Object Formation [click left for another topic]
In everyday settings, the sound reaching the ears is a mixture of energy from many different sources. In order to make sense of the auditory scene, a listener must determine what sound energy comes from what source. We are investigating the perceptual organization of sound in both simple environments (without echoes) and more natural, complex environments (in which there are echoes). This work has important practical applications as many hearing-impaired and/or aged listeners have difficulty understanding a source of interest when there are echoes and competing sounds in the environment. Moreover, because we believe attention is object-based, the way in which objects are formed is intricately linked to how effectively listeners will be able to process sound in everyday settings.
Ihlefeld, A and BG Shinn-Cunningham (2008). “Disentangling the effects of spatial cues on selection and formation of auditory objects,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, in press.
Lee, AKC, S Babcock, and BG Shinn-Cunningham (2008). “Measuring the perceived content of auditory objects using a matching paradigm,” Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, in press.
Lee, AKC and BG Shinn-Cunningham (2008). “Effects of frequency disparities on trading of an ambiguous tone between two competing auditory objects,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 123, 4340-4351.
Shinn-Cunningham, BG and D Wang (2008). “Influences of auditory object formation on phonemic restoration,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 121, 295-301.
Shinn-Cunningham, BG, AKC Lee, and AJ Oxenham (2007). “Auditory non-allocation of a sound element lost in perceptual competition,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 104, 12223-12227.
Shinn-Cunningham, BG (2007). “Why hearing impairment may degrade selective attention,” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, Helsingør, Denmark, 29-31 August 2007.
Best, V, N Marrone, CR Mason, G Kidd, Jr., and BG Shinn-Cunningham (2007). “Do hearing-impaired listeners benefit from spatial and temporal cues in a complex auditory scene?,” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, Helsingør, Denmark, 29-31 August 2007.
Shinn-Cunningham, BG, A Ihlefeld, Satyavarta, and E Larson (2005). “Bottom-up and top-down influences on spatial unmasking,” Acta Acustica united with Acustica. 91, 967-979.