Auditory perception & action

哪些因素会影响我们对声音的感知和反应？以前听到类似声音的经历会影响我们对新声音的反应方式吗？我们能在注意一个声音的同时忽视其他声音吗？我们能注意到一个声音的任何特定特征吗，比如它的音高或位置，或者我们必须注意“整个”声音？我的研究计划旨在回答这些看似简单的问题，并在这样做的过程中，对听觉选择性注意的运作有一个完整的理解。为了实现这一终极目标，我和我的学生们经常研究如何根据特定声音的呈现环境来增强或削弱对它的感知。我们发现，对目标声音的感知往往受到其与之前或之后任何其他声音的局部(在位置、频率、强度和音色等基本特征方面)和全局(与模式的一致性)相似性以及听者预期的影响。这样的实验提供了对注意机制与涉及知觉组织和记忆的过程相互作用的洞察力。

Which factors influence our perception of, and response to, sounds? Do previous experiences with similar sounds influence the way in which we respond to new sounds? Can we pay attention to one sound while at the same time ignoring others? Can we attend to any specific feature of a sound such as its pitch or location or must we pay attend to 'whole' sounds? My research program is designed to answer these deceptively simple questions and, in so doing, to develop a complete understanding of the operation of auditory selective attention. In working toward this ultimate goal, my students and I often study how the perception of a specific sound may be enhanced or compromised depending on the context in which it is presented. We have found that perception of a target sound is often affected by its local (in basic features such as location, frequency, intensity, & timbre) and global (consistency with a pattern) similarity to any other sounds which precede or follow it, and by the listener's expectations. Experiments such as these provide insights into the interaction of attentional mechanisms with processes involved in perceptual organization and memory.