Abstract
The interaction among two spectral and two temporal dimensions that contribute to urgency was investigated by conducting a discrimination experiment. Discrimination performance for each dimension was evaluated when a second dimension (i.e., dimension not being discriminated) was subject to no variation, correlated variation, and uncorrelated variability. For the pair of spectral dimensions and the pair of temporal dimensions, variation on the second dimension produces facilitation in the correlated condition and interference in the uncorrelated condition. No influence occurs for other pairings.
The implications of these results were confirmed in a multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) experiment examining the pitch, perceived repetition rate, and urgency of sounds. The data obtained from the pitch and perceived repetition rate conditions indicate that the spectral dimensions determine the pitch of sounds and the temporal dimensions determine the perceived repetition rate of sounds. The data obtained from the urgency conditions indicate all four dimensions influence urgency and frequency is the most salient.
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