Listeners segregate mixed sounds into separate sources using many cues

Evidence

In this experiment, the rising arpeggio shown as response (A) is perceived as expected for stimulus (A) when all the note timbres are the same. However, the response changes to two separate falling arpeggii, shown as response (B), if note timbres are alternated between two timbres represented by the different notehead shapes, and “the difference in timbres is increased” as shown for stimulus (B). This is described as timbral streaming (e.g., Bregman, 1990). — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1629 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

It is important to briefly comment on the contribution of the dorsal (“spatial”) pathway to auditory perception (Rauschecker 2012 ; Cloutman 2013 ). Spatial information can act as a grouping cue to assist the segregation of an acoustic stimulus into discrete sounds. For example, when a rhythmic sequence of identical sound bursts is presented from a single location, it is often perceived as one source. But, when the sound sequence is presented from two different locations, it can be perceived as two sounds (Middlebrooks and Onsan 2012 ; Middlebrooks and Bremen 2013 ). Such findings suggest that a mixture of spatial and non-spatial auditory cues from both the dorsal and ventral pathways may be needed in order to create a coherent auditory-perceptual representation that guides behavior. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4883 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Only trained, prompted ears can parse sound into individual partials; Auditory streaming explains how listeners separate loudspeaker from room sound; Alternating timbres can split a single melodic line into separate perceived streams — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1629 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Auditory streaming explains how listeners separate loudspeaker from room sound #expands (0.85)
• Alternating timbres can split a single melodic line into separate perceived streams #exemplifies (0.82) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1629
• Spatial location cues alone can segregate identical sounds into separate perceived sources #exemplifies (0.80) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4883
• Complex listening relies on higher-level signal segregation beyond energetic masking #expands (0.80)
• Periodicity differences segregate concurrent sounds only under idealized quiet conditions #qualifies (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5026
• Listeners can perceptually separate loudspeaker timbre from room coloration in comparisons #corroborates (0.75)
• Amplitude-modulated sounds split into slow-varying envelope and fast-varying fine structure #exemplifies (0.72) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 997
• Binaural listening improves source audibility by 0–8 dB in multi-source scenes #corroborates (0.72)
• Experimental method determines what discrepancies listeners can perceive #qualifies (0.72)