The development of performance-based auditory aviation classification standards in the United States Navy

Abstract

In an effort to replace chronological age as the determinant of pilot fitness, the Acoustical Sciences Division of the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory has been evaluating a number of auditory measures for possible inclusion in a performance-based pilot assessment battery. Preliminary data are reported for age-dependent performances on such measures as pure-tone thresholds, clear and degraded speech perception, auditory short-term memory, response time to auditory signals, and auditory selective attention. The relevance of these laboratory-gathered values to operational environment requirements is discussed. [Work sponsored by the Naval Medical Research and Development Command.]

An Automated Version of the Dichotic Listening Test: Hardware, Software, and Procedural Details.

“…Griffin and his associates (3)(4)(5) studied the DLT in conjunction with a concurrent psychomotor task in the U.S. Navy and found it to be of use in predicting primary flight grades (6). We at the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory have incorporated the DLT in a battery of tests designed to assess the auditory fitness of aviators (7). The purpose of this test battery is to provide flight surgeons with additional information regarding higher auditory functioning to supplement (or supplant) the currently available pure-tone audiogram and Whispered Voice Test measures.…”