What to Expect During Your Visit: Infants

How Do We Test Infants?

Currently, infants in our lab are tested using a technique known as the observer-based psychophysical procedure. Developed by Lynne Werner at the University of Washington, this procedure uses behavioral responses provided by your baby (such as a head turn to sound) to determine whether they detected or discriminated a target sound.

For more specific information regarding the observer-based psychophysical procedure, please visit Dr. Werner’s website

Infant Testing:

During testing, your baby will sit on your lap in a sound-treated room and will listen to sounds. In some studies, the sounds are presented through earphones. In other studies, the sounds are presented from a loudspeaker. To learn about their hearing, we teach infants to make responses to sound signals by looking for a mechanical toy when a desired sound is heard. Sound signals are presented in quiet and in various background sounds, but are not too loud.

In addition to hearing screening, children in our studies receive a middle ear screening. This uses a standard clinical procedure called tympanometry. If at any time we discover any important hearing-related findings, we will report those findings to you and provide you with contact information for a complete hearing evaluation.

Finishing Up

When your child is finished with the day’s study activities, we will again be happy to answer any questions you have about the study or activities completed. Children are paid for the time they spend in the lab with our team. Payment for participating ranges depending on type and length of study.