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Can auditory objects be subitized?

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Roberts, Katherine L., Doherty, Nicola, Maylor, Elizabeth A. and Watson, Derrick G. (2019) Can auditory objects be subitized? Journal of Experimental Psychology : Human Perception and Performance, 45 (1). pp. 1-15. doi:10.1037/xhp0000578

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000578

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Abstract

In vision, humans have the ability to mentally “tag” approximately 4 objects, allowing us to monitor, attend, and interact with them. As a consequence, we can rapidly and accurately enumerate up to 4 objects—a process known as subitizing. Here, we investigate whether a similar ability exists for tagging auditory stimuli and find that only 2 or 3 auditory stimuli can be enumerated with high accuracy. We assess whether this high accuracy indicates the existence of an auditory subitizing mechanism, and if it is influenced by factors known to influence visual subitizing. On the basis of accuracy, Experiments 1 and 2 reveal a potential auditory subitizing mechanism only when stimuli are spatially separated, as is the case for visual subitizing. Experiment 3 failed to show any evidence of auditory subitizing when objects were separated in time, rather than space. All three experiments provide only limited evidence for an age-related decline in auditory enumeration of small numbers of objects. This suggests that poor auditory tagging does not contribute significantly to older adults’ difficulties in multitalker conversations. We hypothesize that although auditory subitizing might occur, it is restricted to approximately 2 spatially separated objects due to the difficulty of parsing the auditory scene into its constituent parts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Auditory perception, Hearing, Aging
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Experimental Psychology : Human Perception and Performance
Publisher: American Psychological Association
ISSN: 0096-1523
Official Date: 2019
Dates:
DateEvent
2019Published
October 2018Available
22 June 2018Accepted
Volume: 45
Number: 1
Page Range: pp. 1-15
DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000578
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Publisher Statement: ©American Psychological Association, 2018. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000578
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
SG131129British Academyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000286
SG131129Leverhulme Trusthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000275
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