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H J Kallman

Publications and source records attributed to H J Kallman.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

A test of an interruption/temporal-uncertainty theory of auditory backward recognition masking of target duration.

The present study examined auditory backward masking in a task requiring subjects to label a target sound as having a long or short duration. Perception of target duration was influenced by the interaction of the effects of (1) the similarity of the target/mask duration, (2) the acoustic similarity of the target and mask (tone vs. white noise), and (3) the interstimulus interval (ISI) between the target and mask. Specifically, relative to the long duration (100 ms) mask, the short duration (40 ms) mask helped performance for the target having a similar short duration (55 ms) but hurt performance for the target having a dissimilar long duration (85 ms). This effect of the similarity of target/mask duration was greater for acoustically similar targets and masks than for acoustically dissimilar targets and masks, and particularly so at the intermediate (45, 105, 165, 205 ms) ISIs. These results can be explained within the framework of Massaro and Idson's (1976) two-stage model by assuming that masking of perceived auditory duration is the result of two processes: (a) the mask's interruption of target processing in a peripheral auditory processing stage, and (b) a confusion of which item is the target vs. the mask, due to temporal uncertainty in the transfer of the target and mask into a central auditory processing stage.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed1989

Enhanced recency effects with changing-state and primary-linguistic stimuli.

A number of explanations for the modality effect in immediate serial recall have been proposed. The auditory advantage for recall of recency items has been explained in terms of (1) the contributions of precategorical acoustic storage (PAS), (2) an advantage of changing-state over static stimuli, and (3) an advantage of primary-linguistic coding. Four experiments were conducted to evaluate these hypotheses. In the first, subjects viewed seven consecutive rectangles of different colors on a computer monitor. A small recency effect was obtained when the task was to recall the colors of the rectangles in order, with the size of the effect being independent of whether the rectangles remained stationary on the screen or moved in one of four directions. However, when the task was to recall the direction of movement of the rectangles, a larger recency effect was found. This pattern of results was interpreted as suggesting that recency effects are enhanced by changing-state stimulus information, but only when the changing-state information serves to identify the stimulus. Experiments 2 and 3 provided converging evidence by demonstrating an analogous recency advantage for changing-state visual stimuli that were somewhat different from those of Experiment 1. Experiment 4 demonstrated recency effects with synthesized speech stimuli that were substantially greater than were those found with the changing-state visual stimuli of the first three experiments. Implications of the results for the PAS, changing-state, and primary-linguistic hypotheses, as well as temporal-distinctiveness theories of recency, are discussed.

Color Perception↗
PubMed1988

Memory for the locations of pictures: evidence for hierarchical clustering.

The role of similarity in memory for location of pictures was examined. Undergraduates memorized the locations of 10 pictures situated within a map. The similarity of the pictures was manipulated. Two days later, subjects were tested for their memory of the locations. The results indicated that subjects clustered the locations of the pictures on the basis of pictorial similarity, such that locations of similar pictures were judged as closer than equidistant locations of dissimilar pictures. The results are discussed in the framework of a hierarchical model of spatial memory.

Cognition↗
PubMed1986

Auditory backward recognition masking with well-practiced listeners.

Five adult listeners who had extensive previous practice on a pitch discrimination task participated in an auditory backward recognition masking (ABRM) experiment. S identified the relative pitch "higher"-"lower" of a test tone. A standard tone of 20 msec duration at 800 c/s was followed after 500 msec by a similar 20-msec test tone at 800 +/- delta f. delta f varied from 3.3-11.4 c/s across Ss, adjusted for each S to yield approximately 75%-correct performance. The test tone was followed, after a silent interval of 20-250 msec, by a 100-msec mask, either a tone of 800 c/s or white noise. All stimuli were approximately equal to 77 dbA. All Ss exhibited substantial ABRM when the backward mask was a tone but substantially less when it was white noise. Evidently it is not necessary to use relatively naive listeners to demonstrate ABRM. The performance of most Ss was reduced by the tone masker (i.e., ABRM was in evidence) to chance or nearly chance levels (i.e., little or no ABRM) until the ISI exceeded 80 msec, and for 3 of the Ss ABRM with the tone masker was still evident after 250 msec. It was concluded that a backward mask interferes with test-tone information held in a multichannel preperceptual store and that such interference depends, in part, on the degree to which the properties of the test tone and mask overlap.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1984

Effect of blank time on picture recognition.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of blank time between picture presentations on retention of two types of picture information: specific detail information and general visual information. A series of slides of "everyday" scenes was presented, and the blank time between slide presentations was varied. After presentation of the series of slides, memory for specific details and general visual information was probed using a forced-choice testing procedure. Although previous research failed to find blank-time effects using similar stimuli, it was thought that by keeping both slide presentation times and blank times constant within each experimental block, an effect of blank time might be found. The results indicated that retention of both specific details and general visual information was aided by the extra rehearsal opportunity afforded by longer blank times; there was no interaction between the type of information probed and the duration of blank time. It is suggested that because the blank-time variable affected retention of specific detail and general visual information equally, the two types of information may be held by a common coding system.

