Stage analysis of auditory event perception: Posture in human gait

Abstract

One ultimate goal of auditory research is to understand how we perceive natural events. In our conceptualization, there are three component stages to auditory event perception: the source event, the sounds produced, and perception of the event. The current study carefully examines each of these three components, and the inter-relationships among their properties. The auditory event class for the current study is human gait in a fixed environment (e.g., shoes, walking surface, room), with posture (upright versus stooped) manipulated within individual walkers. We analyze the source events in terms of both the anthropometrical and dynamic biomechanical properties of the individual walker, and sound in terms of temporal and spectral properties of sole and heel collisions with the floor. Finally, perception is evaluated in terms of accuracy in identifying source properties (e.g., posture). In addition to statistical analyses of source–sound, sound–perception, and source–perception relationships, the source–sound link is investigated using biomechanical modeling. These analyses provide a comprehensive picture of the relationships among our three conceptual stages as well as identifying what is, and is not, relevant to perception of this specific source event. [Research supported by NSF.]