• Volume/Page
  • Keyword
  • DOI
  • Citation
  • Advanced
   
 
 
 

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

BROWSE VOLUMES

Year Range: 
Search Issue | RSS Feeds RSS
Next Issue

Jan 2009

Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. i-588

Return to All Sections
back to top
RSS Feeds

Spectral and temporal integration of brief tones

Evelyn M. Hoglund and Lawrence L. Feth

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 261-269 (2009); (9 pages) | Cited 1 time

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Both spectral and temporal integration of tones have been explored in detail, but integration of tones varying across both dimensions has received little attention. This study explores temporal integration of tone pulses that vary over a range of frequencies. Baseline thresholds were obtained for both spectral and temporal integration with the same signals and compared with prior research. The signals were then varied on both dimensions in several ways: with equivalent spectral and temporal step sizes, different spectral and temporal step sizes, and a random pattern of frequency presentation. The data were also analyzed by spectral step size, temporal step size, frequency range, direction and slope of frequency change, and predictability. The spectral and temporal integration conditions showed that the current procedures and signals yielded the same improvement in detection thresholds as prior studies. The spectrotemporal integration conditions showed the improvement for overall detection of the signals to be limited by spectral integration, with improvement related primarily to the number of tones, regardless of timing and frequency. Surprisingly, trial-by-trial random presentation of signal frequencies did not negatively influence detection. These results support the multiple looks hypothesis [Viemeister, N. F. and Wakefield, G. H. (1991). “Temporal integration and multiple looks,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 90, 858–865 ] as applied to spectrotemporal integration.
Show PACS
43.66.Ba Models and theories of auditory processes
43.66.Cb Loudness, absolute threshold

Pitfalls in behavioral estimates of basilar-membrane compression in humans

Magdalena Wojtczak and Andrew J. Oxenham

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 270-281 (2009); (12 pages) | Cited 16 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Psychoacoustic estimates of basilar-membrane compression often compare on- and off-frequency forward masking. Such estimates involve assuming that the recovery from forward masking for a given signal frequency is independent of masker frequency. To test this assumption, thresholds for a brief 4-kHz signal were measured as a function of masker-signal delay. Comparisons were made between on-frequency (4 kHz) and off-frequency (either 2.4 or 4.4 kHz) maskers, adjusted in level to produce the same amount of masking at a 0-ms delay between masker offset and signal onset. Consistent with the assumption, forward-masking recovery from a moderate-level (83 dB SPL) 2.4-kHz masker and a high-level (92 dB SPL) 4.4-kHz masker was the same as from the equivalent on-frequency maskers. In contrast, recovery from a high-level (92 dB SPL) 2.4-kHz forward masker was slower than from the equivalent on-frequency masker. The results were used to simulate temporal masking curves, taking into account the differences in on- and off-frequency masking recoveries at high levels. The predictions suggest that compression estimates assuming frequency-independent masking recovery may overestimate compression by as much as a factor of 2. The results suggest caution in interpreting forward-masking data in terms of basilar-membrane compression, particularly when high-level maskers are involved.
Show PACS
43.66.Dc Masking
43.66.Ba Models and theories of auditory processes

Within- and across-channel factors in the multiband comodulation masking release paradigm

John H. Grose, Emily Buss, and Joseph W. Hall, III

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 282-293 (2009); (12 pages) | Cited 10 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Maskers made up of comodulated narrow bands of noise can result in a signal detection advantage due to both within- and across-channel processes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether contributions from these processes could be differentiated on the basis of two stimulus manipulations: (1) onset/offset asynchrony across bands and (2) introduction of a random temporal fringe surrounding the comodulated bands. The hypothesis was that only masking release due to across-channel processing would be disrupted by these manipulations. Five-band comodulated maskers were constructed, and the availability of within- and across-channel cues was varied by adjusting the frequency spacing of the bands; both logarithmic and linear spacings were tested. The signal was a 1 kHz pure tone. Onset/offset asynchrony had different effects depending on the characteristics of the asynchrony. The results were consistent with an interpretation that across-channel, but not within-channel, masking release was disrupted when the flanking bands were presented continuously and the on-signal band was gated. However, the results suggested that both the across-channel and the within-channel masking release were disrupted in conditions where the on-signal band was continuous and the flanking bands were gated on, as well as in conditions where a random temporal fringe was present.
Show PACS
43.66.Dc Masking
43.66.Mk Temporal and sequential aspects of hearing; auditory grouping in relation to music

