Mechanical sound similarity and categorization

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that perceptual similarity among sounds can be used to predict accuracy in perceptual tasks (Dickerson & Gaston, 2014; Gaston, et al., 2017). We operationalize this similarity as distance in a 2D similarity space generated using multidimensional scaling (MDS) on pair-wise similarity stimulus ratings. We tested listeners’ ability to categorize mechanical environmental sounds, and modeled the relationship between stimulus categorization and similarity. Stimuli were 18 mechanical sounds selected hierarchically from three broad categories (vehicles, power tools, and household appliances), and three subcategories. Thirty-five normal hearing listeners completed pair-wise similarity rating and categorization tasks. Perceptual similarity ratings from all paired stimuli were used to develop an MDS solution. Stimuli in the solution generally were segregated by broad category membership, with some exceptions. Categorization performance for each broad category varied, with vehicles being the easiest and household appliances being the most difficult to categorize. MDS distances among the stimuli were used in a simple regression model to predict performance in the categorization task and explain confusions in categorization. The results of this study indicate that perceptual similarity is a strong predictor of variance in listeners’ judgments of complex environmental sounds.Recent studies suggest that perceptual similarity among sounds can be used to predict accuracy in perceptual tasks (Dickerson & Gaston, 2014; Gaston, et al., 2017). We operationalize this similarity as distance in a 2D similarity space generated using multidimensional scaling (MDS) on pair-wise similarity stimulus ratings. We tested listeners’ ability to categorize mechanical environmental sounds, and modeled the relationship between stimulus categorization and similarity. Stimuli were 18 mechanical sounds selected hierarchically from three broad categories (vehicles, power tools, and household appliances), and three subcategories. Thirty-five normal hearing listeners completed pair-wise similarity rating and categorization tasks. Perceptual similarity ratings from all paired stimuli were used to develop an MDS solution. Stimuli in the solution generally were segregated by broad category membership, with some exceptions. Categorization performance for each broad category varied, with vehicles being the ea...