posted on 2018-05-22, 13:36authored byMichael W. Beavois
A simple computer model is described that takes a novel approach to the problem of
accounting for perceptual coherence among successive pure tones of changing frequency by
using simple physiological principles that operate at a peripheral, rather than a central level.
The model is able to reproduce a number of streaming phenomena found in the literature
using the same parameter values. These are: (1) the build-up of streaming over time; (2) the
temporal coherence and fission boundaries of human listeners; (3) the ambiguous region; and (4) the trill threshold. In addition, the principle of excitation integration used in the model can
be used to account for auditory grouping on the basis of the Gestalt perceptual principles of
closure, proximity, continuity, and good continuation, as well as the pulsation threshold. The
examples of Gestalt auditory grouping accounted for by the excitation integration principle
indicate that the predictive power of the model would be considerably enhanced by the addition
of a cross-channel grouping mechanism that worked on the basis of common on sets and
offsets, as more complex stimuli could then be processed by the model. [Continues.]
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Publication date
1991
Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy at Loughborough University.