The decision process in forward-masked intensity discrimination: Evidence from molecular analyses

Daniel Oberfeld

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 294-303 (2009); (10 pages) | Cited 2 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
In a two-interval forced-choice intensity discrimination task presenting a fixed increment, the level of the forward masker in interval 1 and interval 2 was sampled independently from the same normal distribution on each trial. Mean and standard deviation of the distribution were varied. Correlational analyses of the trial-by-trial data revealed different decision strategies depending on the relation between mean masker level and standard level. If the two levels were identical, listeners tended to select the interval containing the higher-level masker, behaving like an energy detector at the output of a temporal window of integration. For mean masker level higher than the standard level, most listeners showed a negative correlation between the masker level in a given interval and the probability of selecting this interval, indicating a strategy of comparing the masker loudness and the target loudness in each of the two observation intervals, and voting for the interval where the loudness difference was smaller. Implications for models of forward-masked intensity discrimination and differences from decision strategies reported for forward-masked detection tasks [ Jesteadt et al., (2005). “Effect of variability in level on forward masking and on increment detection,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 118, 325–337 ] are discussed.
Show PACS
43.66.Fe Discrimination: intensity and frequency
43.66.Dc Masking
43.66.Ba Models and theories of auditory processes
43.66.Mk Temporal and sequential aspects of hearing; auditory grouping in relation to music

Frequency difference limens of pure tones and harmonics within complex stimuli in Mongolian gerbils and humans

Astrid Klinge and Georg M. Klump

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 304-314 (2009); (11 pages) | Cited 2 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Frequency difference limens (FDLs) for pure tones between 200 and 6400 Hz and for the first, the second, or the eighth harmonic of an 800 Hz complex in four Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) were determined using a Go/NoGo-procedure. The 12 harmonics of the complex started either in sine phase or at a random phase. Gerbils showed very high pure tone FDLs ranging from 17.1% Weber fraction (200 Hz) to 6.7% (6400 Hz). They performed much better in detecting mistuning of a harmonic in the complex in the sine phase condition with FDLs decreasing from 0.07% for the first harmonic to 0.02% for the eighth harmonic. FDLs were about one order of magnitude higher when temporal cues were degraded by randomizing the starting phase of every component in the harmonic complex for every stimulus. These results are strikingly different from those obtained in four human subjects who needed about four times higher frequency shifts than gerbils for detecting a mistuned component in a sine phase complex and showed similar detection of mistuning in the random phase condition. The results are discussed in relation to possible processing mechanisms for pure tone frequency discrimination and for detecting mistuning in harmonic complex stimuli.
Show PACS
43.66.Fe Discrimination: intensity and frequency
43.66.Gf Detection and discrimination of sound by animals
43.66.Nm Phase effects
43.66.Hg Pitch

Critical bands and critical ratios in animal psychoacoustics: An example using chinchilla data

William A. Yost and William P. Shofner

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 315-323 (2009); (9 pages)

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
This paper suggests that critical ratios obtained in noise-masked tone studies are not good indicators of critical bandwidths obtained in both human and nonhuman animal subjects. A probe-tone detection study using chinchilla subjects suggests that they may be broadband processors in detection tasks as opposed to human subjects who use narrow-band, critical-band processing. If chinchilla and other nonhuman animal subjects are wideband processors, this can partially explain why their critical ratios are significantly greater than those measured in human subjects. Thus, large critical ratios obtained for nonhuman animals may indicate processing inefficiency rather than wide critical bands.
Show PACS
43.66.Gf Detection and discrimination of sound by animals

Pitch discrimination interference: The role of ear of entry and of octave similarity

