Consistent within-session measures of tinnitus.
Two psychophysical methods, a method of adjustment (MOA) and a forced-choice double-staircase adaptive procedure (FCDS) (Jesteadt, 1980), were used to measure the predominant pitch and loudness of tinnitus for 11 subjects during one test session. The FCDS within-session variability of matches to tinnitus pitch was smaller than for the MOA and comparable to the within-session variability obtained when the FCDS procedure was used to match objective stimuli that approximated the frequency and level of the tinnitus. The within-session variability of matches to tinnitus loudness was nearly identical for the FCDS and the MOA and comparable to the within-session variability obtained when the FCDS procedure was used to match objective stimuli that approximated the frequency and level of the tinnitus. For 3 subjects who participated in 20 sessions, the two psychophysical methods produced correlated measures of tinnitus that tracked each other between sessions. This suggests that tinnitus may be stable within a brief time span but fluctuant in the long run.
Penner
M J
MJ
Psychology Department University of Maryland, College Park.
Bilger
R C
RC
D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D010898:Pitch Perception; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology