Some Effects of Prestimulus Activity and Length of Prestimulus Observation on Judgments of Infants' Auditory Behaviour

Abstract

The auditory responses of nine 6-week-old and ten 6-month-old infants were assessed subjectively by a group of four observers. These responses were evaluated as a function of (1) prestimulus activity level and (2) duration of prestimulus observation. Response assessment for both ages was significantly affected by the first but not by the second. The percentage of responses for both ages tended to decrease with increasing prestimulus activity state. The findings are compared with the similar study of Langford et al. [1974] on neonates

Key Words:

• Infant auditory testing
• Behavioural responses
• Prestimulus activity level
• Prestimulus observation period