Human listeners are facile at segregating the multitude of sound sources in the environment, and attending to a single sound stream. This process requires the integration of information across time and frequency. In order to examine the role of temporal processing the proposed psychophysical experiments employ the rarely used method of free response. For this procedure a masker is presented for several minutes and a target is presented at random times. The subject's task is to press a button whenever the target is detected. This procedure is well suited to the study of sound segregation because the presentation duration is long, mirroring """"""""real world"""""""" situations. One question of primary interest addressed in the proposed experiments is whether the continuous nature of the method of free response increases the """"""""cognitive load"""""""" on the subjects. A second primary issue is the development of a method that determines which """"""""features"""""""" in time and frequency listeners rely on to detect a target in a competing environment. The method of free response has the advantage that button presses unfold over time, allowing the features to be extracted using reverse correlation methods to relate the time of button presses to the stimulus preceding it. The proposed experiments will evaluate the statistical reliability of the obtained features, a first step towards the useful application of this procedure. The proposed experiments and analyses are restricted to normal-hearing listeners. Should the method prove to be successful, the current results will provide a basic data set against which results from hearing-impaired listeners might ultimately be compared (not proposed). The brain mechanisms by which normal-hearing listeners are able to segregate sound sources (e.g., hearing a talker in a noisy environment) are not fully elucidated. Moreover, the ability of hearing-impaired listeners to segregate sound sources is impaired. The proposed research will contribute to the understanding of sound source segregation, with the potential of providing a basic understanding applicable to assistive hearing devices.

Public Health Relevance

The brain mechanisms by which normal-hearing listeners are able to segregate sound sources (e.g., hearing a talker in a noisy environment) are not fully elucidated. Moreover, the ability of hearing-impaired listeners to segregate sound sources is impaired. The proposed research will contribute to the understanding of sound source segregation, with the potential of providing a basic understanding applicable to assistive hearing devices.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21DC010058-01
Application #
7642120
Study Section
Auditory System Study Section (AUD)
Program Officer
Donahue, Amy
Project Start
2009-09-01
Project End
2011-08-31
Budget Start
2009-09-01
Budget End
2010-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$94,762
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Irvine
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
046705849
City
Irvine
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92697
Shen, Yi; Dai, Wei; Richards, Virginia M (2015) A MATLAB toolbox for the efficient estimation of the psychometric function using the updated maximum-likelihood adaptive procedure. Behav Res Methods 47:13-26
Shen, Yi; Richards, Virginia M (2013) Temporal modulation transfer function for efficient assessment of auditory temporal resolution. J Acoust Soc Am 133:1031-42
Shen, Yi (2013) Comparing adaptive procedures for estimating the psychometric function for an auditory gap detection task. Atten Percept Psychophys 75:771-80
Richards, Virginia M; Shen, Yi; Chubb, Charles (2013) Level dominance for the detection of changes in level distribution in sound streams. J Acoust Soc Am 134:EL237-43
Shen, Yi; Richards, Virginia M (2013) Bayesian adaptive estimation of the auditory filter. J Acoust Soc Am 134:1134-45
Richards, Virginia M; Carreira, Eva Maria; Shen, Yi (2012) Toward an objective measure for a ""stream segregation"" task. J Acoust Soc Am 131:EL8-13
Shen, Yi; Richards, Virginia M (2012) Investigating the auditory enhancement phenomenon using behavioral temporal masking patterns. J Acoust Soc Am 132:3363-74
Shen, Yi; Richards, Virginia M (2012) Spectral processing of two concurrent harmonic complexes. J Acoust Soc Am 131:386-97
Shen, Yi; Richards, Virginia M (2012) A maximum-likelihood procedure for estimating psychometric functions: thresholds, slopes, and lapses of attention. J Acoust Soc Am 132:957-67
Kidd Jr, Gerald; Richards, Virginia M; Streeter, Timothy et al. (2011) Contextual effects in the identification of nonspeech auditory patterns. J Acoust Soc Am 130:3926-38

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