DEVELOPMENT OF BASIC AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION IN

quency (pitch), and duration discrimina-tion were examined in 41 normal-hearing children, aged4 to 6 years, and 9 adults. A second study retested 25 ofthe young-est children 12 to 18 months later. Inten-sity discrimination showed the least im-provement with age and was adultlike by age 5 for most of the children. In con-trast, frequency and duration discrimi-nation showed highly significant im-provement with age, but remained poorer than adults ' discrimination for many 6-year·olds. Large individual dif-ferences were observed within all tasks and age groups. The processing of auditory input, such as speech and music, depends on the ability to discriminate changes in the intensity, frequency, and duration of sounds-or, in psychological terms, changes in loudness, pitch, and timing. Extensive studies in the 1920s to 1940s using the Seashore Measures of Musical Talent (Seashore, Lewis, & Saetveit, 1939) suggested that intensity, fre-quency, and duration discrimination im-proved with age for older school-age children. These tests were not suitable for preschool children, however, and also lacked the rigor of current psycho-physical testing procedures and stimuli. More recent studies suggest that nor-mal-hearing infants and young children improve with age on intensity and fre-quency discrimination (Maxon & Hoch