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May 1978

Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S1-S87

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back to top Session K. Psychological Acoustics II: Pitch Effects, Ear Dominance, and Temporal Integration
Contributed Papers
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Psychophysical tuning curves: The width of the signal's excitation pattern (A)

David Johnson‐Davies and Roy D. Patterson

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S29-S29 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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The interpretation of psychophysical tuning curves depends on the assumption that the width of the signal's excitation pattern is negligible. To test this a second masker, with a level 10 or 15 dB below the tuning curve, was positioned either 200 Hz above or 200 Hz below the signal on the side away from the primary masker. The signal was a 2.0‐kHz tone with a level of 20 dB SPL (approximately 18 dB SL) and a duration of 500 ms, the maskers were 100‐Hz‐wide narrow‐band noises, and the signal and maskers were presented simultaneously. Whereas the second masker should have had no effect, it actually increased the effectiveness of the primary masker by up to 21 dB. This suggests that previous psychophysical tuning curves have been artificially narrow and indicates that even when the signal is as low in level as 20 dB the width of its excitation pattern is an important factor. [D.J.D. was supported by a SRC studentship.]
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Analysis of some factors influencing frequency discrimination (A)

Andrzej Rakowski and Antoni Jaroszewski

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S29-S30 (1978); (2 pages)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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The performance of very experienced listeners in frequency discrimination tasks is markedly improved in a time paradigm with very short interstimulus intervals and symmetrical alternation of stimuli. The improvement for shortening interstimulus time intervals from 500 to 25 ms is a factor larger than 2, and frequency differences of 0.4 Hz at 1000 Hz are consistently detected. There are two possible sources of such improvement: properties of short‐term memory, and various forms of mutual interaction of the stimuli. A series of experiments has been performed in order to establish the order of importance of separate factors. It has been found that avoidance of perceptual interference and benefiting from poststimulatory pitch shift are mainly responsible for the observed phenomena.
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Psychophysical tuning curves in monkeys (A)

John V. Serafin, David B. Moody, and William C. Stebbins

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S30-S30 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Psychophysical tuning curves were obtained from three normal monkeys (Macaca nemestrina), via a simultaneous masking paradigm. Masker levels necessary to mask a test tone at 10 dB SL were determined using a positive reinforcement behavioral procedure. For each animal, curves were obtained at several test frequencies. The functions, which measure the frequency selectivity of the auditory system at various frequencies, were found to share several properties in common with physiological tuning curves recorded from single units in the eighth nerve, and thus corroborate previous results in the chinchilla [T. McGee, A. Ryan, and P. Dallos, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 60, 1146–1150 (1976)]. Curves consisted of a very steep high‐frequency portion, while on the low‐frequency side a two‐part function was observed. The low‐frequency slope was steep near the test frequency, and became more shallow approximately ½ octave below the test frequency. In addition, sharpness of tuning, as measured by Q10 values and the slopes of the functions, increased as the test frequency increased. [Work supported by NSF grant number 015832.]
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An analysis of the effect of masker level on critical bandwidth (A)

Steven De Gennaro and H. Steven Colburn

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S30-S30 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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A simple mathematical model of auditory nerve activity was used to evaluate the increase in critical bandwidth with masker intensity suggested by psychophysical detection experiments. Given the masker spectrum, the model allows calculation of the excitation areas [i.e., the ranges of characteristic (best) frequencies of excited auditory nerve fibers] as a function of intensity. The results of a recent study of detection thresholds for a tone centered in the gap of a notched noise masker [D. L. Weber, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, 124–129 (1977)] were analyzed. For narrow notch widths, the excitation areas completely overlap in the notch region at all intensities. The masking effect is then essentially the same as for a single wide‐band masker, and is characterized by a constant signal‐to‐noise ratio as a function of masker level. At wider notch widths, the excitation areas are separated by a gap that is inversely proportional to masker intensity. This leads to a nonlinear increase in detection threshold with masker intensity. The model thus predicts Weber's findings and supports the contention that critical bandwidth increases with masker intensity. [Work supported by NIH.]
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Pitch of two‐tone complexes comprising nonsuccessive harmonics (A)

A. J. M. Houtsma

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S30-S30 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Most studies of the musical pitch of harmonic tone complexes have utilized signals comprising two or more successive harmonics. It is also easily observed that tones from a clarinet, whose even harmonics are heavily suppressed, evoke a strong and unambiguous pitch. The present study provides systematic data on melodic interval recognition by three musically experienced subjects, with sounds made up of two nonsuccessive harmonics. If we describe such a two‐tone complex as nf0, (n + m)f0, data were obtained for the ranges 1 ⩽ n ⩽ 10, 2 ⩽ m ⩽ 4, 200 ⩽ f0 ⩽ 1000 Hz. Trends in the data are interpreted in the light of three popular models, the “optimum processor theory” (Goldstein), the “pattern transformation theory” (Wightman), and the “learning matrix theory” (Terhardt). A constraint on performance is proposed which is based on the “analytic” and “synthetic” perception modes of complex tones (Helmholtz). Apparently, when the harmonic spacing increases, the listener is more likely to operate in the analytic mode, perceiving harmonics as individual tones each having its own pitch. This degrades the tracking ability for the missing fundamental. [Work partially supported by NIH.]
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Relationship between auditory frequency selectivity and two‐tone suppression (A)

