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Interaction among auditory dimensions: Timbre, pitch, and loudness

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Abstract

In two experiments, we examined whether or not pairs of auditory dimensions—timbre-loudness (Experiment 1) and timbre-pitch (Experiment 2)—interact in speeded classification. Subjects classified values from one dimension while the other dimension was (1) held constant (baseline), (2) varied orthogonally (filtering), or (3) correlated linearly. The subjects showed substantial Garner interference when classifying all dimensions—that is, poor performance at filtering relative to baseline. Timbre and loudness displayed redundancy gain (i.e., performance faster than baseline) when correlated positively, but redundancy loss (i.e., interference) when correlated negatively. Timbre and pitch displayed redundancy gain however dimensions were correlated. Both pairs of dimensions showed substantial effects of congruity: Attributes from one dimension were classified faster when paired with “congruent” attributes from the other dimension. The results are interpreted in terms of an interactive multichannel model of auditory processing.

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Author notes

  1. Robert D. Melara

    Present address: Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University, 47907, West Lafayette, IN

Authors and Affiliations

  1. John B. Pierce Foundatton Laboratory, New Haven, Connecticut

    Robert D. Melara & Lawrence E. Marks

  2. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

    Robert D. Melara & Lawrence E. Marks

Authors
  1. Robert D. Melara
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  2. Lawrence E. Marks
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Additional information

Preparauon of this arlacle was supported by Nataonal Inslatutes of Health (NIH) Postdoctoral Fellowship HD07137 and NIH Grant NS28617 to Robert Melara and by NIH Grant DC00271 and National Science Foundation Grant BNS84-20017 to Lawrence Marks

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Melara, R.D., Marks, L.E. Interaction among auditory dimensions: Timbre, pitch, and loudness. Perception & Psychophysics 48, 169–178 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207084

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