Learning to categorize perceptually similar stimuli can result in people becoming more sensitive to differences along perceptual dimensions that are relevant to category membership and/or less sensitive to equivalent differences along irrelevant perceptual dimensions. These effects of acquired distinctiveness and acquired equivalence may be caused…

In their seminal study of chess expertise, Simon and Chase (Chase & Simon, 1973; Simon & Chase, 1973) proposed that perceptual learning was a necessary component of skill acquisition. In their view, acquisition of skill results from the strategic use of learning at multiple levels to adaptively overcome inherent limitations. The knowledge…

There is a growing list of examples illustrating that infants are transitioning from having earlier abilities that appear more "universal," "broadly tuned," or "unconstrained" to having later abilities that appear more "specialized," "narrowly tuned," or "constrained." Perceptual narrowing, a well-known phenomenon related to face, speech, and…

Forty-eight four-month-old infants were tested in a habituation-dishabituation discrimination paradigm using vertically symmetrical, horizontally symmetrical, and asymetrical forms. Results suggest that babies respond to "goodness of organization" rather than to details unique to particular symmetrical patterns. (Author/RH)

Examines discrimination of geometric shapes by three-month-old infants who were presented with geometric stimuli moving laterally at two different velocities. Finds that subjects discriminate between geometric forms at velocities that, according to previous findings, might interfere with shape discrimination. Discusses the possible interactive…

Two studies investigated three- and five-month-old infants' ability to discriminate and recognize different motions of rigid objects. Also explored was the nature of stimulus information which makes such discrimination and recognition possible. The results are discussed in terms of disruptions in the optic array. (Author/DST)

The article provides an overview of central auditory processing (CAP) dysfunction and reviews research on approaches to improve perceptual skills; to provide discrimination training for communicative and reading disorders; to increase memory and analysis skills and dichotic listening; to provide speech-in-noise training; and to amplify speech as…

Familiarized 6- and 8-month-olds with speech sounds from a phonetic continuum, exhibiting a bimodal or unimodal frequency distribution. Found that only infants in the bimodal condition discriminated tokens from the endpoints of the continuum. Results demonstrate that infants are sensitive to the statistical distribution of speech sounds in the…

Two experiments involving a total of 177 infants 8 to 11 months of age found that subjects used a global processing strategy like adults' in discriminating transformations of a six-tone melody. Subjects needed melodic contour and frequency range to judge new sequences, but, in easy tasks, they also used absolute frequency. (CB)

Results of an experiment using perception and discrimination learning tests showed that, in children, perception is affected by labels, perceptual learning, and selective attention. These effects are determined developmentally. As age increases, the effects of verbal clues decrease and those of perceptual clues increase. (PMJ)

This study evaluated the ability of 30 normally developing children (ages 6-12) to report the perceived location of a stationary fused auditory image (FAI) or track a "moving" FAI. Although subjects performed at normal adult levels with the stationary sound measure, they exhibited a significant age-related trend with the moving sound…

Four experiments assessed converging aspects of four-month-old infants' perceptions of visual patterns. Results together corroborate and extend previous findings that vertical symmetry has a special status in early perceptual development and that infants can perceive pattern wholes. (Author/AS)

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'…

Presented neonates with lexical and grammatical words prepared from natural maternal speech. Found that neonates could categorically discriminate the sets based on a constellation of perceptual cues that distinguished them. Suggested that this ability to discriminate words on basis of multiple acoustic/phonological cues provides a perceptual base…

Infants were tested for recognition and discrimination of expressions. Ten-month olds familiar with a mix of happy and surprised expressions demonstrated generalized discrimination of positive affect. Only after seven months does dependence on the presence of expression-specific features for affect recognition and discrimination diminish. (BC)