Modeling alarm detection in noise for normal and hearing-impaired listeners: the effect of elevated thresholds and enlarged auditory filters.

A model was developed to assess how elevated absolute thresholds and enlarged auditory filters can impede the ability to detect alarms in a noisy background, such alarms being of paramount importance to ensure the safety of workers. Based on previously measured masked thresholds of 80 listeners in five groups (normal hearing to strongly impaired), the model was derived from signal detection theory (SDT) applied to Glasberg and Moore's excitation pattern model. The model can describe the influence of absolute thresholds and enlarged auditory filters together or separately on the detection ability for normal hearing and hearing-impaired listeners with various hearing profiles. Furthermore, it suggests that enlarged auditory filters alone can explain all of the impairment in this specific alarm detection task. Finally, the possibility of further development of the model into an alarm detection model is discussed.

Crocodile perception of distress in hominid baby cries.

It is generally argued that distress vocalizations, a common modality for alerting conspecifics across a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates, share acoustic features that allow heterospecific communication. Yet studies suggest that the acoustic traits used to decode distress may vary between species, leading to decoding errors. Here we found through playback experiments that Nile crocodiles are attracted to infant hominid cries (bonobo, chimpanzee and human), and that the intensity of crocodile response depends critically on a set of specific acoustic features (mainly deterministic chaos, harmonicity and spectral prominences). Our results suggest that crocodiles are sensitive to the degree of distress encoded in the vocalizations of phylogenetically very distant vertebrates. A comparison of these results with those obtained with human subjects confronted with the same stimuli further indicates that crocodiles and humans use different acoustic criteria to assess the distress encoded in infant cries. Interestingly, the acoustic features driving crocodile reaction are likely to be more reliable markers of distress than those used by humans. These results highlight that the acoustic features encoding information in vertebrate sound signals are not necessarily identical across species.

Sound categorization by crocodilians.

Rapidly sorting the information contained in a stream of stimuli is a major challenge for animals. One cognitive mechanism for achieving this goal is categorization, where the receiving individual considers a continuous variation of a stimulus as belonging to discrete categories. Using playback experiments in a naturalistic setup, here we show that crocodiles confronted with an acoustic continuum ranging from a frog call to a crocodile call classify each acoustic variant into one of these two categories, establishing a meaningful boundary where no acoustic boundary exists. With GO/NO-GO experiments, we then observe that this boundary is defined along the continuum following learning. We further demonstrate that crocodilians rely on the spectral envelope of sounds to categorize stimuli. This study suggests that sound categorization in crocodilians is a pre-wired faculty allowing rapid decision-making and highlights the learning-dependent plasticity involved in defining the boundary between sound categories.

Effects of reverberation on speech intelligibility in noise for hearing-impaired listeners.

Reverberation can have a strong detrimental effect on speech intelligibility in noise. Two main monaural effects were studied here: the temporal smearing of the target speech, which makes the speech less understandable, and the temporal smearing of the noise, which reduces the opportunity for listening in the masker dips. These phenomena have been shown to affect normal-hearing (NH) listeners. The aim of this study was to understand whether hearing-impaired (HI) listeners are more affected by reverberation, and if so to identify which of these two effects is responsible. They were investigated separately and in combination, by applying reverberation either on the target speech, on the noise masker, or on both sources. Binaural effects were not investigated here. Intelligibility scores in the presence of stationary and modulated noise were systematically compared for both NH and HI listeners in these situations. At the optimal signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) (that is to say, the SNRs with the least amount of floor and ceiling effects), the temporal smearing of both the speech and the noise had a similar effect for the HI and NH listeners, so that reverberation was not more detrimental for the HI listeners. There was only a very limited dip listening benefit at this SNR for either group. Some differences across group appeared at the SNR maximizing dip listening, but they could not be directly related to an effect of reverberation, and were rather due to floor effects or to the reduced ability of the HI listeners to benefit from dip listening, even in the absence of reverberation.

Spatial release from masking in crocodilians.

