairs and with the assistance of many institutions and individuals in the United States. In the articles that follow this one, data generated from their use with young, normal listeners are presented.