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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
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Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Testing auditory processing skills and their associations with language in 4-5-year-olds
Edith L Bavin1, David B Grayden, Kim Scotti
1School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia. e.bavin@latrobe.edu.au
Language and Speech
|April 27, 2010
Summary
This study developed new auditory processing tests for 4-5 year olds. These tests revealed that auditory skills in young children significantly predict their language development, impacting both receptive and expressive language abilities.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Speech and Language Pathology
Background:
- Infant auditory processing predicts later language skills.
- Individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) often exhibit poor auditory processing.
- Existing auditory testing methods are unsuitable for 4-5 year olds or those with SLI.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create and validate auditory processing tests for children aged 4-5 years.
- To investigate the relationship between auditory processing abilities and language development in this age group.
Main Methods:
- Developed five novel auditory tasks using tones and synthesized syllables.
- Varied frequency and inter-stimulus intervals in tone tasks.
- Modified second formant transitions in syllable tasks for 49 children (mean age 58.57 months).
Main Results:
- Demonstrated variability in children's auditory processing skills.
- Found significant correlations in discrimination thresholds across tasks.
- Auditory processing abilities significantly predicted variance in receptive and expressive language.
Conclusions:
- The developed auditory tests are appropriate for assessing 4-5 year olds.
- Auditory processing skills are crucial early predictors of language development in young children.
