COMPARISON OF PSYCHOACOUSTIC MEASURES USING TWO PIECES OF SOFTWARE: PSYCON AND MATLAB’S MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD PROCEDURE

Abstract

Background: Psychoacoustic abilities play a crucial role in speech perception. Psycon and Matlab’s maximum likelihood procedure (MLP) are two commonly used pieces of software to assess psychoacoustic ability. The present work compares a number of psychoacoustic abilities based on Psycon and MLP. Material and methods: There were 39 participants with normal hearing sensitivity who were enrolled in this study. The psychoacoustic measures assessed were gap detection threshold (GDT), duration discrimination threshold (DDT), difference limen of intensity (DLI), and difference limen of frequency (DLF). These measures were done using both Psycon and MLP, and a comparison was made between the two. An attempt was made to keep the stimuli specifications similar in Psycon and MLP except for the duration of stimuli in GDT. Results: A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine the significance of differences between MLP and Psycon. The results showed no significant difference in DLI, DLF, and DDT between MLP and Psycon; however, a significant difference was found in GDT. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the results of DLI, DLF, and DDT can be generalized between Psycon and MLP. However, further research with a larger sample would strengthen the current study’s findings.