The time course of maturation on auditory tasks can differ between the average and consistency of performance and also between the sexes.

Abstract

Between infancy and adulthood, performance on auditory perceptual tasks becomes both better on average and more consistent. However, little is known about the relationship between these two aspects of performance during development. This issue was investigated by using a cross-sectional design to estimate the ages at which measures of average performance (the mean of multiple threshold estimates for each listener) and performance consistency (the within-listener standard deviation of those estimates) became adultlike on two temporal-interval discrimination and four masking conditions (ages: 8–30 years, n=50–142 per condition). Average performance became mature before consistency on two simultaneous-masking conditions, after consistency on two nonsimultaneous masking conditions (backward and forward), and at the same time as consistency on the two temporal-interval discrimination conditions. In addition, on five of the six conditions, males matured more quickly than females on both measures or on consistency alone, but did not differ from females on either measure in childhood or adulthood. These results suggest that different processes may underlie the average and consistency of performance on auditory tasks and that transient sex differences in these processes could lead to a male advantage during adolescence on some of the everyday skills that rely on auditory perception. [Work supported by the NIH/NIDCD.]