title: Measuring the difference limen for identification of order of onset for complex auditory stimuli.
abstract: The approximately 20-msec perceptual threshold for identifying order of onset for components of auditory stimuli has been considered both as a possible factor contributing to the perception of voicing contrasts in speech and as no more than a methodological artifact. In the present research, we investigate the identification of the temporal order of onset of spectral components in terms of the first of a sequence of thresholds for complex stimuli (modeled after consonant-vowel [CV] syllables) that vary in degree of onset. The results provide clear evidence that the difference limen (DL) for discriminating differences in onset time follows predictions based on a fixed perceptual threshold or limit at relatively short onset differences. Furthermore, the DL seems to be a function of context coding of stimulus information, with both the DL and absolute threshold probably reflecting limits on the effective perception and coding of the short-term stimulus spectrum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, SUNY-Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA. pastore@cc.binghamton.edu.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Pastore
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Farrington
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D010897:Pitch Discrimination; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013998:Time Perception