Auditory pattern classification: Continuity of prototype use with development

Studied the development of the ability to classify auditory patterns in 26 males and 26 females at each of 5 age levels: 2nd, 6th, 10th, and 12th grades, and adult (undergraduates). Ss were required to state whether each 5-element pure tone sequence came from the training class. Both accuracy and feature use in classification were remarkably consistent across age, and regression analyses indicated that the age changes were due to differences in perceptual achievement rather than process. Performance at all age levels was highly predictable from the physical pattern characteristics, in particular, the similarity between patterns and their prototypes. Results are similar to those obtained in an analogous developmental study by L. S. Aiken and T. M. Williams (1973) involving visual patterns, and suggest that the processes of pattern perception are applicable across stimuli, modalities, and the age range studied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).