PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Sherry Span

MA-Research
December 1995

The Effects of Differences in Burst Duration and Rise Time on Auditory Apparent Motion

    Auditory apparent motion (AAM) is an illusion produced by the proper timing of two discrete sound stimuli whereby the lead stimulus is perceived to move toward the lag stimulus.  This study varied the signal envelope of both stimuli.

    Three standard burst durations (25, 100 and 400 msec) were utilized.  Each session paired the standard burst duration with one of five comparison burst durations (25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 msec).  Five subjects indicated the location of the lead stimulus and classified the stimulus sequence into one of three categories: continuous motion, broken motion or no motion.
    As the disparity between the standard and comparison burst durations increased, the percentage of continuous motion reports decreased.  Little broken motion was reported at all three standard burst durations.  Subjects oriented to the endpoint of the stimulus sequence to identify direction.

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