Deck 12: Auditory Localization and Organization

Question 1

The ____ is important for binaural localization because it is where signals from the left and right ears first meet.

A) medial geniculate nucleus
B) cochlear nucleus
C) inferior colliculus
D) superior olivary nucleus

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Hofmann et al. had participants wear artificial pinnae for about three weeks. Which of the following was a result of their study?

A) Participants could not adapt to wearing the artificial pinnae.
B) Participants adapted in about 19 days, but then could not accurately localize sounds when they removed the artificial pinnae.
C) Participants adapted in about 19 days, and then could accurately localize sounds when they removed the artificial pinnae.
D) Participants could not localize sounds along the azimuth with the new pinnae, but could localize sounds along the elevation coordinate after 3 days of adapatation.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The cue of interaural level difference is

A) not effective for low-frequency sound stimuli.
B) equally effective for high- and low-frequency sound stimuli.
C) not effective for high-frequency sound stimuli.
D) only effective for middle-frequency sound stimuli.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The ______ is the dominant cue for locating low-frequency sounds along the azimuth.

A) ITD
B) ILD
C) Both ITD and ILD are equally effective.
D) HRTF only

Question 5

Interaural time difference detectors

A) have not been found in the monkey auditory cortex.
B) have been discovered in the monkey occipital cortex.
C) have been found in the monkey auditory cortex that responds best to specific delays.
D) have been found in the monkey auditory cortex, but do not differentially respond to different delays.

Question 6

Recanzone (2000) examined localization in A1 and the auditory belt area in monkeys. Results indicated that

A) the belt area is not involved in localization.
B) A1 provides the most specific localization information.
C) localization coded the same throughout the auditory cortex.
D) the belt area provides more specific localization then A1.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a coordinate system for auditory localization?

A) elevation
B) depth
C) azimuth
D) time

Question 8

From the auditory nerve, information is passed through a sequence of subcortical structures. Which of the following reflects the correct sequence?

A) medial geniculate nucleus, cochlear nucleus, superior olivary nucleus, inferior colliculus
B) cochlear nucleus, superior olivary nucleus, inferior colliculus, medial geniculate nucleus
C) superior olivary nucleus, medial geniculate nucleus, cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus
D) medial geniculate nucleus, inferior colliculus, cochlear nucleus, superior olivary nucleus

Question 9

Spectral cues for auditory localization are provided by

A) the frequency of the sound wave.
B) the interaural level difference.
C) the head position and the pinnae.
D) the motion of the stimulus.

Question 10

The horizontal axis in auditory localization is called the

A) elevation.
B) depth.
C) azimuth.
D) bradburthy.

Question 11

Sound that reaches the ears after bouncing off a wall or a floor is called

A) direct sound.
B) indirect sound.
C) virtual sound.
D) harmonics.

Question 12

Coincidence detectors

A) fire when the ITD equals 0.
B) fire when the ITD is greater than 20.
C) have been found in humans, but not in non-mammals.
D) fire when the ILD is greater than 50.

Question 13

The precedence effect is

A) the listener perceives the fused sound from two speakers to be originating from the lead speaker.
B) the listener perceives the fused sound from two speakers to be originating from the lag speaker.
C) the listener cannot fuse the sound from two speakers because the lead speaker is too loud.
D) the listener cannot fuse the sound from two speakers because the lag speaker is too loud.

Question 14

The ___________ is composed of the locations where the ILD and ITD are the same.

A) common region
B) cone of confusion
C) inverse acoustic range
D) Jeffries tube

Question 15

McAlpine's research on gerbils provides evidence for

A) narrowly tuned ITD neurons.
B) broadly tuned ITD neurons.
C) specificity-coding in the auditory cortex.
D) narrowly tuned spectral neurons.

Question 16

Interaural level differences are a cue to auditory localization because the

A) person's head creates an acoustic shadow that prevents high-frequency sounds from reaching the far ear.
B) person's head creates an acoustic shadow that prevents low-frequency sounds from reaching the far ear.
C) medium through which the sound travels can be air, liquid, or solid.
D) acoustic shadow is more likely to occur in an enclosed space than outdoors.

Question 17

If there is an interaural time difference, we interpret the sound as coming from

A) directly in front of us.
B) directly behind us.
C) the side.
D) directly above us.

Question 18

In the precedence effect, the sound from the far speaker

A) does not contribute to the perception of the sound.
B) only helps sound localization if the time difference is less than 5 milliseconds.
C) only helps sound localization if the time difference is less than 2 milliseconds.
D) contributes to the richness of the sound.

Question 19

Garner and Garner showed that smoothing out the nooks of the pinnae

A) results in more accurate localization on all corrdinates.
B) makes it more difficult to locate sounds along the elevation coordinate.
C) results in more accurate localization along the elevation coordinate.
D) does not affect spectral cues for localization.

Question 20

Patient J.G. has temporal lobe damage. While this has not affected his ability to locate sounds, he has difficulty recognizing sounds. This case provides evidence for

A) the Jeffress model of auditory localization.
B) what and where pathways in audition.
C) the existence of separate subcortical structures.
D) how and where pathways in audition.

