Auditory perception & action

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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.