The influence of feature detection on working memory in complex auditory fields

• Main Authors: Chiodi, AnneMarie, Weaver, Aurora J., Ries, Dennis T.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1939-800X
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4800373

Research reveals that feature detectors may enhance listener performance in auditory detection tasks involving frequency modulation (FM) [Cusack and Carlyon, J. Exp. Psychol. 29, 713-725 (2003)]. The influence of these detectors on discrimination of auditory information is mostly unknown. This study investigated the impact of FM on listener performance in auditory, delayed-comparison tasks for conditions that differed in the number of background stimuli within two perceptual windows separated by various retention intervals. The background stimuli within both windows were either all modulated sinusoids or pure-tones for a given trial. An additional stimulus was presented in each window that could differ in its modulation state (FM or unmodulated sinusoid) across the two windows. The temporal placement and frequencies of all stimuli within the first window were assigned randomly for a given trial and the second window followed these parameters. Listeners were to determine whether the two windows were the same or different. Preliminary results show that same-different judgments of target modulation state was easier in a field of unmodulated sinusoids than vice versa. This result occurred regardless of retention interval length, but was influenced by the number of stimuli present. The further influence, if any, of memory span will be discussed.