The effects of preceding lead-alone and lag-alone click trains on the buildup of echo suppression

J Acoust Soc Am. 2014 Aug;136(2):803-17. doi: 10.1121/1.4874622.

Abstract

Spatial perception in echoic environments is influenced by recent acoustic history. For instance, echo suppression becomes more effective or "builds up" with repeated exposure to echoes having a consistent acoustic relationship to a temporally leading sound. Four experiments were conducted to investigate how buildup is affected by prior exposure to unpaired lead-alone or lag-alone click trains. Unpaired trains preceded lead-lag click trains designed to evoke and assay buildup. Listeners reported how many sounds they heard from the echo hemifield during the lead-lag trains. Stimuli were presented in free field (experiments 1 and 4) or dichotically through earphones (experiments 2 and 3). In experiment 1, listeners reported more echoes following a lead-alone train compared to a period of silence. In contrast, listeners reported fewer echoes following a lag-alone train; similar results were observed with earphones. Interestingly, the effects of lag-alone click trains on buildup were qualitatively different when compared to a no-conditioner trial type in experiment 4. Finally, experiment 3 demonstrated that the effects of preceding click trains on buildup cannot be explained by a change in counting strategy or perceived click salience. Together, these findings demonstrate that echo suppression is affected by prior exposure to unpaired stimuli.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Acoustics
  • Adult
  • Cues
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Noise / adverse effects*
  • Perceptual Masking*
  • Psychoacoustics
  • Sound Localization*
  • Space Perception*
  • Time Factors
  • Vibration
  • Young Adult