Abstract
We studied auditory discrimination of simulated single-formant frequency transitions that resembled portions of certain speech consonants. Significant age differences in transition discrimination occurred; both children and older adults required larger acoustic differences between transitions for discrimination than did teenagers/young adults. Longer transitions were more easily discriminated than shorter transitions by all listeners, and there were no differences between discriminations of rising and falling transitions. Teens/young adults and older adults, but not children, required larger frequency differences to discriminate frequency transitions followed by a steady-state sound than for transitions alone. There were also age differences in discrimination of steady-state sounds. These developmental-perceptual differences may help explain why children and older adults who have good pure-tone sensitivity may experience difficulty in understanding speech.
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This research was supported in part by a grant from NINCDS (NIH).
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Elliott, L.L., Hammer, M.A., Scholl, M.E. et al. Age differences in discrimination of simulated single-formant frequency transitions. Perception & Psychophysics 46, 181–186 (1989). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204981
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204981