Poster #161 - Hearing water temperature: Characterizing the development of auditory event perception

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Perceptual, Sensory, Motor

Integrative Statement

Introduction:
Without conscious thought, we learn about events in the world from sounds we hear. For example, adults can judge the temperature of water from the sound of it being poured into a cup, although they do not expect to be able to do so (Velasco, Jones, King, and Spence, 2013). How do these nuanced perceptual skills develop? Previous work has shown that some aspects of cross-modal perception develop in infancy, and thus do not require extensive experience (Spelke, 1979; Meltzoff, 1993). Others have hypothesized that auditory event perception requires extensive experience with the sounds of everyday events, and as such, may develop later in childhood (Gaver, 1993). Here we characterize the developmental trajectory of this cross-modal skill, asking: Can children judge temperature from sound, and how early in childhood is this ability present? If extensive experience is necessary, then children may fail to accurately distinguish the sound of hot versus cold water until later in childhood.

Method:
N=113 children were tested across a wide range of ages (3 years; 0 months to 11;7, 46 female, Mean age=5;10). Acoustic stimuli were professionally recorded sounds of hot and cold water being poured into an identical cup (from Velasco et al, 2013). Pre-test questions first established that children could identify familiar sounds, images of hot vs. cold drinks, and hot vs. cold scenes. At test, participants heard two sound clips of water being poured into a cup, and were asked to identify which sounded like hot water and which like cold water. Stimulus position was randomized across participants.

Results:
To test for developmental change in this age range, we conducted a logistic regression and found that participants’ age significantly predicted their accuracy in identifying the sound of hot and cold water, χ2(1)=12.91, p<0.001. Most notably, children aged 5 and under performed at chance, in spite of our testing a sizable sample of four and five year-olds (4 year-olds: n=37; 40.5% correct; p=0.32; 5 year-olds: n=33; 54.5% correct; p=0.73, two-tailed binomial tests). In contrast, 85% of older children answered correctly (29 of 34 children aged 6+; our sample contained fewer children at these ages; Figure 2).

Conclusions:
These results provide evidence that auditory event perception develops gradually over childhood: Preschool children appear not to perceive water temperature from the sounds of pouring events, with this ability developing only later in childhood. This suggests that nuanced auditory event perception may require extensive experience, and raises questions about the nature and extent of the experience required. Overall, this work informs our understanding of the role of innate factors and experience in auditory perception.

Authors

• Tanushree Agrawal, University of California San Diego
  Presenting Author

• Michelle Lee, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda Calcetas, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danielle Clarke, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author

• Naomi Lin, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adena Schachner, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author