Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing

Abstract

The author's stated general approach is to relate the psychological and perceptual aspects of sound to the underlying physiological mechanisms of hearing in a way that the material can be used as a text to accompany an advanced undergraduate- or graduate-level course in auditory perception. The attempt is to provide an account of current trends in auditory research on a level not too technical for the novice. Psychoacoustic studies on humans and physiological studies on animals serve as the primary bases for subject matter presentation, and many practical applications are offered. Among the chapters are the following: the nature of sound and the structure of the auditory system; loudness, adaptation, and fatigue; frequency analysis, masking, and critical bands; pitch perception and auditory pattern perception; space perception; and speech perception. Within these chapter headings special attention is given to a number of topics, including signal detection theory, monaural and binaural hearing,