Our remarkable capacity to process information in sound is demonstrated everyday as we make sense of the continuous pattern of variation in the acoustic signals we encounter. The purpose of the proposed research is to better understand this ability in normal-hearing adults through controlled measured of their ability to detect and discriminate variation in acoustic patterns made up of tones. There are three keys elements of our approach. First, all efforts are linked by a single theoretical frame work where the information in the patterns is given precise meaning and listener performance is evaluated relative t a common performance standard. Second, the extent to which listeners make use of (weight) different sources of information is determined from trial-by trial analyses of the data. Third, specific hypotheses regarding the outcome of proposed experiments are generated based on known signal transformations performed by the cochlea and decision model that has make accurate prediction for the results of many past studies [R.A. Lutfi, J. Acoust. Soc. Am, 748-758 (1993)]. These three elements are combined to achieve five specific aims.
Aims 1 -3 are to understand how variation in pattern components along one acoustic dimension interferes with detection of a change in another, how pattern components combine to mask a single tone, and how tone detection is influenced by covariation among of pattern components.
Aim 4 and 5 to assess the listener's ability to detect convariation among pattern components, and detect lawful covariation of tone partials in the identification of a real resonant resource. The proposed studies will further our understanding of how natural redundancies in everyday sounds aid detection in noisy backgrounds, and how listeners process invariant relations among spectral components that define properties of speech and other meaningful sounds. The significance of the mission of the NIDCD us that the results for4m normal-hearing adults will allow us to better evaluate real or presumed auditory information processing deficits of young children, the elderly, and individuals with hearing loss.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC001262-13
Application #
6687827
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-6 (01))
Program Officer
Donahue, Amy
Project Start
1991-07-01
Project End
2005-12-31
Budget Start
2004-01-01
Budget End
2004-12-31
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$181,875
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
Gilbertson, Lynn R; Lutfi, Robert A; Ellis Weismer, Susan (2017) Auditory preference of children with autism spectrum disorders. Cogn Process 18:205-209
Chang, An-Chieh; Lutfi, Robert; Lee, Jungmee et al. (2016) A Detection-Theoretic Analysis of Auditory Streaming and Its Relation to Auditory Masking. Trends Hear 20:
Lee, Jungmee; Heo, Inseok; Chang, An-Chieh et al. (2016) Individual Differences in Behavioural Decision Weights Related to Irregularities in Cochlear Mechanics. Adv Exp Med Biol 894:457-465
Chang, An-Chieh; Lutfi, Robert A; Lee, Jungmee (2015) Auditory streaming of tones of uncertain frequency, level, and duration. J Acoust Soc Am 138:EL504-8
Gilbertson, Lynn; Lutfi, Robert A; Lee, Jungmee (2015) Estimates of decision weights and internal noise in the masked discrimination of vowels by young and elderly adults. J Acoust Soc Am 137:EL403-7
Gilbertson, Lynn; Lutfi, Robert A (2014) Correlations of decision weights and cognitive function for the masked discrimination of vowels by young and old adults. Hear Res 317:9-14
Lutfi, Robert (2013) Auditory informational masking and the Ear Club connection. J Acoust Soc Am 134:4163
Chang, An-Chieh; Lutfi, Robert (2013) Effect of frequency variation and covariation on auditory streaming of tone sequences. J Acoust Soc Am 134:4231
Lutfi, Robert A; Gilbertson, Lynn; Heo, Inseok et al. (2013) The information-divergence hypothesis of informational masking. J Acoust Soc Am 134:2160-70
Lutfi, Robert A; Liu, Ching-Ju; Stoelinga, Christophe N J (2013) A new approach to sound source segregation. Adv Exp Med Biol 787:203-11

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