Method for the interpretative identification of a premature ignition in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, wherein an angular velocity or an angular acceleration of a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine or of a component rotationally driven by the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine is determined by means of a sensor device, wherein a feature (14, 16) characterizing a combustion in the combustion chamber is determined by means of a change in the determined angular velocity or the determined angular acceleration, wherein, on the basis of a parameter either of a crankshaft angle or of a crankshaft angular range defining the relative position of the occurrence of the feature within a revolution of the crankshaft or of the component, a distinction is automatically made between an intended combustion and a premature ignition, wherein a threshold value for the parameter is defined that delimits a first parameter range assigned to an intended combustion from a second parameter range assigned to a premature ignition, wherein, on the basis of an averaging method for temporally discrete segments of a plurality of parameters resulting from an intended combustion, a mean value is periodically formed and an adaptation value for the threshold value is derived, wherein the interpolated profile of the adaptation values thereby represents the average profile of the crankshaft angular range, within which the features interpreted as an intended combustion are arranged, wherein the threshold value is adapted by a crank angle interval between the threshold value and the adaptation value being kept substantially constant. wherein an angular velocity or an angular acceleration of a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine or of a component rotationally driven by the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine is determined by means of a sensor device, wherein a feature (14, 16) characterizing a combustion in the combustion chamber is determined by means of a change in the determined angular velocity or the determined angular acceleration, wherein, on the basis of a parameter either of a crankshaft angle or of a crankshaft angular range defining the relative position of the occurrence of the feature within a revolution of the crankshaft or of the component, a distinction is automatically made between an intended combustion and a premature ignition, wherein a threshold value for the parameter is defined that delimits a first parameter range assigned to an intended combustion from a second parameter range assigned to a premature ignition, wherein, on the basis of an averaging method for temporally discrete segments of a plurality of parameters resulting from an intended combustion, a mean value is periodically formed and an adaptation value for the threshold value is derived, wherein the interpolated profile of the adaptation values thereby represents the average profile of the crankshaft angular range, within which the features interpreted as an intended combustion are arranged, wherein the threshold value is adapted by a crank angle interval between the threshold value and the adaptation value being kept substantially constant.