Recognition of Three Distinctive Features in Brief-Duration Complex Non-Speech Sounds.
Abstract
Three experiments investigated the effect of an interfering white noise on the recognition of brief-duration complex sounds. Listeners were presented with a 20 msec signal followed, after a variable delay, by a 500 msec white noise burst. Their task was to classify the signal into one of two categories on the basis of either its fundamental frequency, waveform or formant frequency. The main focus of the experiments was to investigate the relation between performance and the auditory features or cues present in the signal. Recognition performance improved with increasing inter-stimulus intervals up to an asymptote at approximately 200 msec. This finding is consistent with earlier results in suggesting that brief-duration signals are retained for a short time in a precategorical sensory memory for further processing. In addition, the data revealed that asymptotic performance level was determined primarily by the distinctiveness or discriminability of the relevant auditory feature and by the amount of listener experience with the relevant feature. It was concluded that practiced listeners have an improved ability to selectively focus their attention on specific auditory cues in a complex aural display. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1977
- Accession Number
- ADA047555
Entities
People
- Eugene B. Silverman
- James H. Howard Jr.
Organizations
- The Catholic University of America