Auditory objects of attention: The role of interaural time differences

Author(s): Hukin, R. W.

Journal/Book: J Exp Psychol Hum Percep Perf. 1999; 25: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, USA. Amer Psychological Assoc. 617-629.

Abstract: The role of interaural time difference (ITD) in perceptual grouping and selective attention was explored in 3 experiments. Experiment 1 showed that listeners can use small differences in ITD between 2 sentences Co say which of 2 short, constant target words was part of the attended sentence, in the absence of talker or fundamental frequency differences. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that listeners do not explicitly track components that share a common ITD. Their inability to segregate a harmonic :From a target vowel by a difference in ITD was not substantially changed by the vowel being placed in a sentence context, where the sentence shared the same ITD as the rest of the vowel. The results indicate that in following a particular auditory sound source over time, listeners attend to perceived auditory objects at particular azimuthal positions rather than attend explicitly to those frequency components that share a common ITD.

Note: Article Darwin CJ, Univ Sussex, Expt Psychol Lab, Sch Biol Sci, Brighton BN1 9QG, E Sussex, ENGLAND

Keyword(s): ONSET ASYNCHRONY; FUNDAMENTAL-FREQUENCY; PERCEPTUAL SEPARATION; CONCURRENT VOWELS; AUDIOVISUAL LINKS; SPATIAL ATTENTION; SPEECH SOUNDS; LATERALIZATION; DISCRIMINATION; SEGREGATION

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