A Quantitative Method of Testing The Hearing of Young Children

Speech Audiometry with Infants and Children

“…That is, the words should be highly intelligible and of equal difficulty. Keaster (1947) outlined a number of problems in accurately determining speech reception thresholds in children which are relevant concerns today: (1) the test must have sufficient appeal to maintain the child's attention long enough for threshold to be determined; (2) most young children have a brief attention span, requiring a rapid procedure; (3) since verbal comprehension is more highly developed than verbal production in small children, nonverbal responses are preferred; (4) neither the child's short memory span nor his ability to understand the task must be exceeded; and (5) test words must be within the child's vocabulary.…”

Hearing testing of young children

“…Keaster (7) has outlined the method for speech audiometry, though this technique has since been modified and improved upon in many clinics.…”