The Information in Auditory Patterns

描述（由申请人提供）：当我们理解所遇到的声音信号的连续变化模式时，我们每天都会展现出处理声音信息的非凡能力。该项目的长期目标是通过控制测量正常听力成年人检测和辨别由音调组成的声学模式变化的能力，更好地了解他们的这种能力。我们的方法包含三个关键要素。首先，所有的努力都通过一个单一的理论框架联系起来，其中模式中的信息被赋予精确的含义，并且听众的表现是相对于通用的表现标准进行评估的。其次，不同的内部因素影响听众反应的方式是通过对数据的试验分析来确定的。第三，关于实验结果的具体假设是基于在听觉外围执行的已知非线性变换和决策模型生成的，该决策模型对许多过去的研究结果进行了准确的预测[R.A.卢特菲，J.阿库斯特。苏克。是。 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时间信息整合的具体影响，以及（3）通过刺激设计最大化信息率来证明目标的成功实现。通过加深我们对正常成人处理声音信息的能力的理解，这些结果可能成为开发技术和康复策略的关键，从而更有效地应对听力功能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.