The contribution of perceptual learning to performance on the repetition task

The hypothesis that the Repetition Task partially reflects the listener's level of perceptual learning was tested in this study. Specifically, it was predicted from data on auditory temporal processing that performance on the Repetition Task would improve with experience. Ten kindergarten children with no known communication problems were given 10 sets of the Repetition Task over a span of 5 days. Analysis of the data revealed a significant difference in performance across interstimulus intervals (ISI) and also over the training period. Performance improved as a function of increments in ISI and number of days of training. The data reflected a significant training effect, thereby supporting the experimental hypothesis. These results suggest the possibility that differences between dysphasic and normal children on the Repetition Task may result from differences in perceptual learning.