This study assessed the effective use of pure-tone testing versus speech testing as used to predict the degree of hearing handicap experienced by an individual. Twenty-one subjects over the age of 65 were tested. Each subject was administered the following test battery: spondee threshold; a pure-tone evaluation, including air and bone conduction; Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) test; Synthetic Sentence Identification (SSI) test; NU-6 for speech discrimination; establishment of most comfortable listening level (MCL) and loudness discomfort listening level (LDL); immittance testing including tympanograms, acoustic reflex thresholds, and reflex decay.

Responses of 122 children were obtained on two measures of central auditory processing to establish normative data. Children aged 6.5 through 12.5 years were tested for humming and tapping responses to the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test (PPST) and the two- and four-digit Dichotic Digit Tests (DDT). Children between ages 6.5 and 9.5 years showed progressively better scores on the tapping response of the PPST and on the four-digit DDT. Children above 9.5 years of age demonstrated adult-like responses on both tests. No differences were demonstrated in performance of children aged 6.5 through 12.5 years on the two-digit DDT or on the humming response of the PPST.

This investigation explored voice use and perception of use in singers as compared with non-singers at the university. Students recorded the amount and type of their voice use for forty-eight hours. They made judgments about their use and whether a voice disturbance was present. Each student was taped, and tapes were judged for disturbances. It was hypothesized that singers would have greater voice use and awareness than non-singers and experienced singers would have greater voice use and awareness than less experienced singers. Singers used their voices more than non-singers, but there were no differences in awareness. No differences between singer groups were noted. There was a high incidence of voice disturbances in all groups. Suggestions for future research were made.