Pure-Tone Octave Masking in Normal-Hearing Listeners

1974 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Nelson ◽  
Robert C. Bilger
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Pattern ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Pattern Discrimination ◽  
Signal Frequency ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Phase Effect ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
High Level ◽  
Temporal Pattern Discrimination

Octave masking was investigated at four different frequencies (250, 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz) as a function of intensity of the masker and phase of the test signal. Slopes of phase-locked octave masking were found to increase with masking signal frequency, from 0.80 dB/dB at 250 Hz to 3.0 dB/dB at 2000 Hz. The monaural octave-masking phase effect was considerably larger for masking signals at low frequencies than at high frequencies, and the phase effect decreased or disappeared entirely for high-level masking signals. Interpretations are considered which take recent neurophysiological and physiological data into account, and which describe the octave-masking phase effects in terms of temporal pattern discrimination. Those interpretations adequately account for the frequency dependencies found in octave-masking phase effects.

Auditory Temporal Pattern Discrimination and Reading Ability

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1237-1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken I. McAnally ◽  
Anne Castles ◽  
Susan Bannister
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Pattern ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Pattern Discrimination ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Good Readers ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Delayed Readers ◽  
Frequency Changes ◽  
Temporal Pattern Discrimination

The relation between reading ability and performance on an auditory temporal pattern discrimination task was investigated in children who were either good or delayed readers. The stimuli in the primary task consisted of sequences of tones, alternating between high and low frequencies. The threshold interstimulus interval (ISI) for discrimination of differences in the temporal properties of the sequences was measured. An ISI threshold was also measured in a control task that was identical to the primary task, except all tones in a control sequence had the same frequency. Delayed readers and good readers were equally able to discriminate the timing of the sequences at short ISIs, for both the primary and control tasks. Furthermore, the ISI thresholds were not correlated with the ability to read either irregular words or nonwords. These results suggest that reading ability is not related to the ability to track large and rapid frequency changes in auditory temporal patterns.

scholarly journals Sound Properties Associated With Equiluminant Colours

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 337-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giles Hamilton-Fletcher ◽  
Christoph Witzel ◽  
David Reby ◽  
Jamie Ward
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Pure Tones ◽  
Open Question

There is a widespread tendency to associate certain properties of sound with those of colour (e.g., higher pitches with lighter colours). Yet it is an open question how sound influences chroma or hue when properly controlling for lightness. To examine this, we asked participants to adjust physically equiluminant colours until they ‘went best’ with certain sounds. For pure tones, complex sine waves and vocal timbres, increases in frequency were associated with increases in chroma. Increasing the loudness of pure tones also increased chroma. Hue associations varied depending on the type of stimuli. In stimuli that involved only limited bands of frequencies (pure tones, vocal timbres), frequency correlated with hue, such that low frequencies gave blue hues and progressed to yellow hues at 800 Hz. Increasing the loudness of a pure tone was also associated with a shift from blue to yellow. However, for complex sounds that share the same bandwidth of frequencies (100–3200 Hz) but that vary in terms of which frequencies have the most power, all stimuli were associated with yellow hues. This suggests that the presence of high frequencies (above 800 Hz) consistently yields yellow hues. Overall we conclude that while pitch–chroma associations appear to flexibly re-apply themselves across a variety of contexts, frequencies above 800 Hz appear to produce yellow hues irrespective of context. These findings reveal new sound–colour correspondences previously obscured through not controlling for lightness. Findings are discussed in relation to understanding the underlying rules of cross-modal correspondences, synaesthesia, and optimising the sensory substitution of visual information through sound.

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