The effect of musical experiences and age on the ability of deaf children to discriminate pitch of complex tones

The purpose of this research was to investigate the ability of deaf children to discriminate pitch of complex tones. The research was designed to study the effects of age and school musical experiences on pitch discrimination and to identify possible relationships between pitch discrimination and other variables, including hearing levels, academic achievement, and home music background. A pitch discrimination test was designed to measure the difference limen for frequency (DLF) at 250 and 500 Hz. Subjects (ages 6 to 9 and 11 to 12) were selected from two residential schools for the deaf; one school included music classes in the curriculum. Information regarding prior musical experiences was elicited from subjects' parents and classroom teachers via written questionnaires. Audiometric data and achievement levels were obtained from school records. Programs in SPSSX were used to analyze data