The Information in Auditory Patterns

描述(申请人提供)：我们在声音中处理信息的非凡能力每天都会被证明，因为我们理解了我们遇到的声音信号的连续变化模式。这个项目的长期目标是通过受控测量他们检测和辨别由音调组成的声学模式的变化的能力，更好地了解听力正常的成年人的这种能力。我们的方法有三个关键要素。首先，所有的努力都通过一个单一的理论框架联系在一起，其中模式中的信息被赋予确切的含义，并相对于共同的性能标准评估监听器的性能。其次，不同的内部因素影响听者反应的方式是通过试验确定的：对数据的试验分析。第三，关于实验结果的特定假设是基于已知的在听觉外围执行的非线性变换和对过去许多研究的结果做出准确预测的决策模型而产生的[R.A.Lutfi，J.Acoust。SoC。上午好。94、748-758(1993)]。目前的目标是：(1)测量纯音频率、强度和持续时间辨别中的听觉非线性；(2)确定听觉非线性、听者决策权重和内部噪声对跨频率和跨时间信息整合的具体影响；(3)通过刺激设计最大化信息率，展示成功实现目标。通过促进我们对成年人正常的声音信息处理能力的理解，这一结果可能被证明是开发技术和康复策略的关键，这些技术和康复策略可以更有效地处理听力障碍对日常听力的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our remarkable capacity to process information in sound is demonstrated everyday as we make sense of the continuous pattern of variation in the acoustic signals we encounter. The long-term goal of this project is to better understand this ability in normal-hearing adults through controlled measures of their ability to detect and discriminate variation in acoustic patterns made up of tones. There are three key elements of our approach. First, all efforts are linked by a single theoretical framework where the information in the patterns is given precise meaning and listener performance is evaluated relative to a common performance standard. Second, the manner in which different internal factors influence the listener's response is determined from trial-by:trial analyses of the data. Third, specific hypotheses regarding the outcome of experiments are generated based on known nonlinear transformations performed at the auditory periphery and a decision model that has made accurate predictions for the results of many past studies [R.A. Lutfi, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 94, 748-758 (1993)]. Present aims are to: (1) measure auditory nonlinearity in the discrimination of pure-tone frequency, intensity and duration (2) determine the specific influence of auditory nonlinearity, listener decision weights, and internal noise on the integration of information across frequency and time, and (3) demonstrate successful achievement of aims by maximizing information rate through stimulus design. By advancing our understanding of the normal adult capacity to process information in sound the results may prove key in the development of technologies and rehabilitative strategies that deal more effectively with the impact of dysfunctional hearing on everyday listening.