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Efficient Coding And Statistically Optimal Weighting Of Covariance Among Acoustic Attributes In Novel Sounds, Keith Kluender R., Christian E. Stilp

Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications

To the extent that sensorineural systems are efficient, redundancy should be extracted to optimize transmission of information, but perceptual evidence for this has been limited. Stilp and colleagues recently reported efficient coding of robust correlation (r =. 97) among complex acoustic attributes (attack/decay, spectral shape) in novel sounds. Discrimination of sounds orthogonal to the correlation was initially inferior but later comparable to that of sounds obeying the correlation. These effects were attenuated for less-correlated stimuli (r =. 54) for reasons that are unclear. Here, statistical properties of correlation among acoustic attributes essential for perceptual organization are investigated. Overall, simple strength …