Fundamentals of Hearing: An Introduction, 2nd ed. by William A. Yost and Donald W. Nielsen

Abstract

The op/nions expressed are those of the ind/v/dua/ rev/ewers and are not necessar//y endorsed by the Editoria/ Board of this Journa/. , 1985. 256pp. Price $28.95. Those individuals who are familiar with the first edition of Yost andNielsen's excellent introductory textbook will be pleased to find that the second edition is a somewhat expanded and updated version of the already very popular text. Individuals not already familiar with the book will find it well worth investigating. The authors have produced a very readable, up-todate textbook which provides a clearly presented overview of research in hearing which is understandable by students with little previous exposure to either hearing or research. Since the intent is to provide a wide overview, the amount of time devoted to any single topic or to theoretical concepts is limited. A supplement is added at the end of each chapter providing those students wishing to pursue any topic in greater detail an indication of how to go about finding additional information on the topic. Additional readings can be provided by the instructor if he or she wishes to concentrate on any one area. One of the major advantages of the text is that the students like it and understand most of the material. I asked a class of Masters level Audi-GLENIS R. LONG

When a bang makes you run away: Spatial avoidance of threatening environmental sounds

“…Kinsbourne [17] argued that the presentation of verbal (vs. nonverbal) material activate the left (vs. right) hemisphere preponderantly, leading to involuntary orientational biases to the right (vs. left) side of space. Furthermore, although there is a frontal position advantage in localizing both verbal and nonverbal stimuli due to sound attenuation by the pinna [29], only linguistic stimuli induce a frontal position advantage in identification (i.e., better recognition of inputs from the front than from the rear) due at least partly to the habit of looking at our interlocutors (e.g., [6]). Hence, laterality effects and the distribution of attention might modulate differently the spatial attentional biases associated with the emotional meaning of verbal and nonverbal sounds.…”

Inharmonic music elicits more negative affect and interferes more with a concurrent cognitive task than does harmonic music

“…While consonance generally arises from simple harmonic acoustic frequencies, dissonance is associated with complex inharmonic frequency spectra (Pythagorus re: Helmholtz, 1863;Hutchinson & Knopoff, 1978;Kameoka & Kuriyagawa, 1969a, 1969bMcDermott, Lehr, & Oxenham, 2010;Tenney, 1988). Inharmonic frequencies produce frequency modulations (FM) known as Bbeating^and Broughness^within the critical bands of the basilar membrane (Plomp & Levelt, 1965;Terhardt, 1974;Yost, 2008), and noisier neural signals within the sensory efferents of the auditory brainstem (Bidelman & Heinz, 2011). This sensory complexity might impose greater demands on the listener's cognitive processes than the simpler harmonic content of consonant music.…”

Object file continuity and the auditory attentional blink

“…Each individual pulse was 5 msec in duration, and the successive presentation of six of these may be said to create a sound with a modulation frequency of 200 Hz. Many studies have addressed the perception of modulated sounds (e.g., Moore, 2003;Moore & Jorasz, 1992Yost, 2000;Yost, Sheft, & Opie, 1989). These studies have shown that perception of a modulated sound will be impaired when it is presented in the context of similarly modulated distractor sounds; this is called comodulation.…”