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Related Concept Videos

Perception of Sound Waves01:01

Perception of Sound Waves

The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
Interference: Path Lengths01:10

Interference: Path Lengths

Consider two sources of sound, that may or may not be in phase, emitting waves at a single frequency, and consider the frequencies to be the same.
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
Auditory Perception01:17

Auditory Perception

The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the cochlea, a...
Sound Waves: Interference00:53

Sound Waves: Interference

Sound waves can be modeled either as longitudinal waves, wherein the molecules of the medium oscillate around an equilibrium position, or as pressure waves. When two identical waves from the same source superimpose on each other, the combination of two crests or two troughs results in amplitude reinforcement known as constructive interference. If two identical waves, that are initially in phase, become out of phase because of different path lengths, the combination of crests with troughs...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Echo01:06

Echo

The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 3, 2026

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
11:15

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals

Published on: May 23, 2017

The perception of concurrent sound objects in harmonic complexes impairs gap detection.

Ada W S Leung1, Pierre Jolicoeur, François Vachon

  • 1Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
|April 6, 2011
PubMed
Summary

This study shows that perceiving multiple sound objects hinders auditory attention, making it harder to detect gaps. Attention is shared across sounds, impacting detailed auditory processing.

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Area of Science:

  • Auditory perception
  • Cognitive psychology
  • Psychoacoustics

Background:

  • Auditory scene analysis explains how listeners segregate sound sources.
  • Limited research exists on attention allocation within complex auditory scenes.
  • Object-based auditory perception influences how sounds are grouped.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how attention is allocated in auditory scene analysis.
  • To examine signal detection when sounds fuse or segregate.
  • To test an object-based account of auditory attention.

Main Methods:

  • Participants detected gaps in tonal elements within complex sounds.
  • Stimuli were designed to promote sound fusion or segregation of a mistuned harmonic.
  • Gap detection performance was measured across various durations.

Main Results:

  • Perceiving concurrent auditory objects interfered with signal detection.
  • This interference was more pronounced when a mistuned harmonic segregated as a distinct object.
  • The effect persisted across a range of gap durations.

Conclusions:

  • Auditory attention may be initially shared among concurrent sound objects.
  • Shared attention can reduce the ability to process acoustic details of individual sounds.
  • Findings support an object-based framework for understanding auditory attention and scene analysis.