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

摘要： 以日语单词为材料，考察学习顺序和材料相似性对听觉类别学习的影响。结果发现，对于高相似性规则，个体在交错呈现条件下学习成绩更好；对于低相似性规则，个体在集中呈现条件下学习成绩更好。这一现象与前人在视觉类别学习中所发现的规律相同。结果表明，学习顺序对听觉类别学习的影响受材料相似性调节，并且学习顺序对类别学习的影响具有跨通道的一致性。

关键词: 听觉类别学习, 集中呈现, 交错呈现, 材料相似性