Infants' categorization of melodic contour

Abstract

Categorization of auditory patterns on the basis of melodic contour was demonstrated in 10-month-old infants with an operant-fixation preference technique. Study 1 established the usefulness of the preference paradigm for assessing discrimination of auditory patterns whose tones differed in frequency, wave form, or both. Study 2 used the same procedure to show that infants can treat as equivalent different auditory sequences that have the same melodic contour. Infants were familiarized with six rising-contour, or six falling-contour, patterns that differed in both the frequency and the wave form of the tones. During a preference test, two new sequences were presented, one with a rising contour and the other with a falling contour. Infants preferred the novel-contour test pattern. The discussion both addresses the implications of 10-month-olds spontaneously equating sequences on the basis of melodic contour and raises methodological issues relevant to auditory categorization.