Journal article

Publication year: 1991

Pages: 565-574

Journal: Perception & psychophysics

Volume number: 50

Issue number: 6

ISSN: 0031-5117

Open access status: Bronze

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207541

Publisher: Psychonomic Society

Abstract: 
Adult subjects were presented with two auditory stimuli per trial, and their task was to decide which of the two was longer in duration. An adaptive psychophysical procedure was used. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, the base duration was 50 msec, whereas in Experiment 3, the base duration was 1 sec. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, it was found that filled intervals (continuous tones) were discriminated more accurately than empty intervals (with onset and offset marked by clicks). It was concluded that this difference was perceptual rather than cognitive in nature, since performance on filled and empty intervals was not affected by increasing cognitive load in a dual-task procedure (Experiment 2) but was affected by backward masking (Experiment 4). In contrast, the results of Experiment 3 showed that duration discrimination of filled auditory intervals of longer duration was cognitively influenced, since performance was impaired by increasing cognitive load. Implications for notions of perceptual processing and timing mechanisms underlying differences in duration discrimination with filled and empty intervals are discussed.

Harvard Citation style: RAMMSAYER, T. and LIMA, S. (1991) DURATION DISCRIMINATION OF FILLED AND EMPTY AUDITORY INTERVALS - COGNITIVE AND PERCEPTUAL FACTORS, Perception & psychophysics, 50(6), pp. 565-574. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207541

APA Citation style: RAMMSAYER, T., & LIMA, S. (1991). DURATION DISCRIMINATION OF FILLED AND EMPTY AUDITORY INTERVALS - COGNITIVE AND PERCEPTUAL FACTORS. Perception & psychophysics. 50(6), 565-574. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207541