Honor O'Malley and Lawrence L. Feth

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S30-S30 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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This study examined two‐tone suppression and auditory frequency selectivity about 3 kHz for the purpose of demonstrating a qualitative relationship between the two. Threshold masking curves and two‐tone masking patterns were collected under a quiet and a noise condition for the same normal‐hearing listeners using an adaptive 21FC forward‐masking procedure. In the noise condition, a narrow‐band noise masker, centered one decade down from the probe, was gated on with the tonal masker(s). Kiang and Moxon [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 55, 620–630 (1974)] have found that low‐frequency narrow‐band noise serves to decrease the sharpness of electrophysiological tuning curves by affecting only the tip segments. The data for four highly practiced listeners indicate that the gated noise masker was effective in detuning the masking curves and in lessening the magnitude of two‐tone suppression. The mutually reflected changes in masking curves and in two‐tone suppression as a consequence of the gated noise masker indicate a close relationship between frequency selectivity and suppression: the greater the magnitude of suppression above the center frequency of the masking curve, the sharper the tuning of the masking curve. [Work supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Sigma Xi.]
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Integration of duration and frequency cues in discrimination between pure tones (A)

Blas Espinoza‐Varas

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S30-S30 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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The acoustic cues that underlie discrimination of complex sounds (e.g., speech) are often multidimensional and sequential (i.e., not all the dimensions vary at the same time). In this work we explored whether the information provided by the various dimensions can be integrated to improve discrimination, for the case of cues consisting of a change in duration followed by a change in frequency. The procedure was a same‐different discrimination between pairs of tones. Each pair consisted of two 80‐ms, 1500‐Hz tone bursts separated by a 60‐ms interval. For the “different” trials, the comparison pair contained increments in the duration (Δt) of the first tone and/or in the frequency (Δf) of the second tone. For various values of Δt, the value of Δf required to maintain a constant performance level was measured, and vice versa. A tradeoff between the values of Δt and Δf required for d′ = 2.0 was observed, suggesting that the effects of the two dimensions were integrated. The tradeoff was most prominent when the increments in duration and frequency were matched in terms of their discriminability. The results are compared with the prediction that d′Δt+Δf  =  [dΔt′2 + dΔf′2]1/2. [Work supported by NINCDS.]
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“Super‐random” uniform‐spectrum sequences (A)

I. Pollack

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S31-S31 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Cramer and Licklider (1957) reported short tonal‐like segments while listening to unconstrained random polarity‐modulated, constant‐interval pulse trains. Since the long‐term spectrum of such sequences is uniform, they ascribed the tonal‐like segments to a short‐term spectral analysis of long runs. Might we achieve “super‐random” sequences by restricting long runs? Pierce, Lips, and Cheetham (1977) have developed a procedure for generating sequences which have a uniform short‐term spectrum over a defined sampling period. Listening tests show that the discriminability of a uniform‐spectrum sequence from an unconstrained random sequence, and the discriminability between two uniform‐spectrum sequences, is more closely related to the informational constraints imposed upon the uniform sequences than to the run‐length properties of the sequences. Direct estimations of “periodicity strength” verify the discriminability tests. Any statistical restriction tends to yield sequences which “sound more organized” than unconstrained random sequences. The search for “super‐random” sequences goes on.
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Indices of ear advantage in dichotic listening (A)

Charles Speaks, Nancy Niccum, Cynthia Johnson, and Steven Chargo

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S31-S31 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Repp [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, 720–737 ( 1977)] recently described the statistical properties of several metrics of the ear advantage in dichotic listening tasks: d, L1, (an index of laterality), POE', POC', ϕ, and e. Repp argued that an acceptable metric should, among other requirements, be independent of performance level. In theory, only e meets this requirement. We will provide an empirical comparison among the metrics and assess their dependence on performance level. Twenty‐four listeners received 20 dichotic listening runs of natural stop‐vowel syllables. Listeners marked two responses for each of 30 pairs of syllables per run. Intercorrelations among metrics ranged from +0.95 to +0.99, and all metrics were uncorrelated with performance level; correlations ranged from −0.18 to +0.17. This suggests that all six metrics may permit valid comparisons among listeners. The metric d, which is the simple difference between proportions of correct response for the two ears, does have the theoretical advantage of being a multiplicative rescaling of the frequency with which lateralization occurs and the magnitude of lateralization when it occurs. [Supported by PHS NS‐12125.]
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Ear dominance depends on sequential, frequency‐specific interactions between tones at the two ears (A)

