VRA: Habituation in infants as a function of stimulus type

Visual reinforcement audiometry is well established as a test method for evaluating the auditory sensitivity of infants and young children; however, it is recognized that infants and young children will habituate to this test method. Research suggests that habituation rate is a function of the complexity of the stimulus (auditory or visual). The purpose of this study was to examine habituation rates in infants (7-9 months of age) to the VRA task as a function of stimulus type. Two types of stimuli were examined, a 2()()() Hz frequency modulated tone sinusoidally modulated at a rate of 5Hz with a frequency deviation of +Ill% and a tonal stimulus that was identical to the first except that the modulation rate was 20Hz. Four infants were tested utilizing a repeated measures research design. Results indicated essentially no difference in habituation rates in infants to the VRA task when utilizing the 2()()() Hz tonal stimulus with modulation rates of 5 or 20Hz.