Objective: Children with auditory processing disorder, as well as older adults with and without hearing loss, often report difficulty understanding speech in the presence of noise. There is evidence that deficient temporal resolution contributes to this difficulty. The purpose of this study was to establish within-channel (WC) and across-channel (AC) gap detection thresholds (GDTs) for participants ages 7 to 84 years.
Design: GDTs were measured using narrow-band noise markers for two conditions of the Adaptive Tests of Temporal Resolution (ATTR): WC and AC.
Study sample: Participants were 29 children (ages 7-12 years) with normal hearing, 30 younger adults (ages 22-41 years) with normal hearing, and 60 older adults (ages 50 to 84 years) with varying hearing sensitivity.
Results: GDTs are smallest and least variable for younger adults with normal hearing and are largest and most variable for the youngest children (ages 7-8 years). The GDTs of the other groups fell between those of the younger adults and youngest children. Group differences were more apparent for AC than WC conditions.
Conclusions: WC and AC gap detection ability changes across the lifespan. The ATTR is an efficient tool for the assessment of temporal resolution at both ends of the lifespan.