[Performance of normal young adults in two temporal resolution tests].
BACKGROUND
temporal auditory processing is defined as the perception of sound or of sound alteration within a restricted time interval and is considered a fundamental ability for the auditory perception of verbal and non verbal sounds, for the perception of music, rhythm, periodicity and in the discrimination of pitch, duration and of phonemes.


OBJECTIVE
to compare the performance of normal Brazilian adults in two temporal resolution tests: the Gaps-in-Noise Test (GIN) and the Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT), and to analyze potential differences of performance in these two tests.


METHODS
twenty-five college students with normal hearing (11 males and 14 females) and no history of educational, neurological and/or language problems, underwent the GIN and RGDT at 40dB SL.


RESULTS
statistically significant gender effects for both tests were found, with female participants showing poorer performance on both temporal processing tests. In addition, a comparative analysis of the results obtained in the GIN and RGDT revealed significant differences in the threshold measures derived for these two tests. In general, significantly better gap detection thresholds were observed for both male and female participants on the GIN test when compared to the results obtained for the RGDT.


CONCLUSIONS
male participants presented better performances on both RGDT and GIN, when compared to the females. There were no differences in performance between right and left ears on the GIN test. Participants of the present investigation, males and females, performed better on the GIN when compared to the RGDT. The GIN presented advantages over the RGDT, not only in terms of clinical validity and sensibility, but also in terms of application and scoring.
Zaidan
Elena
E
Department of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA. zaidan.pontin@uol.com.br
Garcia
Adriana Pontin
AP
Tedesco
Maria Lucy Fraga
ML
Baran
Jane A
JA
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000592:standards; D001304:Auditory Diseases, Central / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise; D011930:Reaction Time; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult