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Threshold of the precedence effect in noise
Richard L Freyman1, Amanda M Griffin1, Patrick M Zurek2
1Department of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts, 358 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|May 13, 2014
Summary
This study investigated temporal asymmetry in auditory perception using masking noise. The transient and ongoing precedence effects showed similar thresholds, while onset capture required significantly more noise, indicating its reduced robustness.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
- Perceptual Psychology
Background:
- Interaural cues play a crucial role in sound localization and temporal processing.
- Temporal asymmetry in auditory perception refers to how the timing of sounds influences their perceived location and characteristics.
- The precedence effect describes the dominance of a leading sound over a lagging sound in determining perceived location.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of masking noise on three auditory effects exhibiting temporal asymmetry: transient precedence effect, ongoing precedence effect, and onset capture effect.
- To determine the masked thresholds for these effects to assess their robustness in noisy environments.
- To compare the relative thresholds of these effects in noise.
Main Methods:
- Noise-burst stimuli were used to evoke the transient precedence effect, ongoing precedence effect, and onset capture effect.
- A diotic noise masker was employed.
- Detection thresholds were measured for stimuli with varying interaural delays (0/500 μs vs. 500/0 μs).
- A discrimination task was used to determine the masked thresholds for each effect.
Main Results:
- No masking difference was observed for any of the three effects at masked threshold, suggesting they are not operative under these conditions.
- The transient precedence effect and ongoing precedence effect exhibited similar masked thresholds in noise (10-13 dB SL).
- The onset capture effect demonstrated a significantly higher masked threshold (33 dB SL) compared to the precedence effects.
Conclusions:
- The transient and ongoing precedence effects are relatively robust to masking noise, maintaining their perceptual influence.
- The onset capture effect is more vulnerable to masking noise, requiring a higher signal-to-noise ratio to be effective.
- These findings highlight differential susceptibility of auditory temporal asymmetry phenomena to noise, with implications for understanding auditory scene analysis.
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