Effect of formant characteristics on older listeners’ dynamic pitch perception

Abstract

Previous research suggested a large inter-subject variability in dynamic pitch perception among older individuals (Souza et al., 2011). Although data from younger listeners with normal hearing indicate temporal and spectral variations in complex formant characteristics may influence dynamic pitch perception (Green et al., 2002), the present study examines this interaction in an aging population. The stimulus set includes two monophthongs that have static formant patterns and two diphthongs that have dynamic formant patterns. The fundamental frequency at the midpoint in time of each vowel is kept consistent, while the ratio of start-to-end frequency varies in equal logarithmic steps. Older adults with near-normal hearing are tested using an identification task, in which they are required to identify the pitch glide as either “rise” or “fall.” An experimental task of AX discrimination is also included to verify the identification data. Results to date show inter-subject variability in dynamic pitch perception among listeners with good static pitch perception. Better pitch glide perception with monophthong than diphthong is observed in those individuals who perform poorly in general. The findings suggest a connection between individual abilities to perceive dynamic pitch and to extract the cues from fundamental and formant frequencies. [Work supported by NIH.]