The role of immediate prior experience in auditory stream segregation

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Human and non-human animals alike rely on a set of abilities that allow them to segregate sounds of interest from noisy background sounds, for example, when we listen to someone talking on a crowded, noisy bus. These abilities, collectively called 'auditory scene analysis,' have been the focus of several decades of laboratory research. However, recent research has pointed out the need for more empirical and theoretical work to explain the diversity of phenomena that occurs during sound segregation. Joel Snyder from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, focuses on context effects because they show promise for significantly advancing our theoretical understanding of the mechanisms and levels of processing necessary to explain auditory scene analysis. Key issues to be addressed include 1) What features of sound patterns influence context effects? 2) Are sensory or decision levels of processing best suited to explain context effects? 3) Do attention or awareness influence context effects?The findings from this project may have technical and health applications such as prosthetic design of hearing aids, speech and music recognition devices, and amelioration of auditory impairments that occur in normal hearing, hearing impairments, developmental disorders, and schizophrenia.