Effects of Frequency Separation and Diotic/Dichotic Presentations on the Alternation Frequency Limits in Audition Derived from a Temporal Phase Discrimination Task

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p7753 ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoko Kanaya ◽  
Waka Fujisaki ◽  
Shin'ya Nishida ◽  
Shigeto Furukawa ◽  
Kazuhiko Yokosawa
2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (17) ◽  
pp. 2063-2071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Victor ◽  
Mary M. Conte

1991 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 334-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. Geisler ◽  
D. G. Albrecht ◽  
R. J. Salvi ◽  
S. S. Saunders

1. A new method of measuring the performance of neurons in sensory discrimination tasks was developed and then applied to single-neuron responses recorded in the auditory nerve of chinchilla and in the striate visual cortex of cat. 2. Most previous methods of measuring discrimination performance have employed decision rules that involve comparing the total counts of action potentials (spikes) produced by two different stimuli. Such measures ignore response pattern and hence may not reflect all the information transmitted by a neuron. The proposed method attempts to measure all (or most) of the transmitted information by constructing descriptive models of the neuron's response to each stimulus in the discrimination experiment; these descriptive models consist of measured probability distributions of the spike counts in small time bins. The measured probability distributions are then used to define an optimal decision rule (an ideal observer) for discriminating the two stimuli. Finally, discrimination performance is measured by applying this decision rule to novel presentations of the same two stimuli. 3. Intensity and temporal-phase discrimination were measured for three neurons in the auditory nerve of chinchilla. The discrimination stimuli were low-frequency pure tones of 70-ms duration. Intensity thresholds were found to be 5–20 dB lower at low intensities using the new pattern method compared with the traditional counting method. The pattern method led to better performance because it utilized both rate and temporal pattern information. Phase discrimination performance using the counting method was at chance because the average spike rate did not change with phase. On the other hand, using the pattern method, phase discrimination thresholds were found to decrease with intensity, often reaching values equivalent to 30–40 microseconds of temporal offset. These thresholds are as good as or better than behavioral thresholds in chinchilla. 4. Contrast and temporal-phase discrimination were measured for three neurons in the striate visual cortex of cat. The discrimination stimuli were drifting sine-wave gratings of 100- to 160-ms duration. Contrast discrimination functions measured by the pattern method and the counting method were found to be essentially identical. Phase discrimination using the counting method was at chance. However, using the pattern method, phase thresholds were found to decrease with contrast, reaching values equivalent to 7 ms of temporal offset for the two simple cells. 5. Our results suggest that temporal response pattern carries substantial information for intensity and phase discrimination in the auditory nerve and for phase discrimination in the striate visual cortex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Perception ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 68-68
Author(s):  
H S Hock ◽  
K Kogan ◽  
N Lodes

In classical apparent motion, a spot of light is presented in alternation such that the waveforms describing the varying luminance at each of two locations are 180° out of phase. However, when the luminance variation at each location is approximately sinusoidal, and the perceiver's task is to discriminate motion direction, the optimum temporal phase is 90° (van Santen and Sperling, 1984 Journal of the Optical Society of America A1 451 – 473). The results reported in this study suggest that the optimality of the 90° temporal phase may be specific to the direction-discrimination task. Our experiments were based on a new procedure for measuring classical apparent motion thresholds (Hock, Kogan, and Espinoza, 1996, paper presented at ARVO). Two horizontally displaced dots are presented simultaneously against a darker background. The luminance ( L1) of one dot is always greater than that of the other ( L2), and the luminance values for the dots are exchanged on successive frames. Whether motion or stationarity is perceived depends on the background-relative luminance contrast (BRLC): ( L1- L2) divided by the difference between the average [( L1+ L2)/2] and background luminance. We found in the current study that motion thresholds depend on the temporal phase of the luminance variation at each location (rather than temporal asynchrony); the greater the phase difference (from 41° to 180°) the less the BRLC required for motion perception. At suprathreshold BRLC values, the perceived speed of apparent motion decreases with increased differences in temporal phase. The results are discussed in terms of Reichardt-type motion detection models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 233121652094551
Author(s):  
Elin Roverud ◽  
Judy R. Dubno ◽  
Gerald Kidd

