Abstract
Responsiveness of 1-, 3-, and 5-year-old children and adults to octave-band noises at 4 and 10 kHz was assessed with ago/no-go version of visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) (Moore, Thompson, & Thompson, 1975) and a two-alternative, forced-choice version-(Suzuki & Ogiba, 1961; Trehub, Schneider, & Endman, 1980). Infants performed better on the two-alternative, forced-choice version in quiet and in noisy backgrounds, and adults performed better on the two-alternative, forced-choice version in quiet but not in noisy backgrounds. Performance on the two tasks was essentially equivalent for 3- and 5-year-old children. Superior performance on two-alternative VRA over go/no-go may be due to lesser cognitive demands in the case of infants and to the engagement of superior decision strategies in the case of adults.
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This research was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council of Canada and the University of Toronto.
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Schneider, B.A., Trehub, S.E. & Thorpe, L. Developmental perspectives on the localization and detection of auditory signals. Perception & Psychophysics 49, 10–20 (1991). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211611
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211611