Bregman (1994) - Chapter 2 (47 -

Question 1

Auditory stream segregation vs. streaming effect

Answer 1

1. general mechanism in auditory scene analysis, which forms streams
2. effect when a sequence of high and low tones is grouped into two different streams

Question 2

Can the streaming effect override the true sequence of sounds?

Answer 2

yes

Question 3

Trill threshold: who? what?

Answer 3

Geroge Miller 1947:
apparent motion between two frequencies unless they are two far apart. (fixed tempo)
the breaking point = trill threshold

Question 4

What did Bozzi and Vicaroi add to the auditory stream segregation?

Answer 4

distances are relative to other distances

Question 5

Four advantages of using looped sounds:

Answer 5

1. Aspects can be changed, whereas everthing else stays constant.
2. Low influence of starting and ending point.
3. repetition pushes levels of stream segregation to above normal levels.
4. Loops eliminate the use of slow cognitive strategies by the listener.

Question 6

Five methods to measure stream segregation:

Answer 6

• Method of adjustment
• method of limits
• proportion of time integration and segregation
• rating scale for fixed presentation
• pattern recognition

Question 7

Another four methods to measure stream segregation:

Answer 7

• rhythm changes
• drawing
• judgement of order
• counting tones

Question 8

Hysteresis?

Answer 8

Once the sequence is heard as integrated and the listeners start to increase the frequency separation again, it may require a large separation to split the sequence. The threshold between the two percepts can be so unstable as a result of this hysteresis that the thresholds are very unreliable.

Question 9

What was the main finding of Leo van Noorden’s thesis?

Answer 9

There is an area in which participants can choose between hearing stimulus as one or two streams.

Question 10

What are the names of the limits of the area of both possibilities?

Answer 10

Temporal Coherence Boundary (TCB)
Fission Boundary (FB)

Question 11

FB

Answer 11

Fission Boundary:

streams to close to be heard seperately

Question 12

TCB

Answer 12

Temporal Coherence Boundary:

frequency separation too large to be heard as one stream

Question 13

Which boundary is sensitive to tone rate?

Answer 13

Temporal Coherence Boundary

Question 14

Another important fact van Noorden’s study showed:

Answer 14

Segregation seems to be the same whether the variable tone is above or below the fixed tone in frequency when the results are plotted on a semitone scale.

Question 15

Frequency and loudness in segregation?

Answer 15

Frequency dominates over loudness at high speeds.

Question 16

Frequency separation displays a simple relation to segregation when plotted on a ..

Answer 16

.. logarithmic scale.

Question 17

When the rate of tones becomes higher the streaming phenomenon becomes ..

Answer 17

.. stronger.

Question 18

How many possible time-intervals between tones are there?

Answer 18

A: onset - onset inter-streams
B: offset - onset inter-streams
C: onset - onset intra-stream
D: offset - onset intra-stream

Question 19

Which time-intervals should be important for gestaltists?

Answer 19

B and D -> like the spaceing between objects

Question 20

Which time-intervals should be important if rhythm is important?

Answer 20

A and C -> as onsets define rhythm

Question 21

And which are the most important time-intervals after all? probably

Answer 21

B and D, but not sure. Hard to maipulate independently.

Question 22

Are onsets clearly defined?

Answer 22

No

Question 23

Hirsch and Warren agree on?

Answer 23

Both authors agree, then, that we deal with rapid sequences of speech sounds by recognizing units that are larger than the phoneme.

Question 24

What’s the phenomenon that binds rapidly occurring events to one single tone?

Answer 24

Unitization

Royer and Robin

Question 25

Intensity and unitization?

Answer 25

Apparently, abrupt rises in intensity tell the auditory system that a new sound has joined the mixture and that it should begin the analysis of a new unit.

Question 26

What’s the jump sensation?

Answer 26

These observations, like those of Royer and Robin, seem to indicate that silent gaps of sufficient duration will cause sound to segregate into separate units, but even at the point where they just separate, there will still be strong perceptual relations between them (the jump sensation).

Question 27

If stream formation segregate groups in frequency, what is it that segregates groups in time?

Answer 27

unit formation

Question 28

Roger Shepard’s notion of psychophysical complementarity and location:

Answer 28

space physically is a continuum so it should also be one mentally.

Question 29

One might suppose that the reason that vision and touch represent space in an analog fashion is that in both modalities, the representations of space at the surface receptors and in the primary sensory cortex take the form of a topographical map. It seems, however, that audition is different.
What is laid out like a map for audition?

Answer 29

Frequency

Question 30

On which level can we find topographical organization of sounds?

Answer 30

higher levels: superior colliculus (especially in bats)

Question 31

Psychophysical complementarity, location and sound:

Answer 31

Experiment by Gillian Rhodes:
nine loudspeakers, blindfolded, where does the sound come from?
distance matches RTs
maybe only label effect? counting how many speakers in bewteen?

Question 32

Location seems to play a role in stream segregation, but

Answer 32

humans don’t seem to trust it blindly, eg:
While spatial location is used, it by no means overpowers other bases for grouping when in conflict with them. That is why humans can segregate different voices even when they hear them coming over a monophonic radio.

Question 33

dichotic

Answer 33

simultaneous stimulation of the right and left ear by different sounds

Question 34

diotic

Answer 34

simultaneous stimulation of the right and left ear by the same sounds