Used a modified visual-fixation-based auditory-preference procedure to test preferences for infant-directed singing versus adult-directed singing in 15 two-day-old hearing infants of deaf parents. Subjects heard a Japanese and an English play song. Found that infants prefer infant-directed singing over adult-directed singing and that the…

Studied the utility of cardiac habituation/response recovery as a measure for assessing infant cerebral asymmetries in auditory perception on a dichotic listening test. (Author/SB)

Study measures the precision of auditory localization in 26- to 30-week-old infants using the adult minimum audible angle test. Results show that infants discriminate sound displacements of about 19 degrees, considerably less accurate than adult values of one to two degrees. (Author/RWB)

Infants looked at visual displays of two or three items while listening to auditory sequences of two or three sounds. When the rate and duration of sounds were constant, infants looked longer at the visual display that was numerically equivalent to the auditory sequence. When the rate and duration of sounds varied, infants showed no preference for…

Two experiments investigated lateral asymmetries in eight-month-olds' perception of contour-altered and contour-preserved melody changes. Found that infants who heard a contour-altered change showed a left-ear advantage, whereas infants who heard a contour-preserved change showed a right-ear advantage. The pattern of lateralization for melody…

Applying optimal stimulation theory, the present study explored the development of sustained attention as a dynamic process. It examined the interaction of modality and temperament over time in children and adults. Second-grade children and college-aged adults performed auditory and visual vigilance tasks. Using the Carey temperament…

Auditory-visual pattern equivalence and temporal-spatial equivalence of 72 children of 7-17 years were examined. Data indicated that aspects of intersensory integration were still developing between the ages of 13 and 17. Accuracy in performance increased with age for intra- and intersensory matching. (RH)

Tested infants of six to eight months and children of 5.5 years for their discrimination of silent intervals between elements of auditory patterns. Both groups could detect increments, and the context of a temporal increment influenced its detectability. (SKC)

To investigate sensory dominance in early development, a series of studies examined six-month-old infants' processing of multisensory stimulus compounds. Findings indicated that infants discriminated changes in the temporal characteristics of the auditory component but not in the visual component. This and other findings suggested that auditory…

Involving 10-month-old infants, a series of studies examined responses to temporally modulated compound auditory-visual stimuli. Findings indicated that, although the auditory modality can dominate the visual modality at 10 months of age, the visual modality can process temporal information when the temporal relationship of the information in the…

Development of the relation between skills of visual and auditory pattern classification was studied at the second grade, sixth grade, and adult age levels using visual and auditory representations of the same abstract information. Results showed evidence of common processing of pattern class structure for the modalities, patterns, prototypes, and…

Two experiments tested whether newborns could discriminate their own and another newborn's cry. Results indicated that awake newborns expressed facial distress more frequently and longer to another newborn's cry than to their own. Sucking decreased significantly between pretest phase and first minute of another infant's cry. Asleep infants'…

Development of the ability to classify auditory patterns was studied at grades 2, 6, 10, and 12 and at adult age levels. Both accuracy and feature use in classification were consistent across age; the age changes that did occur appeared to be due to differences in perception rather than process. (JMB)

Compared head circumference and interaural distance in infants between birth and 22 weeks of age and in a small sample of preschool children and adults. Calculated changes in interaural time differences according to age. Found a large shift in distance. (SKC)