Abstract
This study measured behavioral speech-sound discrimination and a neurophysiologic correlate of discrimination in normal school-age children (ages 6 to 15) to determine if developmental effects exist. Just noticeable differences (JNDs) and mismatch responses (MMNs) were assessed for synthetic syllables that differed in third-formant onset frequency (/da-ga/) and formant transition duration (/ba-wa/). These stimuli were selected because children with learning problems often find it difficult to discriminate rapid spectrotemporal changes like /da-ga/, whereas the ability to distinguish /ba- wa/ is relatively unimpaired. Results indicate that JNDs for /da-ga/ show no developmental effects and that JNDs for /ba-wa/ decrease slightly with age (although likely for task-related reasons). MMNs elicited by two /da-ga/ stimulus pairs (onset frequency differences = 20 Hz, 280 Hz) and three /ba- wa/ stimulus pairs (transition duration differences = 3, 5, 15 ms) showed no systematic or significant differences for onset latency, duration, or area as a function of age. Normative JND and MMN data are provided. These norms provide a metric against which children with suspected central auditory processing difficulties or auditory-based language disorders can be compared.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1042-1060 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1999 |
Keywords
- Auditory development
- Central auditory physiology
- Learning disabilities
- Mismatch negativity
- Speech-sound perception
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Speech and Hearing