Ambient noise is a major constraint on acoustic communication in both animals and humans. One mechanism to overcome this problem is Spatial Release from Masking (SRM), the ability to distinguish a target sound signal from masking noise when both sources are spatially separated. SRM is well described in humans but has been poorly explored in animals. Although laboratory tests with trained individuals have suggested that SRM may be a widespread ability in vertebrates, it may play a limited role in natural environments. Here we combine field experiments with investigations in captivity to test whether crocodilians experience SRM. We show that 2 species of crocodilians are able to use SRM in their natural habitat and that it quickly becomes effective for small angles between the target signal source and the noise source, becoming maximal when the angle exceeds 15∘. Crocodiles can therefore take advantage of SRM to improve sound scene analysis and the detection of biologically relevant signals.

Voice-mediated interactions in a megaherbivore.

Planet Earth is becoming increasingly difficult for large animal species to inhabit. Yet, these species are of major importance for the functioning of the biosphere and their progressive disappearance is accompanied by profound negative alterations of ecosystems1 (Supplemental information). To implement effective conservation measures, it is essential to have a detailed knowledge of the biology of these species. Here, we show that the hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius, an iconic African megaherbivore for which little is known about social communication, uses vocal recognition to manage relationships between territorial groups. We conducted playback experiments on groups of hippos and observed their response to vocalizations from an individual of the same group (familiar), a group from the same lake (neighbor) and a distant group (stranger). We found that stranger vocalizations induced a stronger behavioral reaction than the other two stimuli. In addition to showing that hippos are able to identify categories of conspecifics based on vocal signatures, our study demonstrates that hippo groups are territorial entities that behave less aggressively toward their neighbors than toward strangers. These new behavioral data suggest that habituation playbacks prior to conservation translocation operations may help reduce the risk of conflict between individuals that have never seen each other.

Experimental assessment of the effect of wearing hearing protectors on the audibility of railway warning signals for normal hearing and hearing impaired listeners.

The influence of wearing hearing protectors on the detection of seven railway warning signals in noise was evaluated by comparisons of the masked thresholds measured with and without hearing protectors, out of a total of 80 listeners. The results show that wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) improves the audibility for normal hearing listeners whereas it tends to impede the audibility for hearing impaired listeners. Moreover, the impediments greatly depend on the warning signal acoustical characteristics. Statistical analyses were performed in order to propose a criterion for hearing impaired listeners that guarantees their security when wearing hearing protectors. If we do not consider one given high-pitched signal that is not suitable as a warning signal, the conclusion is that security is assured when the average absolute hearing threshold (average at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz for the best ear) of the listeners remains lower than a hearing level of 30 dB.

Rapid Assessment of Non-Verbal Auditory Perception in Normal-Hearing Participants and Cochlear Implant Users.

In the case of hearing loss, cochlear implants (CI) allow for the restoration of hearing. Despite the advantages of CIs for speech perception, CI users still complain about their poor perception of their auditory environment. Aiming to assess non-verbal auditory perception in CI users, we developed five listening tests. These tests measure pitch change detection, pitch direction identification, pitch short-term memory, auditory stream segregation, and emotional prosody recognition, along with perceived intensity ratings. In order to test the potential benefit of visual cues for pitch processing, the three pitch tests included half of the trials with visual indications to perform the task. We tested 10 normal-hearing (NH) participants with material being presented as original and vocoded sounds, and 10 post-lingually deaf CI users. With the vocoded sounds, the NH participants had reduced scores for the detection of small pitch differences, and reduced emotion recognition and streaming abilities compared to the original sounds. Similarly, the CI users had deficits for small differences in the pitch change detection task and emotion recognition, as well as a decreased streaming capacity. Overall, this assessment allows for the rapid detection of specific patterns of non-verbal auditory perception deficits. The current findings also open new perspectives about how to enhance pitch perception capacities using visual cues.

How does the perceptual organization of a multi-tone mixture interact with partial and global loudness judgments?

