Infants' perception of temporal grouping in auditory patterns.

Infants' processing of temporal parameters of auditory patterns was investigated by assessing the ability of 5-month-old infants to discriminate between multitone patterns with identical component tones but contrasting temporal arrangements of these tones. Following habituation of the cardiac response to a 6-tone stimulus with 2,4 grouping infants were presented with the same tonal sequence with 4,2 grouping. Significant dishabituation was evident, indicating discrimination of different temporal groupings of auditory stimuli.