An Investigation of Dual Sensory Stimulus Presentation of Complex Noise-Like Sounds.
Abstract
The ability of a listener to detect changes in auditory and visual signals was investigated. Subjects were presented auditory signals via headphones, a spectral representation of the signal via a CRT, or both representations simultaneously. The signal pairs were bands of noise buried in a noise. The Signal-to-Noise (SNR) increased slowly. This gave the signal the appearance of emerging out of the nosie. The task of the subjects consisted of determining which of two possible signals were presented in the noise and responding by pressing a designated response button. Subjects were asked to use the criterion of reasonable certainty. The factors of interest were the mean SNR at which the subject was able to make a discrimination and to respond and the probability of a correct response. The mean SNR's for each of the modes of presentation were compared to determine the significance of combining sensory modalities in signal detection and discrimination tasks. The results indicate that for two of three signal patterns used in this experiment, the combined audio-visula presentation mode is superior to either the auditory or the visual modes used singly, while for one of the signal pairs used, an amplitude modulated signal, the auditory presentation mode yielded the best performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 09, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA074936
Entities
People
- Alfred Barbour
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University