Cognitive development related to performance on preschool hearing screening tests.

Behavioral responses to routine hearing screening were measured on 730 preschool children (ages 52 to 70 months). A stratified sample (which oversampled children "at risk" for developmental delay) also received a standardized test of cognitive abilities (McCarthy Scales or the Stanford-Binet). The results revealed that children without audiologic pathology who failed one or more of three hearing test behavioral scales scored significantly lower on the McCarthy Scales or Stanford-Binet than other children. Children failing two or more scales formed a definite risk group, with a group mean approximately two standard deviations below the national mean on both the McCarthy Scales and the Stanford-Binet. The data thus indicate that it is possible to gather simultaneous information about hearing ability and cognitive status.