During the Hughson-Westlake procedure, how many dB steps do you descend after the person responds?

In the Hughson-Westlake procedure, the typical method involves adjusting the sound level in a systematic way after obtaining a response from the test subject. When an individual responds to a tone, the next step is to decrease the intensity of the sound by 10 dB. This approach helps to accurately track the threshold of hearing by allowing for a conservative decrement in sound intensity, ensuring that the hearing threshold is established without overshooting or missing the threshold due to excessively large decreases.

The 10 dB decrement is chosen because it is a balance between being sensitive enough to catch subtle changes in hearing ability while also being practical to avoid excessive back-and-forth adjustments that could potentially lead to a frustrating testing experience. This step size is a standard in audiometric testing, making it a reliable method to assess hearing thresholds effectively.