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how the perceptual organization of a multi-tone mixture interacts with global and partial loudness judgments. Grouping (single-object) and segregating (two-object) conditions were created using frequency modulation by applying the same or different modulation frequencies to the odd- and even-rank harmonics. While in Experiment 1 (Exp. 1) the two objects had the same loudness, in Experiment 2 (Exp. 2), loudness level differences (LLD) were introduced (LLD = 6, 12, 18, or 24 phons). In the two-object condition, the loudness of each object was not affected by the mixture when LLD = 0 (Exp. 1), otherwise (Exp. 2), the loudness of the softest object was modulated by LLD, and the loudness of the loudest object was the same regardless of whether it was presented in or out of the mixture. In the single- and the two-object conditions, the global loudness of the mixture was close to the loudness of the loudest object. Taken together, these results suggest that while partial loudness judgments are dependent on the perceptual organization of the scene, global loudness is not. Yet, both partial and global loudness computations are governed by relative "saliences" between different auditory objects (in the segregating condition) or within a single object (in the grouping condition).

Discrimination and streaming of speech sounds based on differences in interaural and spectral cues.

Differences in spatial cues, including interaural time differences (ITDs), interaural level differences (ILDs) and spectral cues, can lead to stream segregation of alternating noise bursts. It is unknown how effective such cues are for streaming sounds with realistic spectro-temporal variations. In particular, it is not known whether the high-frequency spectral cues associated with elevation remain sufficiently robust under such conditions. To answer these questions, sequences of consonant-vowel tokens were generated and filtered by non-individualized head-related transfer functions to simulate the cues associated with different positions in the horizontal and median planes. A discrimination task showed that listeners could discriminate changes in interaural cues both when the stimulus remained constant and when it varied between presentations. However, discrimination of changes in spectral cues was much poorer in the presence of stimulus variability. A streaming task, based on the detection of repeated syllables in the presence of interfering syllables, revealed that listeners can use both interaural and spectral cues to segregate alternating syllable sequences, despite the large spectro-temporal differences between stimuli. However, only the full complement of spatial cues (ILDs, ITDs, and spectral cues) resulted in obligatory streaming in a task that encouraged listeners to integrate the tokens into a single stream.

Sequential stream segregation of voiced and unvoiced speech sounds based on fundamental frequency.

Differences in fundamental frequency (F0) between voiced sounds are known to be a strong cue for stream segregation. However, speech consists of both voiced and unvoiced sounds, and less is known about whether and how the unvoiced portions are segregated. This study measured listeners' ability to integrate or segregate sequences of consonant-vowel tokens, comprising a voiceless fricative and a vowel, as a function of the F0 difference between interleaved sequences of tokens. A performance-based measure was used, in which listeners detected the presence of a repeated token either within one sequence or between the two sequences (measures of voluntary and obligatory streaming, respectively). The results showed a systematic increase of voluntary stream segregation as the F0 difference between the two interleaved sequences increased from 0 to 13 semitones, suggesting that F0 differences allowed listeners to segregate speech sounds, including the unvoiced portions. In contrast to the consistent effects of voluntary streaming, the trend towards obligatory stream segregation at large F0 differences failed to reach significance. Listeners were no longer able to perform the voluntary-streaming task reliably when the unvoiced portions were removed from the stimuli, suggesting that the unvoiced portions were used and correctly segregated in the original task. The results demonstrate that streaming based on F0 differences occurs for natural speech sounds, and that the unvoiced portions are correctly assigned to the corresponding voiced portions.

Can Temporal Fine Structure and Temporal Envelope be Considered Independently for Pitch Perception?

