Repeated infant thresholds in operant and nonoperant audiometric procedures.

This study examined test-retest reliability of infant auditory thresholds in a single evaluation session. Eight- to 11-month-olds were assessed in both operant and nonoperant audiometric procedures. Operant testing produced an average of 8.5 thresholds. Mean threshold level did not shift significantly over the course of the operant session, although some individual threshold functions varied from the group trend. Nonoperant assessment yielded two or more measures of threshold for only a portion of the subject group. The pattern of repeated measures for this subgroup showed a significant upward shift in threshold level.