Rapid auditory learning of temporal gap detection.

The rapid initial phase of training-induced improvement has been shown to reflect a genuine sensory change in perception. Several features of early and rapid learning, such as generalization and stability, remain to be characterized. The present study demonstrated that learning effects from brief training on a temporal gap detection task using spectrally similar narrowband noise markers defining the gap (within-channel task), transfer across ears, however, not across spectrally dissimilar markers (between-channel task). The learning effects associated with brief training on a gap detection task were found to be stable for at least a day. These initial findings have significant implications for characterizing early and rapid learning effects.