The relationship between stream segregation of complex tones and frequency selectivity

Authors

  • Sara M. K. Madsen Hearing Systems, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
  • Torsten Dau Hearing Systems, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
  • Brian C. J. Moore Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Keywords:

stream segregation, pitch, frequency selectivity

Abstract

The discrimination of changes in fundamental frequency (F0) is better for complex tones with low than with high harmonics, perhaps because the low harmonics are spectrally resolved. The reduced frequency selectivity of hearing-impaired (HI) participants may lead to poorer resolution of low and medium harmonics. This may adversely affect F0 discrimination and in turn reduce the extent of perceptual segregation (streaming) of a rapid sequence of complex tones. We assessed how the streaming of complex tones is affected by harmonic rank and whether HI listeners are less able to segregate tones with low and medium harmonics than near normal-hearing (NH) participants. Subjective streaming was assessed for complex tones that were bandpass filtered between 2 and 4 kHz. Harmonic rank was varied by changing the baseline F0 (with differences in F0 from 5 to 11 semitones). Auditory filter shapes were estimated from notched-noise masking using a   2-kHz signal. The auditory filters were wider for the HI than for the NH participants. Streaming decreased with increasing harmonic rank but was similar for the two groups. Streaming scores were not correlated with auditory filter bandwidths. The results suggest that the effects of harmonic rank on streaming cannot be explained in terms of resolvability.

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Adaptive processes in hearing

Additional Files

Published

2017-12-14

How to Cite

Madsen, S. M. K., Dau, T., & Moore, B. C. J. (2017). The relationship between stream segregation of complex tones and frequency selectivity. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 6, 231–238. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2017-28

Issue

Vol. 6 (2017): Adaptive Processes in Hearing

Section

2017/4. Assessment of specific auditory functions and hearing ability

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