Auditory Pattern and Object Perception

Question 1

Why might grouping be clinically relevant?

Answer 1

• Organizing complicated auditory scenes
• Understanding speech in noise
• Suprasegmentals

Question 2

What is the difference between a sound “source” and a sound “stream”?

Answer 2

• Source: emits the sound

- Stream: comes from sound but the sound can change

Question 3

Why is there a max of 37 dimensions to characterize timbre for a static sound?

Answer 3

-There are 37 non-overlapping critical bands along the BM

Question 4

What general perceptual organization rules apply to auditory grouping?

Answer 4

• Similarly (i.e. frequency/pitch, timbre, location, loudness)
• Good continuation: smooth transitions grouped, discontinues not
• Common fate: start-end time, change in a coherent way (i.e. AM, FM)
• Disjoint allocation: if a component was used to form one stream, it can’t be used to form another
• Closure (i.e. continuity effect)

Question 5

What are the 7 grouping cues?

Answer 5

1. Harmonicity (temporal regularity/fundamental frequency)
2. Spectral separation
3. Spectral profile
4. Spatial separation
5. Temporal separation
6. Temporal onsets/offsets
7. Temporal modulations

Question 6

Describe the effects of hearing loss on perceptual restoration.

Answer 6

• Different configurations of speech in interfering noise was presented to NH and HI listeners (rates of speech, amount of interfering noise, percentage of time for speech vs. noise)
• NH were good at phonemic restorations
• HI resulted in worse phonemic restoration (noise hindered speech understanding)
• Want to study this because abrupt interruptions occur all the time in real life

Question 7

Describe the effects of aging of perceptual restoration.

Answer 7

• Older people show larger perceptual restoration
• Aging process provides many opportunities to practice because hearing is getting worse
• Acquire compensation strategies

Question 8

Describe the galloping rhythm demonstration.

Answer 8

-Tones alternate in a sequence of A and B tones, at times resulting in the perception of 2 streams in a “galloping rhythm” and other times the 2 tones seem isolated

Question 9

What grouping cues facilitate the galloping rhythm demonstration?

Answer 9

1) Harmonicity: when tones were inharmonic, less inclined to hear galloping (and vice versa)
2) Spectral separation: it was easier to hear galloping at beginning and end of tones (when most similar in frequency)