Build-up Of Stream Segregation Research Articles

Delayed Stream Segregation in Older Adults: More Than Just Informational Masking.

To determine whether the time course for the buildup of auditory stream segregation differs between younger and older adults. Word recognition thresholds were determined for the first and last keywords in semantically anomalous but syntactically correct sentences (e.g., "A rose could paint a fish") when the target sentences were masked by speech-spectrum noise, 3-band vocoded speech, 16-band vocoded speech, intact and colocated speech, and intact and spatially separated speech. A significant reduction in thresholds from the first to the last keyword was interpreted as indicating that stream segregation improved with time. The buildup of stream segregation is slowed for both age groups when the masker is intact, colocated speech. Older adults are more disadvantaged; for them, stream segregation is also slowed even when a speech masker is spatially separated, conveys little meaning (3-band vocoding), and vocal fine structure cues are impoverished but envelope cues remain available (16-band vocoding).

Probing auditory scene analysis.

Probing auditory scene analysis.

The Build-up of Auditory Stream Segregation: A Different Perspective

The build-up of auditory stream segregation refers to the notion that sequences of alternating A and B sounds initially tend to be heard as a single stream, but with time appear to split into separate streams. The central assumption in the analysis of this phenomenon is that streaming sequences are perceived as one stream at the beginning by default. In the present study, we test the validity of this assumption and document its impact on the apparent build-up phenomenon. Human listeners were presented with ABAB sequences, where A and B were harmonic tone complexes of seven different fundamental frequency separations (Δf) ranging from 2 to 14 semitones. Subjects had to indicate, as promptly as possible, their initial percept of the sequences, as either “one stream” or “two streams,” and any changes thereof during the sequences. We found that subjects did not generally indicate a one-stream percept at the beginning of streaming sequences. Instead, the first perceptual decision depended on Δf, with the probability of a one-stream percept decreasing, and that of a two-stream percept increasing, with increasing Δf. Furthermore, subjects required some time to make and report a decision on their perceptual organization. Taking this time into account, the resulting time courses of two-stream probabilities differ markedly from those suggested by the conventional analysis. A build-up-like increase in two-stream probability was found only for the Δf of six semitones. At the other Δf conditions no or only minor increases in two-stream probability occurred. These results shed new light on the build-up of stream segregation and its possible neural correlates.

Build-up of the tendency to segregate auditory streams: Resetting effects evoked by a single deviant tone

The tendency to hear a sequence of alternating low (L) and high (H) frequency tones as two streams can be increased by a preceding induction sequence, even one composed only of same-frequency tones. Four experiments used such an induction sequence (10 identical L tones) to promote segregation in a shorter test sequence comprising L and H tones. Previous studies have shown that the build-up of stream segregation is usually reduced greatly when a sudden change in acoustic properties distinguishes all of the induction tones from their test-sequence counterparts. Experiment 1 showed that a single deviant tone, created by altering the final inducer (in frequency, level, duration, or replacement with silence) reduced reported segregation, often substantially. Experiment 2 partially replicated this finding, using changes in temporal discrimination as a measure of streaming. Experiments 3 and 4 varied the size of a frequency change applied to the deviant tone; the extent of resetting varied with size only gradually. The results suggest that resetting begins to occur once the change is large enough to be noticeable. Since the prior inducers always remained unaltered in the deviant-tone conditions, it is proposed that a single change actively resets the build-up evoked by the induction sequence.

Computer simulation of auditory stream segregation in alternating-tone sequences.

A computer model is described that takes a novel approach to the problem of accounting for perceptual coherence in alternating pure-tone sequences by using simple physiological principles that operate at a low level. Using the same set of parameter values, the model is able to reproduce a number of phenomena associated with auditory stream segregation. These are (1) the buildup of stream segregation over time, (2) the temporal coherence and fission boundaries obtained from human listeners, and (3) the trill threshold. Whereas these phenomena are generally accounted for in terms of an auditory scene-analysis process that works on the basis of Gestalt perceptual principles, the operation of the model suggests that some Gestalt auditory grouping may be the product of low-level processes.