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Object-based attention in complex, naturalistic auditory streams
Giorgio Marinato1, Daniel Baldauf2
1Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Trento, Italy. giorgio.marinato@unitn.it.
Scientific Reports
|March 1, 2019
Summary
This study demonstrates object-based auditory attention, where focusing on one sound stream improves detection of repeated sounds within it. This finding extends object-based attention from vision to complex auditory scenes.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Attention Research
Background:
- Object-based attention, a key mechanism in vision, guides focus to distinct entities.
- Its existence and nature in the auditory domain, particularly in complex sound environments, remain less understood.
- Ecologically valid auditory scenes involve overlapping sound streams, posing challenges for selective attention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether object-based attention operates in the auditory system.
- To determine if attention can be directed to specific sound streams in complex auditory scenes.
- To differentiate object-based auditory attention from spatial or feature-based attention.
Main Methods:
- Participants listened to complex auditory scenes with overlapping sound streams (speech and environmental sounds, or two speech signals).
- A non-spatial cue directed top-down attention to one of the auditory streams.
- An auditory repetition detection task was used to measure attention, focusing on high-level object processing.
Main Results:
- Participants showed significantly faster response times in the valid cue condition compared to the invalid cue condition.
- Accuracy in detecting auditory object repetitions was significantly higher when attention was validly cued.
- These results indicate a robust cue-validity effect, supporting object-based auditory attention.
Conclusions:
- High-level, object-based attention is a functional mechanism in the auditory domain.
- This form of attention operates effectively within complex, overlapping sound streams.
- The findings extend the concept of object-based attention beyond the visual modality.
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