Diana Deutsch

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S31-S31 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Where ear dominance effects have been demonstrated, dichotic chords composed of identical frequencies were presented in succession, such that one ear received the high tone and then the low, whilst simultaneously the other hear received the low tone and then the high. Such cords have been presented in rapid, repetitive sequence [e.g., D. Deutsch, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 55, S18–S19(A) (1974)] or judgments were made on pairs of such chords [e.g., R. Efron and E. W. Yund, Neuropsychologia 12, 249–256 (1974)]. The present experiments compared conditions where successive dichotic chords were composed of identical frequencies (as above) and where they were composed of different frequencies. Clear ear dominance effects occurred in the former case, but none in the latter. Further, ear dominance was disrupted by the interpolation of a single tone of different frequency between members of a dichotic chord pair composed of identical frequencies. Explanations of ear dominance in terms solely of simultaneous interactions are inadequate to explain these findings. [Work supported by NIMH.]
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Detectability of a pulsed tone in the presence of a masker with time‐varying interaural correlation (A)

D. Wesley Grantham and Frederic L. Wightman

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S31-S31 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Detectability of a filtered 4‐ms tone burst (500 or 1000 Hz), presented binaurally and phase reversed (Sπ), was measured in the presence of a narrow‐band Gaussian noise masker whose interaural correlation varied sinusoidally between +1.0 (N0) and −1.0 (Nπ). Independent variables were the rate of modulation of the masker correlation (fm), and the instantaneous interaural correlation of the masker when the signal was presented. The peak masking‐level difference (signal threshold in Nπ versus threshold in N0) was as large as 17 dB with the 500‐Hz signal and fm < 1 Hz. The peak MLD with the 1000‐Hz signal was smaller (8 dB). No MLD could be obtained with fm > 10 Hz. The function relating the MLD to fm, describes a kind of “attenuation characteristic” of the binaural system. Our data agree with the growing body of evidence that the binaural system is extremely sluggish in responding to dynamic stimuli. Furthermore, in terms of its response to dynamic stimuli, the binaural system appears to behave similarly in the different spectral regions tested.
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Processing of temporal patterns by split brain patients (A)

Frank E. Musiek, Marilyn Pinheiro, and Donald Wilson

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S31-S31 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Three normal‐hearing right‐handed patients, who underwent complete section of the corpus callosum because of medically uncontrollable seizures, were tested on auditory tone patterns. The pattern stimuli were composed of three 1000‐Hz tone bursts with two different intensities (ΔI = 7 dB) or three tone bursts of two different frequencies (high = 1222 Hz, low = 880 Hz). The duration of the intensity patterns was 250 ms while the duration of the frequency patterns was 150 ms. Interstimulus interval was 200 ms for all patterns. A total of 30 intensity and 30 frequency patterns were presented through earphones at a 40‐dB sensation level to each ear of the subjects. Only one of the patients was tested preoperatively while all three were tested postoperatively. The one patient preoperatively performed at a near normal level for pattern perception whereas the three patients tested postoperatively performed at a level of chance or slightly better on both auditory pattern tests. Based on these results, it is hypothesized that the verbal response to auditory pattern perception depends on interhemispheric processing. More specifically, the contour of the pattern is recognized in the right hemisphere and the verbal response sequenced in the speech‐dominant left hemisphere.
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Temporal integration of tone glides as a function of intensity (A)

M. J. Collins, J. K. Cullen, Jr., and E. A. Lizana

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S32-S32 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Temporal integration of signals composed of a linearly varying frequency component (glides) was investigated in background noise (50–2800 Hz) and in quiet. Background noise levels were 40, 60, 75, and 90 dB SPL. A subject‐driven detection paradigm was employed. Previously reported results [M. J. Collins and J. K. Cullen, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 60, S48(A) (1976)] for short‐duration glides (i.e., less than 10 ms) in 60‐dB background noise showed rising glides were detected at a smaller signal‐to‐noise ratio than falling glides. In this study, differences in detectability of short‐duration rising and falling glides were shown to vary with masking level, maximizing in the 60–75‐dB range. In addition, detection of short‐duration falling glides and their pure‐tone referents occurred at smaller signal‐to‐noise ratios in 90‐dB noise background than in 60–75‐dB noise backgrounds. These results are similar to those reported by Stephens [J. Sound Vib. 30, 109–126 (1973)] for pure tones of less than 10‐ms duration. [Work supported by National Institutes of Health.]
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Temporal integration of constant tones at masked auditory thresholds (A)

Igor V. Nábělek

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 63, Issue S1, pp. S32-S32 (1978); (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 11 Aug 2005

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Masked auditory thresholds of constant tones at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3.3 kHz produced curves with slope of −3 dB/doubling of duration around 50‐ms duration, steeper curves at shorter durations (between 50 and 10 ms) and slowly leveling off curves at longer durations. At 1‐s duration the curves had slopes equal to zero. Between 10 and 1000 ms the curves were approximated by an exponential function as proposed by Feldtkeller and Oettinger [Acustica 6, 481–493 (1956)] and Plomp and Bouman [J. Acoustic. Soc. Am. 31, 749–758 (1959)]. However, the Plomp and Bouman's correction for increased steepness of the curves below 50 ms was substituted by another similar correction. The exponential approximation of integration curves with correction will be compared with approximations based on other models of temporal integration.
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