Abstract
Subjects’ ability to resolve stimuli varying in loudness is studied by manipulating task requirements and sequential dependencies in signal presentations. In the first experiment, subjects are required both to identify and to discriminate the same set of 11 randomly presented signals. On the one hand, resolution performance is virtually unchanged under the differing task instructions. On the other hand, large effects on sensitivity are obtained in Experiments 1, 2, and 3 in both identification and discrimination tasks when sequential dependencies are manipulated. The results are interpreted in terms of a shifting attention band in the intensity dimension, as suggested by Luce, Green, and Weber (1976). Preliminary evidence that subjects can voluntarily focus the attention band on a given region of the intensity continuum is obtained.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berliner, J. E., Durlach, N. I., &Braida, L. D. Intensity perception. VII. Further data on roving-level discrimination and the resolution and bias edge effects.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1977,61, 1577–1585.
Braida, L. D., &Durlach, N. I. Intensity perception. II. Resolution in one-interval paradigms.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1972,51, 483–502.
Chase, S., Bugnacki, P., Braida, L. D., &Durlach, N. I. Intensity perception. XII. Effect of presentation probability on absolute identification.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1983,73, 279–284.
Durlach, N. I., &Braida, L. D. Intensity perception. I. Preliminary theory of intensity resolution.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1969,46, 372–383.
Gourevitch, V., &Galanter, E. A significance test for one parameter isosensitivity functions.Psychometrika, 1967,32, 25–33.
Gravetter, F., &Lockhead, G. R. Criterial range as a frame of reference for stimulus judgment.Psychological Review, 1973,80, 203–216.
Hartman, E. B. The influence of practice and pitch-distance between tones on the absolute identification of pitch.American Journal of Psychology, 1954,67, 1–14.
Lippmann, R. P., Braida, L. D., &Durlach, N. I. Intensity perception. V. Effect of payoff matrix on absolute identification.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1976,59, 129–134.
Luce, R. D., Green, D. M., &Weber, D. L. Attention bands in absolute identification.Perception & Psychophysics, 1976,20, 49–54.
Luce, R. D., Nosofsky, R. M., Green, D. M., &Smith, A. F. The bow and sequential effects in absolute identification.Perception & Psychophysics, 1982,32, 397–408.
Pollack, I. The information of elementary auditory displays. I.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1952,24, 745–749.
Purks, S. R., Callahan, D. J., Braida, L. D., &Durlach, N. I. Intensity perception. X. Effect of preceding stimulus on identification performance.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1980,67, 634–637.
Siegel, W. Memory effects in the method of absolute judgment.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972,94, 121–131.
Torgerson, W. R.Theory and methods of scaling New York: Wiley, 1958.
Weber, D. L., Green, D. M., Luce, R. D. Effects of practice and distribution of auditory signals on absolute identification.Perception & Psychophysics, 1977,22, 223–231.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grants to Harvard University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nosofsky, R.M. Shifts of attention in the identification and discrimination of intensity. Perception & Psychophysics 33, 103–112 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202827
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202827