Hedwig E. Gockel, Ervin R. Hafter, and Brian C. J. Moore

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 324-327 (2009); (4 pages) | Cited 7 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Gockel et al. [(2004). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 1092–1104 ] reported that discrimination of the fundamental frequency (F0) of two sequentially presented complex tones (the target) was impaired when an additional complex tone (the interferer) was presented simultaneously with and to the same ear as the target, even though the target and interferer were filtered into separate frequency regions. This pitch discrimination interference (PDI) was greatest when the target and interferer had similar F0s. The current study examined the role of relative ear of entry of the target and interferer and whether the dependence of the PDI effect on the relative F0 of target and interferer is based on pitch height (F0 as such) or pitch chroma (the musical note). Sensitivity (d′) was measured for discrimination of the F0 of a target with a nominal F0 of 88 Hz, bandpass filtered from 1375 to 1875 Hz. The interferer was bandpass filtered from 125 to 625 Hz. The contralateral interferer produced marked PDI, but smaller than for ipsilateral presentation. PDI was not larger when the interferer’s F0 was twice the nominal target F0 than when it was a factor of 1.9 or 2.1 higher.
Show PACS
43.66.Hg Pitch
43.66.Fe Discrimination: intensity and frequency
43.66.Rq Dichotic listening

The relationship between pitch discrimination and vocal production: Comparison of vocal and instrumental musicians

Dee A. Nikjeh, Jennifer J. Lister, and Stefan A. Frisch

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 328-338 (2009); (11 pages) | Cited 3 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Auditory pitch discrimination and vocal pitch accuracy are fundamental abilities and essential skills of a professional singer; yet, the relationship between these abilities, particularly in trained vocal musicians, has not been the subject of much research. Difference limens for frequency (DLFs) and pitch production accuracy (PPA) were examined among 20 vocalists, 21 instrumentalists, and 21 nonmusicians. All were right-handed young adult females with normal hearing. Stimuli were harmonic tone complexes simulating piano tones and represented the mid-frequency of the untrained female vocal range, F0 = 261.63–392 Hz (C4–G4). DLFs were obtained by an adaptive psychophysical paradigm. Vocal pitch recordings were analyzed to determine PPA. Musicians demonstrated superior pitch discrimination and production accuracy compared to nonmusicians. These abilities did not distinguish instrumentalists and vocalists. DLF and PPA were significantly correlated with each other only for musicians with instrumental training; however, PPA was most consistent with minimal variance for vocalists. It would appear that a relationship between DLF and PPA develops with musical training, and these abilities can be differentially influenced by the type of specialty training.
Show PACS
43.66.Hg Pitch
43.75.Zz Analysis, synthesis, and processing of musical sounds
43.70.Mn Relations between speech production and perception
43.75.St Musical performance, training, and analysis

Spectral weights for sample discrimination as a function of overall level

Lori J. Leibold, Hongyang Tan, and Walt Jesteadt

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 339-346 (2009); (8 pages)

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Doherty and Lutfi [(1996). “Spectral weights for overall level discrimination in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 99, 1053–1058] examined the weights assigned to individual components of a six-tone complex during a sample discrimination task and reported that hearing-impaired subjects gave the most weight to components in the region of their high-frequency hearing loss. In contrast, weighting patterns varied for normal-hearing subjects. In the current study, the same six-tone complex, comprised of the octave frequencies from 0.25 to 8 kHz, was presented to three subjects with normal hearing in high-pass noise, in low-pass noise, and in quiet at two overall levels. Consistent with Doherty and Lutfi, subjects assigned more weight to the 4-kHz component in the high-pass noise condition, but roughly equal weight to all components in the lower-level quiet condition. Weights in the low-pass noise and higher-level quiet conditions, however, were similar to those in the high-pass noise condition. A second experiment compared weights for seven subjects in quiet at four different mean levels. Weights for the highest-frequency components increased as the overall level of the complexes was increased. These results suggest that overall level, rather than degree of hearing loss or sensation level, was the primary cause of the effect that Doherty and Lutfi observed.
Show PACS
43.66.Lj Perceptual effects of sound
43.66.Fe Discrimination: intensity and frequency

Acoustic, psychophysical, and neuroimaging measurements of the effectiveness of active cancellation during auditory functional magnetic resonance imaging

Deborah A. Hall, John Chambers, Michael A. Akeroyd, John R. Foster, Ron Coxon, and Alan R. Palmer