In psychoacoustics, works on pitch perception attempt to distinguish between envelope and fine structure cues that are generally viewed as independent and separated using a Hilbert transform. To empirically distinguish between envelope and fine structure cues in pitch perception experiments, a dedicated signal has been proposed. This signal is an unresolved harmonic complex tones with all harmonics shifted by the same amount of Hz. As the frequency distance between adjacent components is regular and identical than in the original harmonic complex tone, such a signal has the same envelope but a different fine structure. So, any perceptual difference between these signals is interpreted as a fine structure based percept. Here, as illustrated by very basic simulations, I suggest that this orthogonal point of view that is generally admitted could be a conceptual error. In fact, neither the fine structure nor the envelope is required to be fully encoded to explain pitch perception. Sufficient information is conveyed by the peaks in the fine structure that are located nearby a maximum of the envelope. Envelope and fine structure could then be in perpetual interaction and the pitch would be conveyed by "the fine structure under envelope". Moreover, as the temporal delay between peaks of interest is rather longer than the delay between two adjacent peaks of the fine structure, such a mechanism would be much less constrained by the phase locking limitation of the auditory system. Several data from the literature are discussed from this new conceptual point of view.

Sequential streaming, binaural cues and lateralization.

Interaural time differences (ITDs) and interaural level differences (ILDs) associated with monaural spectral differences (coloration) enable the localization of sound sources. The influence of these spatial cues as well as their relative importance on obligatory stream segregation were assessed in experiment 1. A temporal discrimination task favored by integration was used to measure obligatory stream segregation for sequences of speech-shaped noises. Binaural and monaural differences associated with different spatial positions increased discrimination thresholds, indicating that spatial cues can induce stream segregation. The results also demonstrated that ITDs and coloration were relatively more important cues compared to ILDs. Experiment 2 questioned whether sound segregation takes place at the level of acoustic cue extraction (ITD per se) or at the level of object formation (perceived azimuth). A difference in ITDs between stimuli was introduced either consistently or inconsistently across frequencies, leading to clearly lateralized sounds or blurred lateralization, respectively. Conditions with ITDs and clearly perceived azimuths induced significantly more segregation than the condition with ITDs but reduced lateralization. The results suggested that segregation was mainly based on a difference in lateralization, although the extraction of ITDs might have also helped segregation up to a ceiling magnitude.

Room and head coloration can induce obligatory stream segregation.

Multiple sound reflections from room materials and a listener's head induce slight spectral modifications of sounds. This coloration depends on the listener and source positions, and on the room itself. This study investigated whether coloration could help segregate competing sources. Obligatory streaming was evaluated for diotic speech-shaped noises using a rhythmic discrimination task. Thresholds for detecting anisochrony were always significantly higher when stimuli differed in spectrum. The tested differences corresponded to three spatial configurations involving different levels of head and room coloration. These results suggest that, despite the generally deleterious effects of reverberation on speech intelligibility, coloration could favor source segregation.

Multistability in perception: binding sensory modalities, an overview.

This special issue presents research concerning multistable perception in different sensory modalities. Multistability occurs when a single physical stimulus produces alternations between different subjective percepts. Multistability was first described for vision, where it occurs, for example, when different stimuli are presented to the two eyes or for certain ambiguous figures. It has since been described for other sensory modalities, including audition, touch and olfaction. The key features of multistability are: (i) stimuli have more than one plausible perceptual organization; (ii) these organizations are not compatible with each other. We argue here that most if not all cases of multistability are based on competition in selecting and binding stimulus information. Binding refers to the process whereby the different attributes of objects in the environment, as represented in the sensory array, are bound together within our perceptual systems, to provide a coherent interpretation of the world around us. We argue that multistability can be used as a method for studying binding processes within and across sensory modalities. We emphasize this theme while presenting an outline of the papers in this issue. We end with some thoughts about open directions and avenues for further research.

Facilitated auditory detection for speech sounds.

If it is well known that knowledge facilitates higher cognitive functions, such as visual and auditory word recognition, little is known about the influence of knowledge on detection, particularly in the auditory modality. Our study tested the influence of phonological and lexical knowledge on auditory detection. Words, pseudo-words, and complex non-phonological sounds, energetically matched as closely as possible, were presented at a range of presentation levels from sub-threshold to clearly audible. The participants performed a detection task (Experiments 1 and 2) that was followed by a two alternative forced-choice recognition task in Experiment 2. The results of this second task in Experiment 2 suggest a correct recognition of words in the absence of detection with a subjective threshold approach. In the detection task of both experiments, phonological stimuli (words and pseudo-words) were better detected than non-phonological stimuli (complex sounds), presented close to the auditory threshold. This finding suggests an advantage of speech for signal detection. An additional advantage of words over pseudo-words was observed in Experiment 2, suggesting that lexical knowledge could also improve auditory detection when listeners had to recognize the stimulus in a subsequent task. Two simulations of detection performance performed on the sound signals confirmed that the advantage of speech over non-speech processing could not be attributed to energetic differences in the stimuli.

