Statistical Learning Dynamically Shapes Auditory Perception
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| Title: | Statistical Learning Dynamically Shapes Auditory Perception |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Sahil Luthra, Austin Luor, Adam T. Tierney, Frederic Dick, Lori L. Holt |
| Source: | npj Science of Learning. 2025 10. |
| Availability: | Nature Portfolio. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://www.nature.com/npjscilearn/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 14 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS) National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) (DHHS/NIH) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (DHHS/NIH) |
| Contract Number: | R01DC004674 2414066 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Probability, Statistics, Expectation, Auditory Perception, Acoustics, Intonation, Bias, Sensory Experience, Attention, Stimuli |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41539-025-00328-z |
| ISSN: | 2056-7936 |
| Abstract: | Humans implicitly pick up on probabilities of stimuli and events, yet it remains unclear how statistical learning builds expectations that affect perception. Across 29 experiments, we examine the influence of task-irrelevant distributions--defined across acoustic frequency--on both tone detection in noise and tone duration judgments. The shape and range of the frequency distributions impact suppression and enhancement effects, as does a given tone's position within the range. Perception adapts quickly to changing distributions, but past distributions influence future judgments. Massed exposure to a single frequency impacts perception along a range of subsequently encountered frequencies. A novel bias emerges as well: lower frequencies are perceived as longer and higher ones as shorter. Probability-driven learning dynamically shapes perception, driven by interacting influences of sensory processing, distributional learning, and selective attention that sculpt a gain function involving modest enhancement of more-likely stimuli, and robust suppression of less-likely stimuli. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Notes: | https://osf.io/xdgnw |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1475202 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Humans implicitly pick up on probabilities of stimuli and events, yet it remains unclear how statistical learning builds expectations that affect perception. Across 29 experiments, we examine the influence of task-irrelevant distributions--defined across acoustic frequency--on both tone detection in noise and tone duration judgments. The shape and range of the frequency distributions impact suppression and enhancement effects, as does a given tone's position within the range. Perception adapts quickly to changing distributions, but past distributions influence future judgments. Massed exposure to a single frequency impacts perception along a range of subsequently encountered frequencies. A novel bias emerges as well: lower frequencies are perceived as longer and higher ones as shorter. Probability-driven learning dynamically shapes perception, driven by interacting influences of sensory processing, distributional learning, and selective attention that sculpt a gain function involving modest enhancement of more-likely stimuli, and robust suppression of less-likely stimuli. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2056-7936 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41539-025-00328-z |