Form Perception↗
PubMed1983

Backward masking, the suffix effect, and preperceptual storage.

This article considers the use of auditory backward recognition masking (ABRM) and stimulus suffix experiments as indexes of preperceptual auditory storage. In the first part of the article, two ABRM experiments that failed to demonstrate a mask disinhibition effect found previously in stimulus suffix experiments are reported. The failure to demonstrate mask disinhibition is inconsistent with an explanation of ABRM in terms of lateral inhibition. In the second part of the article, evidence is presented to support the conclusion that the suffix effect involves the contributions of later processing stages and does not provide an uncontaminated index of preperceptual storage. In contrast, it is claimed that ABRM experiments provide the most direct index of the temporal course of perceptual recognition. Partial-report tasks and other paradigms are also evaluated in terms of their contributions to an understanding of preperceptual auditory storage. Differences between interruption and integration masking are discussed along with the role of preperceptual auditory storage in speech perception.

Humans↗
PubMed1980

The role of tone height, melodic contour, and tone chroma in melody recognition.

The present experiments assessed the contribution of tone height, melodic contour, and tone chroma to melody recognition. Rather than using highly familiar folk songs as in earlier studies, subjects were taught new melodies. Novel melodies were used to (a) more precisely control potential cues (e.g., rhythm) that are not of present interest, (b) eliminate unison intervals that cannot be transformed appropriately, (c) provide a direct analysis of the nature of confusion errors, (d) test whether recently learned melodies are recognized differently than highly overlearned melodies, and (e) evaluate the extent to which practice in the experimental task alters the process of recognition. The results replicate previous studies using familiar folk songs. Transformations of the original melodies were accurately recognized when tone height was violated, but both melodic contour and tone chroma were maintained. Violating both tone height and contour while maintaining chroma produced extremely poor recognition. Performance was intermediate when just melodic contour was preserved. There is now good evidence to support the idea that melodic contour and tone chroma, in addition to tone height, contribute to recognition of both highly familiar and recently learned melodies.

Humans↗
PubMed1979

Similarity effects in backward recognition masking.

Auditory backward recognition masking refers to the ability of a masking sound to terminate further perceptual resolution of a test sound presented slightly earlier in time. The present experiments were conducted to determine whether mask/test tone similarity effects in backward recognition masking could be reliably demonstrated. Although similarity effects were found in Experiments 1 and 2, only about 60% of the subjects demonstrated these effects. Experiment 3 was designed to isolate which stage of information processing is responsible for similarity effects. It was hypothesized that similarity effects are due to mask interference with the synthesized auditory memory of the test tone rather than to selective overwriting of a preperceptual auditory store: previous research has shown that interference in synthesized auditory memory depends on the similarity of the interfering stimulus to the items held in memory. By independently varying the backward masking interval and the interfering effect of the mask on the test tone memory, it was possible to demonstrate that similarity effects are indeed caused by mask interference in synthesized memory. The implications of these results are considered in the framework of auditory and visual masking.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed1979

Encoding and use of detail information in picture recognition.

Subjects participated in a yes/no picture recognition experiment in which exposure time varied from 50 to 1,000 msec at the time of initial study. Following each study trial, half of the subjects, the detail at study and test (ST) group, reported whether they had observed a detail in the picture that they thought might help in subsequent recognition. The other half of the subjects, the detail at test only (T) group, did not attempt to name details during study. All of the subjects reported at the time of each test picture whether they were basing their yes/no recognition response on a specific detail in the picture or on the picture's general familiarity. The data provided strong support for a model which assumed that (a) there is a constant probability of encoding a detail during each successive unit of time at study and (b) a detail is named at test either if it was encoded at study or with some bias probability. ST subjects showed superior recognition memory performance relative to T subjects. Within the context of the aforementioned model, this superiority stems from two sources: ST subjects encode details at a faster rate than do T subjects and an encoded detail provided a better discriminative feature for ST subjects.

Discrimination Learning↗