Memory for sound, with an ear toward hearing in complex auditory scenes

• Published in: Attention, perception & psychophysics perception & psychophysics, 2011-10, Vol.73 (7), p.1993-2007
• Main Authors: Snyder, Joel S., Gregg, Melissa K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging (Individuals); Attention - physiology; Audition; Auditory Perception; Auditory Perception - physiology; Behavior; Behavior Patterns; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping; Cognitive Psychology; Cues; Deafness; Definitions; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Learning. Memory; Long Term Memory; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Measurement Techniques; Memory; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Mental Recall - physiology; Nerve Net - physiology; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Perception; Pitch Perception - physiology; Psychoacoustics; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Recognition (Psychology) - physiology; Semantics; Social Environment; Speech Perception - physiology; Vision
• ISSN: 1943-3921; 1943-393X
• DOI: 10.3758/s13414-011-0189-4

An area of research that has experienced recent growth is the study of memory during perception of simple and complex auditory scenes. These studies have provided important information about how well auditory objects are encoded in memory and how well listeners can notice changes in auditory scenes. These are significant developments because they present an opportunity to better understand how we hear in realistic situations, how higher-level aspects of hearing such as semantics and prior exposure affect perception, and the similarities and differences between auditory perception and perception in other modalities, such as vision and touch. The research also poses exciting challenges for behavioral and neural models of how auditory perception and memory work.