Abstract
Three cued signal detection experiments demonstrated a role for auditory memory traces in frequency selectivity. The extent to which the cue predicted the signal frequency affected the size of the advantage for signals at the cue frequency over those at distant frequencies when the cue-signal gap was 10 sec but not when it was 1 sec. Detection of occasional signals presented at uncued frequencies was enhanced when they matched the frequency of cues from recent trials. With “relative” cues, which were usually followed by signals at the musical fifth above the cue frequency, performance on occasional signals at the cue frequency was enhanced relative to other unexpected frequencies. These results suggest that, regardless of the listener’s expectations and intentions, the detectability of a signal is enhanced if its frequency matches an existing memory trace. One form of voluntary attention to frequency may involve maintaining traces that would otherwise slowly decay.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Böttcher-Gandor, C., &Ullsperger, P. (1992). Mismatch negativity in event-related potentials to auditory stimuli as a function of varying interstimulus interval.Psychophysiology,29, 546–550.
Botte, M. C. (1995). Auditory attentional bandwidth: Effect of level and frequency range.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,98, 2475–2485.
Cowan, N. (1984). On short and long auditory stores.Psychological Bulletin,96, 341–370.
Cowan, N. (1988). Evolving conceptions of memory storage, selective attention, and their mutual constraints within the human informationprocessing system.Psychological Bulletin,104, 163–191.
Cowan, N. (1995).Attention and memory: An integrated framework. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dai, H., &Buus, S. (1991). Effect of gating the masker on frequencyselective listening.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,89, 1816–1818.
Dai, H., Scharf, B., &Buus, S. (1991). Effective attenuation of signals in noise under focused attention.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,89, 2837–2842.
Dau, T., PÜschel, D., &Kohlrausch, A. (1996). A quantitative model of the effective signal processing in the auditory system: I. Model structure.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,99, 3615–3622.
Demany, L., Montandon, G., &Semal, C. (2004). Pitch perception and retention: Two cumulative benefits of selective attention.Perception & Psychophysics,66, 609–617.
Duncan, J., &Humphreys, G. (1989). Visual search and stimulus similarity.Psychological Review,96, 433–458.
Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W., &Johnston, J. C. (1992). Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attentional control settings.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,18, 1030–1044.
Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W., &Wright, J. H. (1994). The structure of attentional control: Contingent attentional capture by apparent motion, abrupt onset, and color.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,20, 317–329.
Green, D. M., McKey, M. J., &Licklider, J. C. R. (1959). Detection of a pulsed sinusoid in noise as a function of frequency.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,31, 1446–1452.
Green, T. J., &McKeown, J. D. (2001). Capture of attention in selective frequency listening.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,27, 1197–1210.
Greenberg, G. Z. (1969). Frequency-selective detection at three signal amplitudes.Perception & Psychophysics,6, 297–301.
Greenberg, G. Z., &Larkin, W. D. (1968). Frequency-response characteristic of auditory observers detecting signals of a single frequency in noise: The probe-signal method.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,44, 1513–1523.
Hafter, E. R., Schlauch, R. S., &Tang, J. (1993). Attending to auditory filters that were not stimulated directly.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,94, 743–747.
Handy, T. C., Kingstone, A., &Mangun, G. R. (1996). Spatial distribution of visual attention: Perceptual sensitivity and response latency.Perception & Psychophysics,58, 613–627.
HÜbner, R., &Hafter, E. R. (1995). Cuing mechanisms in auditory signal detection.Perception & Psychophysics,57, 197–202.
Justus, T., &List, A. (2005). Auditory attention to frequency and time: An analogy to visual local-global stimuli.Cognition,98, 31–51.
Keller, T. A., &Cowan, N. (1994). Developmental increase in the duration of memory for tone pitch.Developmental Psychology,30, 855–863.
Leek, M. R., Brown, M. E., &Dorman, M. F. (1991). Informational masking and auditory attention.Perception & Psychophysics,50, 205–214.
Levitt, H. (1971). Transformed up-down methods in psychoacoustics.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,49, 467–477.
Macmillan, N. A., &Creelman, C. D. (1991).Detection theory: A user’s guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Macmillan, N. A., &Schwartz, M. (1975). A probe-signal investigation of uncertain-frequency detection.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,58, 1051–1058.
Massaro, D. W. (1975).Experimental psychology and information processing. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Mondor, T. A., &Breau, L. M. (1999). Facilitative and inhibitory effects of location and frequency cues: Evidence of a modulation in perceptual sensitivity.Perception & Psychophysics,61, 438–444.
Mondor, T. A., Breau, L. M., &Milliken, B. (1998). Inhibitory processes in auditory selective attention: Evidence of location-based and frequency-based inhibition of return.Perception & Psychophysics,60, 296–302.
Mondor, T. A., Hurlburt, J., &Gammell, L. (2003). Enhancement, extension, and reversal of the frequency selectivity effect.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,10, 480–487.
Mondor, T. A, Zatorre, R. J., &Terrio, N. A. (1998). Constraints on the selection of auditory information.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,24, 66–79.
Moore, B. C. J., Hafter, E. R., &Glasberg, B. R. (1996). The probesignal method and auditory filter shape: Results from normal- and hearing-impaired subjects.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,99, 542–552.
NÄÄtÄnen, R., Tervaniemi, M., Sussman, E., Paavilainen, P., &Winkler, I. (2001). Primitive intelligence in the auditory cortex.Trends in Neurosciences,24, 283–288.
NÄÄtÄnen, R., &Winkler, I. (1999). The concept of auditory stimulus representation in cognitive neuroscience.Psychological Bulletin,125, 826–859.
Patterson, R. D., &Moore, B. C. J. (1986). Auditory filters and excitation patterns as representations of frequency resolution. In B. C. J. Moore (Ed.),Frequency selectivity in hearing (pp. 123–177). London: Academic Press.
Penner, M. J. (1972). The effect of payoffs and cue tones on detection of sinusoids of uncertain frequency.Perception & Psychophysics,11, 198–202.
Prime, D. J., &Ward, L. M. (2002). Auditory frequency-based inhibition differs from spatial IOR.Perception & Psychophysics,64, 771–784.
Prinzmetal, W., McCool, C., &Park, S. (2005). Attention: Reaction time and accuracy reveal different mechanisms.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,134, 73–92.
Sams, M., Hari, R., Rif, J., &Knuutila, J. (1993). The human auditory sensory memory trace persists about 10 sec: Neuromagnetic evidence.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,5, 363–370.
Scharf, B., Quigley, S., Aoki, C., Peachey, N., &Reeves, A. (1987). Focused auditory attention and frequency selectivity.Perception & Psychophysics,42, 215–223.
Schlauch, R. S., &Hafter, E. R. (1991). Listening bandwidths and frequency uncertainty in pure-tone signal detection.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,90, 1332–1339.
SchrÖger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: A pre-activation model.Psychophysiology,34, 245–257.
Spence, C. J., &Driver, J. (1994). Covert spatial orienting in audition: Exogenous and endogenous mechanisms.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,20, 555–574.
Ward, L. M. (1997). Involuntary listening aids hearing.Psychological Science,8, 112–118.
Winkler, I., &Cowan, N. (2005). From sensory to long-term memory: Evidence from auditory memory reactivation studies.Experimental Psychology,52, 3–20.
Winkler, I., Karmos, G., &NÄÄtÄnen, R. (1996). Adaptive modeling of the unattended acoustic environment reflected in the mismatch negativity event-related potential.Brain Research,742, 239–252.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Green, T., McKeown, D. The role of auditory memory traces in attention to frequency. Perception & Psychophysics 69, 942–951 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193931
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193931