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 347-359 (2009); (13 pages) | Cited 10 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the principal neuroimaging techniques for studying human audition, but it generates an intense background sound which hinders listening performance and confounds measures of the auditory response. This paper reports the perceptual effects of an active noise control (ANC) system that operates in the electromagnetically hostile and physically compact neuroimaging environment to provide significant noise reduction, without interfering with image quality. Cancellation was first evaluated at 600 Hz, corresponding to the dominant peak in the power spectrum of the background sound and at which cancellation is maximally effective. Microphone measurements at the ear demonstrated 35 dB of acoustic attenuation [from 93 to 58 dB sound pressure level (SPL)], while masked detection thresholds improved by 20 dB (from 74 to 54 dB SPL). Considerable perceptual benefits were also obtained across other frequencies, including those corresponding to dips in the spectrum of the background sound. Cancellation also improved the statistical detection of sound-related cortical activation, especially for sounds presented at low intensities. These results confirm that ANC offers substantial benefits for fMRI research.
Show PACS
43.66.Lj Perceptual effects of sound
43.66.Vt Hearing protection
43.50.Ki Active noise control

Speech enhancement with multichannel Wiener filter techniques in multimicrophone binaural hearing aids

Tim Van den Bogaert, Simon Doclo, Jan Wouters, and Marc Moonen

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 360-371 (2009); (12 pages) | Cited 10 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
This paper evaluates speech enhancement in binaural multimicrophone hearing aids by noise reduction algorithms based on the multichannel Wiener filter (MWF) and the MWF with partial noise estimate (MWF-N). Both algorithms are specifically developed to combine noise reduction with the preservation of binaural cues. Objective and perceptual evaluations were performed with different speech-in-multitalker-babble configurations in two different acoustic environments. The main conclusions are as follows: (a) A bilateral MWF with perfect voice activity detection equals or outperforms a bilateral adaptive directional microphone in terms of speech enhancement while preserving the binaural cues of the speech component. (b) A significant gain in speech enhancement is found when transmitting one contralateral microphone signal to the MWF active at the ipsilateral hearing aid. Adding a second contralateral microphone showed a significant improvement during the objective evaluations but not in the subset of scenarios tested during the perceptual evaluations. (c) Adding the partial noise estimate to the MWF, done to improve the spatial awareness of the hearing aid user, reduces the amount of speech enhancement in a limited way. In some conditions the MWF-N even outperformed the MWF possibly due to an improved spatial release from masking.
Show PACS
43.66.Pn Binaural hearing
43.66.Ts Auditory prostheses, hearing aids
43.60.Fg Acoustic array systems and processing, beam-forming
43.66.Qp Localization of sound sources

Speech recognition by bilateral cochlear implant users in a cocktail-party setting

Philipos C. Loizou, Yi Hu, Ruth Litovsky, Gongqiang Yu, Robert Peters, Jennifer Lake, and Peter Roland

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 372-383 (2009); (12 pages) | Cited 18 times

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Show Abstract
Unlike prior studies with bilateral cochlear implant users which considered only one interferer, the present study considered realistic listening situations wherein multiple interferers were present and in some cases originating from both hemifields. Speech reception thresholds were measured in bilateral users unilaterally and bilaterally in four different spatial configurations, with one and three interferers consisting of modulated noise or competing talkers. The data were analyzed in terms of binaural benefits including monaural advantage (better-ear listening) and binaural interaction. The total advantage (overall spatial release) received was 2–5 dB and was maintained with multiple interferers present. This advantage was dominated by the monaural advantage, which ranged from 1 to 6 dB and was largest when the interferers were mostly energetic. No binaural-interaction benefit was found in the present study with either type of interferer (speech or noise). While the total and monaural advantage obtained for noise interferers was comparable to that attained by normal-hearing listeners, it was considerably lower for speech interferers. This suggests that bilateral users are less capable of taking advantage of binaural cues, in particular, under conditions of informational masking. Furthermore, the use of noise interferers does not adequately reflect the difficulties experienced by bilateral users in real-life situations.
Show PACS
43.66.Sr Deafness, audiometry, aging effects
43.66.Pn Binaural hearing
Return to All Sections
Close

Home Publications Meetings Contact ASA Site Map Back to Top

Copyright © Acoustical Society of America

close