Development and validation of an automated dichotic double word test in Indian English using MATLAB

Objective: Dichotic listening is an experimental paradigm where two different stimuli are presented to the right and left ear simultaneously. Currently, there are no clinically validated full version (Forced recall condition) of dichotic word test in Indian language with established normative. Hence the study involves the development of a MATLAB based Dichotic listening test in Indian English including free recall and forced recall conditions. Method: This study was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 involved development and validation of an automated dichotic listening test using MATLAB software. Phase 2 involved data collection and constructing a normative data on 70 healthy adults (18–50 yrs) and 70 children (10–15 yrs) also establishing test retest reliability on 25 participants for the newly developed test. Results: Right ear advantage was observed for free recall condition similar to that of classical dichotic effect. Also, there was no significant difference between the right and left ear scores in the two forced recall condition. The test showed moderate to good test-retest reliability for both the conditions. Conclusion: The results showed ideal retention of original dichotic effects for both free recall and forced recall conditions and hence can be used in clinical set to tests disordered population like Central auditory population disorder and Learning disability.