Question 21

The "S" in the S/N ratio in a classroom is the:

A) sound from adjacent rooms.
B) sound of the ventilation system.
C) level of the teacher's voice.
D) scene analysis.

Question 22

The ventriloquism effect is

A) a veridical representation of the physical stimuli.
B) an example of how vision influences auditory perception.
C) a strictly physiological effect.
D) when dummy variables are used in statistical analyses.

Question 23

Vision: figure-ground segregation :: Audition: ________________.

A) the ecological approach
B) intimacy
C) auditiory scene analysis
D) Fourier analysis

Question 24

Some people who are blind are able to use echolocation to locate objects and perceive shapes by making clicking noises and listening to the reverberations. When expert echolocators use this technique

A) they have 45% more activation in their frontal lobes than sighted individuals.
B) they rely only on activation from the occipital lobe.
C) the clicking sounds activate the auditory and visual cortices.
D) the clicking sounds activate A1 but not subcortical structures.

Question 25

The importance of similarity of timbre as auditory grouping principle has been supported by

A) implied polyphony.
B) auditory stream segregation.
C) location restoration effect.
D) compound melodic line.

Question 26

Melodic channeling, or the scale illusion, is based on the auditory grouping law ________.

A) location
B) similarity of pitch
C) onset
D) offset

Question 27

The ideal reverberation time for a small classroom is

A) about 500 milliseconds.
B) about 3 seconds.
C) the same as for large concert halls.
D) about 6 seconds.

Question 28

The anecdote about the construction of New York's Philharmonic Hall demonstrates that

A) an ideal reverberation time does not always predict good acoustics.
B) an ideal reverberation time always predicts good acoustics.
C) musicians should design symphony halls.
D) the MLD is more important than the ILD in architectural acoustics.

Question 29

Seven-month-old infants listened to a regular repeating ambiguous rhythm while they were bounced up and down at two bounces per beat or at three bounces per beat. Later, they were tested to see how they had perceived the rhythm. The results suggest that

A) the infants perceived the rhythm as presented - ambiguous.
B) the infants always perceived the rhythm as occurring in twos.
C) the infants' perception was influenced by how they were bounced.
D) the vestibular system is not involved in auditory perception and movement.

Question 30

Infant studies reveal that the dominant stress patterns of their native language can influence perception grouping by

A) 1 month of age.
B) 5 months of age.
C) 7 months of age.
D) 1 year of age.

Question 31

The ideal S/N ratio in a classroom is _____ db.

A) 0 to +1.00
B) -1.00 to +1.00
C) +0.67 to +1.05
D) +10 to +15

Question 32

Auditory grouping can be accomplished by

A) similarity of timbre.
B) similarity of pitch.
C) location.
D) all of these.

Question 33

The study by Sekuler et al., in which a "click" was added to a visual display of two diagonally moving dots, showed that

A) visual capture occurs in haptic research.
B) hearing can influence visual perception.
C) indirect sounds are located better than direct sounds.
D) direct sounds are located better than indirect sounds.

Question 34

The "ideal" reverberation time for symphony halls is

A) 50 milliseconds.
B) 500 milliseconds.
C) 2 seconds.
D) 7 seconds.

Question 35

What did the designers of The Walt Disney Hall do to maximize acoustics?

A) Seat cushions were designed to absorb the same amount as an average person.
B) Increased the middle frequency to high frequency ratio.
C) Designed the hall to have an ideal reverberation time of 2.0 seconds.
D) Eliminated any indirect sound so that direct sound is maximized.

Question 36

Warren et al. presented listeners with tones that were either (1) interrupted with silent gaps; or (2) interrupted with silent gaps with noise. The results showed

A) both conditions resulted in listeners hearing a continuous tone.
B) both conditions resulted in listeners hearing bursts of separate tones.
C) the noise condition resulted in listeners hearing a continuous tone.
D) the silent gap condition resulted in listeners hearing a continuous tone.

Question 37

The time that it takes a sound to decrease to ____ of its original level is the reverberation time.

A) 1/1000th
B) 1/10th
C) 1/5th
D) none of these

Question 38

The principle of auditory grouping called ________ is responsible for melody schema.

A) proximity
B) Pragnanz
C) location
D) experience

Question 39

Which of the following factors needs to be considered in architectural acoustics?

A) intimacy time
B) spaciousness factor
C) bass ratio
D) all of these

Question 40

The major concern involved in architectural acoustics is how

A) indirect sound changes sound quality.
B) indirect sound affects VAS.
C) direct sound changes sound quality.
D) direct sound affects VAS.

Question 41

Define visual capture and give examples of this concept.

Question 42

Discuss research that shows that similarity of pitch and timbre affects auditory grouping.

Question 43

Describe the Jeffress model of auditory localization. What evidence supports the theory and what evidence poses a challenge for this theory?

Question 44

What factors are important to consider when designing concert halls? What differences exist between designing concert halls and classroom?

Question 45

What is "melody schema"? Discuss the support for this concept.

Question 46

What are the two binaural auditory localization cues? Why do they occur? How is sound frequency related to these cues?

Question 47

Describe the method, results, and implications of the Hofmann et al. research on the role of spectral cues for localization.

Question 48

Describe how dominant stress patterns of your native language can affect perception of meter. When does this influence develop?