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Asymmetric effects of sudden changes in timbre on auditory stream segregation
Brian Roberts1, Nicholas R Haywood2
1School of Psychology, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, United Kingdom.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|July 18, 2023
Summary
Auditory stream segregation is direction-dependent. Abrupt changes in sound properties like amplitude modulation (AM) or timbre can reset streaming, especially when transitioning to simpler sounds, but can enhance it when going the other way.
Area of Science:
- Auditory perception
- Psychoacoustics
- Signal processing
Background:
- Auditory stream segregation is the perceptual separation of complex sounds into distinct auditory streams.
- Timbral properties, such as amplitude modulation (AM) and spectral characteristics, are known to influence stream segregation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of abrupt timbral transitions on auditory stream segregation.
- To determine if the direction of timbral change affects the degree of stream segregation and resetting.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments used alternating low- and high-frequency sequences with controlled frequency separation.
- Listeners continuously reported the number of perceived streams during 18-second sequences.
- Timbral transitions included changes in amplitude modulation (AM), pure tones versus narrow-band noises, and attack/decay envelopes.
Main Results:
- Abrupt timbral transitions induced direction-dependent changes in stream segregation.
- Transitions to simpler sounds (e.g., unmodulated tones, pure tones from noise) typically caused significant loss of segregation (resetting).
- Transitions to more complex sounds often resulted in less resetting or even increased segregation (overshoot), particularly at smaller frequency separations.
Conclusions:
- The direction of timbral change critically influences auditory stream segregation dynamics.
- These findings suggest perceptual asymmetries analogous to those observed in auditory search.
- Timbral complexity and its changes play a crucial role in the dynamic organization of auditory scenes.
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