Different Response Patterns Between Auditory Spectral and Spatial Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ)

Abstract

Temporal order judgment (TOJ) thresholds have been widely reported as valid estimates of the temporal disparity necessary for correctly identifying the order of two stimuli. Data for two auditory TOJ paradigms are often reported in the literature: (1) spatially-based TOJ in which the order of presentation of the same stimulus to the right and left ear differs; and (2) spectrally-based TOJ in which the order of two stimuli differing in frequency is presented to one ear or to both ears simultaneously. Since the thresholds reported using the two paradigms differ, the aim of the current study was to compare their response patterns. The results from three different experiments showed that: (1) while almost none of the participants were able to perform the spatial TOJ task when ISI = 5 ms, with the spectral task, 50% reached an accuracy level of 75% when ISI = 5 ms; (2) temporal separation was only a partial predictor for performance in the spectral task, while it fully predicted performance in the spatial task; and (3) training improved performance markedly in the spectral TOJ task, but had no effect on spatial TOJ. These results suggest that the two paradigms may reflect different perceptual mechanisms.

Short-term learning effect in different psychoacoustic measures

“…However, performance in the spectral task improved significantly between sessions, raising the question as to what specifically participants learn while performing it. Previously, when comparing spectral TOJ with spatial TOJ, it was suggested that while performing the spectral TOJ task, participants learn to use the frequency difference between the tones as a cue for determining the order of the tones [1]. This cue enables the listener to create a global pattern for each sequence (high-low vs. low-high) and to report the order of the tones by differentiating between patterns rather than by attending to each of the tones in the sequence.…”

“…The practice session included 30 pairs of stimuli that were presented with an ISI of 250 ms (see also [1]). …”

“…The experiment continued for ten reversals, and the TOJ threshold was calculated as the average of the last eight reversals. The practice session included 30 pairs of stimuli that were presented with an ISI of 250 ms (see also [1]). …”

“…Auditory temporal processing (ATP) refers to an individual's time resolution when processing rapid stimuli [e.g., 1,2]. Different psychoacoustic measures have been used to assess ATP abilities.…”

“…Different psychoacoustic measures have been used to assess ATP abilities. Among them are gap detection [e.g., 2,3], duration discrimination [e.g., 4,5], spectral temporal order judgment (TOJ) [e.g., 1,2,6,7], and dichotic TOJ [e.g., 1,2,6,7]. These tasks have been studied among healthy young participants and in comparison to different populations, such as aphasic patients [8][9][10][11], dyslexic readers [12][13][14][15][16], aging adults [1,6,7,[17][18][19], children with autistic spectrum disorders [20], children and young adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder [21,22], and sleep-deprived young adults [23,24].…”