关键词: 听觉类别学习, 集中呈现, 交错呈现, 材料相似性

Abstract: The present study aims to examine the effects of practice schedule and material similarity on auditory category learning. Participants were asked to learn both higher and lower similarity pronunciation rules of Japanese in the blocked and interleaved conditions. The results revealed that in the condition of higher similarity, participants benefited from interleaving. In contrast, in the condition of lower similarity, blocking was more effective. These findings are consistent with what Carvalho and Goldstone (2014) found on visual category learning. Besides, the results showed that for the old words, if the similarity of pronunciation rule was higher, more participants chose the correct option; however, if the similarity of pronunciation rule was lower, more participants chose the rule-correct option. Our results suggest that: 1) material similarity modulates the effects of practice schedule on auditory category learning, 2) the effects of practice schedule on auditory category learning are consistent with the effects on visual category learning, and 3) during learning the lower similarity rules, participants remember only the rule parts, whereas during learning the higher similarity rules, they can remember both the rule and non-rule parts.

Key words: auditory category learning, blocking, interleaving, material similarity