Congenital Amusia (or Tone-Deafness) Interferes with Pitch Processing in Tone Languages.

Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder that affects music processing and that is ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. We investigated whether this deficit extended to pitch processing in speech, notably the pitch changes used to contrast lexical tones in tonal languages. Congenital amusics and matched controls, all non-tonal language speakers, were tested for lexical tone discrimination in Mandarin Chinese (Experiment 1) and in Thai (Experiment 2). Tones were presented in pairs and participants were required to make same/different judgments. Experiment 2 additionally included musical analogs of Thai tones for comparison. Performance of congenital amusics was inferior to that of controls for all materials, suggesting a domain-general pitch-processing deficit. The pitch deficit of amusia is thus not limited to music, but may compromise the ability to process and learn tonal languages. Combined with acoustic analyses of the tone material, the present findings provide new insights into the nature of the pitch-processing deficit exhibited by amusics.

The effect of lip-reading on primary stream segregation.

Lip-reading has been shown to improve the intelligibility of speech in multitalker situations, where auditory stream segregation naturally takes place. This study investigated whether the benefit of lip-reading is a result of a primary audiovisual interaction that enhances the obligatory streaming mechanism. Two behavioral experiments were conducted involving sequences of French vowels that alternated in fundamental frequency. In Experiment 1, subjects attempted to identify the order of items in a sequence. In Experiment 2, subjects attempted to detect a disruption to temporal isochrony across alternate items. Both tasks are disrupted by streaming, thus providing a measure of primary or obligatory streaming. Visual lip gestures articulating alternate vowels were synchronized with the auditory sequence. Overall, the results were consistent with the hypothesis that visual lip gestures enhance segregation by affecting primary auditory streaming. Moreover, increases in the naturalness of visual lip gestures and auditory vowels, and corresponding increases in audiovisual congruence may potentially lead to increases in the effect of visual lip gestures on streaming.

Effect of rhythmic attention on the segregation of interleaved melodies.

As previously suggested, attention may increase segregation via enhancement and suppression sensory mechanisms. To test this hypothesis, we proposed an interleaved melody paradigm with two rhythm conditions applied to familiar target melodies and unfamiliar distractor melodies sharing pitch and timbre properties. When rhythms of both target and distractor were irregular, target melodies were identified above chance level. A sensory enhancement mechanism guided by listeners' knowledge may have helped to extract targets from the interleaved sequence. When the distractor was rhythmically regular, performance was increased, suggesting that the distractor may have been suppressed by a sensory suppression mechanism.

An intonational cue to word segmentation in phonemically identical sequences.

We investigated the use of language-specific intonational cues to word segmentation in French. Participants listened to phonemically identical sequences such as /selafi/, C'est la fiche/l'affiche "It's the sheet/poster." We modified the f0 of the first vowel /a/ of the natural consonant-initial production la fiche, so that it was equal to that of the natural vowel-initial production l'affiche (resynth-consonant-equal condition), higher (resynth-consonant-higher condition), or lower (resynth-consonant-lower condition). In a two-alternative forced choice task (Experiment 1), increasing the f0 in the /a/ of la fiche increased the percentage of vowel-initial (affiche) responses. In Experiment 2, participants made visual lexical decisions to vowel-initial targets (affiche) following both the natural consonant-initial production (la fiche) and the resynth-consonant-equal version. Facilitation was found only for the resynth-consonant-equal condition, suggesting that raising the f0 allowed online activation of vowel-initial targets. The recognition system seems to exploit intonational information to guide segmentation toward the beginning of content words.