Herbert N. Wright

The initial evaluation of dysosmia

Patients with disturbances in their sense of smell often represent a bewildering array of alternative diagnoses. The existing knowledge of olfactory disorders has been schematized into a systematic history approach toward the development of a differential diagnosis for dysosmic patients. Its components should elicit essential elements of the history which, according to the literature, have been associated with dysosmia. The ability to update the details of specific components permits it to be adapted to the needs of the individual practitioner.

Temporal Summation Function in Presbycusis

The threshold‐duration function was measured by brief‐tone Bekesy audiometry at 250, 1000, and 4000 Hz. At each frequency, threshold was tracked continuously for 1 min; thresholds were then tracked successively for interrupted tones of 500‐, 200‐, 100‐, 50‐, 20‐, and 10‐msec duration. All interrupted tones were presented for 1 min at a repetition rate of 1/sec with a rise‐fall time of 10 msec; the attenuation rate for all tests was 2.5 dB/sec, on a Grason‐Stadler E‐800 audiometer. Subjects (nine male, seven female) were 51 to 57 years of age with no otological abnormalities; threshold‐duration functions were obtained on both right and left ears. The results indicate the presence of temporal summation; but, as frequency is increased, the threshold‐duration function is depressed compared to that of a young, normative group [H. N. Wright, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer. 53, 113(A) (1972)]. Five subjects from the older group with no previous history of noise exposure showed a pronounced frequency effect, with a shorten...

Psychometric functions and thresholds of audibility obtained with different methods as a function of duration and frequency

Two interval forced choice (2IFC) psychometric functions and thresholds of audibility, measured with the methods of adjustment, Bekesy tracking, and 2IFC tracking [Zwislocki et al., J. Acoust: Soc. Am. 30, 254–262 (1958)], were obtained for 500‐ and 20‐ms tones at 250, 1000, and 4000 Hz in the absence of masking noise. Custom fitted ear inserts maintained constant transducer placement. The signal intensity at a percent correct P(C) of 76% was designated threshold on each psychometric function. Values of P(C) obtained at threshold intensity with each method, designated the relative position each threshold assumed on its respective psychometric function. Test‐retest results indicated that thresholds obtained with different psycho‐physical methods have associated with them stable, but nevertheless different P(C) values. Moreover, statistical comparisons among the threshold for tones, as a function of their duration and frequency, revealed a uniform and monotonic decrease in temporal summation as frequency i...