Internal listener noise rises steeply as signal-to-noise ratio worsens

Evidence

The perceptual data analysis has implications for the further model design. It was shown that the internal noise increased with decreasing SNR. This could be incorporated in the model using an SNR-dependent random process in the decision stage (instead of SNR-dependent templates). Furthermore, the model predicted responses of a hypothetical “average” NH listener, which is unrealistic given the considerable across-listener variability. It remains a challenge to include listener-specific differences in the model, as it is not clear whether these differences can be accounted for by slight sensitivity differences between the NH listeners, cognitive effects, individual biases, or any combination of these factors. Eventually, an extension of the model towards different types of hearing impairment might be useful to understand the link between individual impairment factors and microscopic speech intelligibility. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5624

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘internal noise’ means in speech perception modeling — a stochastic component in the decision stage that grows as SNR drops.
• QUESTION: Across-listener variability in consonant perception remains unexplained — sensitivity differences, cognition, or individual bias? Open research question worth chasing.
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5624
• XREF: connects to: Internal body noise, dominated by heartbeats and muscles, masks quiet sounds at low frequencies.; Reduced auditory input causes the brain to amplify internal neural noise — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 563; Hearing is mostly internal neural processing, not raw external sound reception — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 561 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Reduced auditory input causes the brain to amplify internal neural noise #corroborates (0.85) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 563
• Hearing is mostly internal neural processing, not raw external sound reception #expands (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 561