Dichotic Interaural Intensity Difference Training (DIID) app

Dichotic Interaural Intensity Difference Training (DIID) is an app specifically for use on an iPad, and available for download in the Apple app store. 

The DIID app focuses on a pivotal component of auditory training—dichotic listening.  The paradigm underlying the app, dichotic interaural intensity difference training, was developed by Drs. Frank Musiek, Gail Chermak, and Jeffrey Weihing. The DIID app is based on a wealth of empirical evidence on the neuroscience, diagnosis and treatment of central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). The app provides a variety of verbal stimuli to train dichotic listening, a fundamental auditory skill crucial to recognizing speech in noise and fundamental to listening, language processing, and learning. The easy-to-use app provides the flexibility necessary to adapt stimuli for training regimens to meet individual needs in a video-game like environment for children or a more standard psychophysical paradigm for adults.

The DIID app is designed to engage users in intensive practice needed to effect positive behavioral change in dichotic listening in two modes: dichotic integration (i.e., the listener is required to identify two words or two digits, one presented in each ear simultaneously) and dichotic separation (i.e., the listener is required to identify one of two words or two digits presented simultaneously one in each ear in the ear specified. The DIID app relies on an adaptive algorithm (i.e., the program changes in response to the user’s performance) to optimize learning by training near the user's skill threshold (‘edge of competency’). Feedback is provided (reinforcement) to the user to maintain motivation, maximize engagement, provide intensive practice, and maximize training efficiency. Performance is tracked and displayed after 50 trials.

The DIID app is appropriate for use with children, adults, and older adults experiencing hearing and listening problems. Auditory processing deficits are also frequently seen in hearing aid and cochlear implant users and in individuals with disorders, such as learning disabilities, dyslexia, language impairment, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorder.