Monaural temporal integration and temporally selective listening in children and adults

Shuman He, Emily Buss, Joseph W. Hall

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study used two paradigms to investigate the development of temporal integration and temporally selective listening. Experiment 1 measured detection as a function of duration for a pure tone at 1625 or 6500 Hz. At both frequencies thresholds of children younger than 7 years old were higher than those for older children and adults. The pattern of temporal integration was similar across groups for the 6500-Hz signal, but younger children showed relatively more temporal integration for the 1625-Hz signal due to high thresholds for the briefest 1625-Hz signal. Experiment 2 measured detection thresholds for one or for three brief tone pips presented in a noise masker. In one set of conditions, the noise masker consisted of 100-ms steady bursts interleaved with 10-ms temporal gaps. In other conditions, the level of the central 50 ms of the 100-ms masking noise bursts was adjusted by either +6 or -6 dB. Children showed higher thresholds but similar temporal integration compared with adults. Overall, these data suggest that children are less efficient than adults in weighting the output of the monaural temporal window at 1625 but not 6500 Hz. Children are efficient in combining energy from brief temporal epochs that are separated by noise.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3643-3653
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume127
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2010
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Acoustics and Ultrasonics

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