Presbyacusis: II. The effect of pulse duration and of the rate of intensity change on pure tone thresholds

Abstract

Hearing thresholds were determined with a Rudmose ARJ-5 Automatic Audiometer in 41 presbyacutic ears using two rates (2.5 and 5 dB/sec) intensity change and pulse durations of 170, 500 and 1300 msec. The silent intervals were 170, 300 and 900 msec, respectively. The thresholds obtained in various combinations did not show significant differences in statistical evaluation. The size of the threshold tracings was smaller for 170 and 500 msec tones for several frequencies as compared with the 1300 msec tones. and irrespective of the testing conditions, the low frequency tones gave larger tracings than the high frequency tones. The best response was obtained with short, 170 msec, pulses.