Perception in complex, multi-source environments

复杂、多源环境中的感知

• 批准号: 7643843
• 负责人: Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
• 金额: $ 34.53万
• 依托单位: BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-01 至 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7643843
• 关键词: Acoustics; Affect; Attention; Auditory; Auditory Perception; Businesses; Cochlear Implants; Complex; Computer Simulation; Conflict (Psychology); Cues; Devices; Elements; Environment; Face; Failure; Frequencies; Frustration; Goals; Grouping; Hearing; Hearing Aids; Heating; Indium; Individual; Judgment; Location; Loudness; Measures; Modeling; Pattern; Perception; Process; Psychophysiology; Relative (related person); Scheme; Sea; Signal Transduction; Social isolation; Source; Speech; Speech Intelligibility; Stimulus; Testing; computerized data processing; coping; experience; hearing impairment; interest; meetings; public health relevance; research study; segregation; selective attention; social; sound; stem

DESCRIPTION: Hearing-impaired listeners and cochlear implant users have difficulty selectively attending to a sound source in environments with multiple, competing sound sources. In contrast, normal-hearing listeners are able to selectively attend to a talker of interest in a sea of competing sources, shifting attention as the need arises. The long-term objective of this project is to develop strategies and devices to help impaired listeners communicate effectively in everyday social settings that require selective attention. The current proposal is built on the hypothesis that some of the difficulty that impaired listeners have in complex environments stems from difficulties in properly forming auditory "objects" (i.e., grouping sound coming from one physical source into a single perceptual entity). Because interactions between auditory grouping and auditory perception are poorly understood, a necessary first step towards our long-term objective is to understand how the grouping of sound into objects affects perception in normal-hearing listeners. We will perform psychophysical experiments in normal- hearing listeners that test how grouping influences auditory perception and use computational models to understand the processes that normally affect how listeners attend to one source in a mixture of competing sound sources. The specific aims of this project explore how perceptual grouping influences perceptual sensitivity to basic psychophysical sound attributes (Aims 1 and 2) as well as the ability to understand speech when there is a competing, similar sound source (Aim 3). Aim 1 explores how sensitivity to spatial cues and the intensity of one tone can be degraded when that tone is perceptually integrated into an object containing other sounds. Aim 2 explores how the ability to extract the spectro-temporal pattern defined by multiple simultaneous or sequential target tones (e.g., spectral profile, rhythm, pitch contour) can be degraded when competing sounds interfere with the perceptual grouping of the target tones into a perceptual object. Aim 3 measures how weakened grouping cues (like those commonly experienced with hearing impairment or through a cochlear implant) interfere with speech intelligibility in the presence of a competing sound object. Together, the proposed studies test a unified conceptual model of why perceptual grouping directly influences the ability to communicate in the complex social settings, from heated business meetings to lively dinner parties. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE One of the most common complaints of hearing aid and cochlear implant users is that they cannot communicate effectively in everyday settings where there are multiple, competing sound sources. This problem often causes social isolation, as listeners opt out of trying to participate in complex settings rather than facing frustration and failure. Understanding the processes that allow normal- hearing listeners to cope with complex acoustic environments is a critical and necessary step towards developing signal-processing schemes and devices to ameliorate the difficulties facing impaired listeners.

描述：听力受损的听众和人工耳蜗用户在具有多个竞争声源的环境中有选择性地参与声源。相比之下，正常听力的听众能够选择性地参与竞争来源的海洋感兴趣的谈话者，随着需要而转移注意力。该项目的长期目标是制定策略和设备，以帮助受损的听众在需要选择性关注的日常社交环境中有效沟通。当前的提案基于以下假设：在复杂环境中受损的某些困难源于正确形成听觉“对象”的困难（即，将一个物理源从一个物理源分组为单个感知实体）。由于听觉分组与听觉感知之间的相互作用尚不清楚，因此朝着我们的长期目标迈出的第一步是了解声音分组到对象中如何影响正常听众的感知。我们将在正常听众的听众中进行心理物理实验，这些实验测试分组如何影响听觉感知并使用计算模型来了解通常会影响听众如何在竞争声音源混合使用一个来源的过程中。该项目的具体目的探讨了感知分组如何影响对基本心理物理声音属性（目标1和2）的感知敏感性，以及在有竞争，类似的声音源时理解语音的能力（AIM 3）。 AIM 1探讨了当该音调感知整合到包含其他声音的对象中时，对空间提示的敏感性以及一种音调的强度如何被降解。 AIM 2探讨了如何提取由多个同时或顺序目标色调定义的光谱上的模式（例如，光谱曲线，节奏，音高轮廓）的能力，当竞争竞争声音干扰目标群体的感知组时，如何降级。 AIM 3衡量分组线索的削弱（如听力障碍或通过人工耳蜗经历的线索）如何干扰竞争性声音对象的存在的语音清晰度。拟议的研究一起测试了一个统一的概念模型，即为什么感知分组直接影响在复杂的社交环境中进行交流的能力，从加热的商务会议到活泼的晚宴。公共卫生相关性最常见的助听器和人工耳蜗用户的抱怨之一是，他们无法在有多个竞争性的声音来源的日常环境中进行有效沟通。这个问题通常会导致社会隔离，因为听众选择不尝试参与复杂的环境，而不是面临挫败感和失败。了解允许正常听众应对复杂声学环境的过程是开发信号处理方案和设备以减轻受损听众面临的困难的关键和必要步骤。