title: Room and head coloration can induce obligatory stream segregation.
abstract: Multiple sound reflections from room materials and a listener's head induce slight spectral modifications of sounds. This coloration depends on the listener and source positions, and on the room itself. This study investigated whether coloration could help segregate competing sources. Obligatory streaming was evaluated for diotic speech-shaped noises using a rhythmic discrimination task. Thresholds for detecting anisochrony were always significantly higher when stimuli differed in spectrum. The tested differences corresponded to three spatial configurations involving different levels of head and room coloration. These results suggest that, despite the generally deleterious effects of reverberation on speech intelligibility, coloration could favor source segregation.
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Rue M. Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: David
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Rue M. Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavandier
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5292, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, Avenue Tony Garnier, 69366 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Grimault
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration; D014833:Voice Quality