Many listeners with sensorineural hearing loss have uneven hearing sensitivity across frequencies. This study addressed whether this uneven hearing loss leads to a biasing of attention to different frequency regions. Normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners performed a pattern discrimination task at two distant center frequencies (CFs): 750 and 3500 Hz. The patterns were sequences of pure tones in which each successive tonal element was randomly selected from one of two possible frequencies surrounding a CF. The stimuli were presented at equal sensation levels to ensure equal audibility. In addition, the frequency separation of the tonal elements within a pattern was adjusted for each listener so that equal pattern discrimination performance was obtained for each CF in quiet. After these adjustments, the pattern discrimination task was performed under conditions in which independent patterns were presented at both CFs simultaneously. The listeners were instructed to attend to the low or high CF before the stimulus (assessing selective attention to frequency with instruction) or after the stimulus (divided attention, assessing inherent frequency biases). NH listeners demonstrated approximately equal performance decrements (re: quiet) between the two CFs. HI listeners demonstrated much larger performance decrements at the 3500 Hz CF than at the 750 Hz CF in combined-presentation conditions for both selective and divided attention conditions, indicating a low-frequency attentional bias that is apparently not under subject control. Surprisingly, the magnitude of this frequency bias was not related to the degree of asymmetry in thresholds at the two CFs.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 376-381
Author(s):  
R. A. J. Ford ◽  
C. A. Foord

Flutter prediction methods for aeroengine fans at present typically combine a complex aerodynamic analysis with a simple model of the mechanical behavior of the fan. In this paper a more sophisticated model of the mechanical response is used to investigate flutter and provide additional insight into the physical mechanisms involved. The model incorporates twin orthogonal modes, which are two independent vibration patterns similar in shape and resonant frequency but displaced 1/4 wave circumferentially in space. Flutter can be thought of as a self excited vibration in which the response of each blade in one mode generates aerodynamic forces on the blades which drive the twin mode—and vice versa. The flutter frequency can be determined by considering the phasing between the twin modes; whether flutter does actually occur (at this frequency) depends upon the relationship between the aerodynamic force coefficients and the amplitude response of each mode. The greatest tendency to flutter occurs when the twin modes are identical in frequency. For the more practical case of a frequency split between the modes the tendency to flutter decreases with increased frequency separation, and the vibration pattern becomes non-uniform. The non-uniformities include unequal blade amplitudes, unequal interblade phase angles, variation from blade to blade in the temporal phase between twist and flap within each individual blade, and a deflected shape which is not sinusoidal circumferentially.


1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan E. Sussman

This investigation examined the response strategies and discrimination accuracy of adults and children aged 5–10 as the ratio of same to different trials was varied across three conditions of a “change/no-change” discrimination task. The conditions varied as follows: (a) a ratio of one-third same to two-thirds different trials (33% same), (b) an equal ratio of same to different trials (50% same), and (c) a ratio of two-thirds same to one-third different trials (67% same). Stimuli were synthetic consonant-vowel syllables that changed along a place of articulation dimension by formant frequency transition. Results showed that all subjects changed their response strategies depending on the ratio of same-to-different trials. The most lax response pattern was observed for the 50% same condition, and the most conservative pattern was observed for the 67% same condition. Adult response patterns were most conservative across condition. Differences in discrimination accuracy as measured by P(C) were found, with the largest difference in the 5- to 6-year-old group and the smallest change in the adult group. These findings suggest that children’s response strategies, like those of adults, can be manipulated by changing the ratio of same-to-different trials. Furthermore, interpretation of sensitivity measures must be referenced to task variables such as the ratio of same-to-different trials.


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