The ability of three age groups to identify pure tones was measured by the method of absolute judgments. Group mean ages were approximately 20, 40, and 60 years, with 25, 20, and 18 subjects per group, respectively. Eight tones in equal logarithmic units from 100 to 8000 Hz were presented monaurally in random order in the better ear at a loudness level of 60 phons. After practice, subjects were required to identify each tone by a designated code number from one to eight (low to high frequency). The correct identification was provided after each judgment. These were 80 judgments per subject (10 trials × 8 tones). Analysis of variance showed a significant difference in the mean number of correct responses among age groups. The means in order of increasing age were 55.52 (69.39%), 51.55 (64.43%), and 48.44 (60.55%) (Fratio 8. 003, 2/120 df,p= 0.001). The last 40 trials yielded significantly better performance than the first 40 trials for the 20 and 60 year‐old groups, but the 40 year‐old group showed no change (Fratio 10.401, 1/120 df,p= 0.002). The age × trials interactions was nonsignificant. It is concluded that the processing of auditory information is adversely affected by normal aging in adults from 20 to 60 years. [Work supported by SUNY Research Foundation Grant No. 023‐7185A.]