Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research Vol.55 865-878 June 2012. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/11-0096)
© American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
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Article

The Developmental Trajectory of Spatial Listening Skills in Normal-Hearing Children

Rosemary Elizabeth Susan Lovetta
Pádraig Thomas Kittericka
Shan Huanga
Arthur Quentin Summerfielda,,b
a University of York, Heslington, York, United Kingdom
b Hull-York Medical School, University of York

Correspondence to Rosemary Elizabeth Susan Lovett: r.lovett{at}ucl.ac.uk

Purpose: To establish the age at which children can complete tests of spatial listening and to measure the normative relationship between age and performance.

Method: Fifty-six normal-hearing children, ages 1.5–7.9 years, attempted tests of the ability to discriminate a sound source on the left from one on the right, to localize a source, to track moving sources, and to perceive speech in noise.

Results: Tests of left–right discrimination, movement tracking, and speech perception were completed by ≥75% of children older than 3 years. Children showed adult levels of performance from age 1.5 years (movement tracking), 3 years (left–right discrimination), and 6 years (localization and speech in noise). Spatial release from masking—calculated as the difference in speech reception thresholds between conditions with spatially coincident and spatially separate speech and noise—remained constant at 5 dB from age 3 years. Data from a separate study demonstrate the age at which children with cochlear implants can complete the same tests. Assessments of left–right discrimination, movement tracking, and speech perception were completed by ≥75% of children who are older than 5 years and who wear cochlear implants.

Conclusion: These data can guide the selection of tests for future studies and inform the interpretation of results from clinical populations.

KEY WORDS: word recognition testing, children, normal hearing, cochlear implants


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