Is Auditory perception a learned process or innate?

[GaryProtein]

The F. Toole book is filled with references of this "learning". Sometimes we "learn" how to ignore things - needed for the "suspension of the disbelief" .

In order to analyze this subject we must use an hierarchy to put some order in the debate - Toole refers to the Blesser and Salter (2007) perspective in his book, considering sensation, perception and meaning. From the Sound Reproduction

Sensation At the lowest level is , an indication that the organism reacts
to a sound—a detection threshold. This is probably quite well related to
physical measurements of the sound.

Perception The next level is , which incorporates cognitive processes
embracing cultural and personal experiences. Here we recognize what it
is that we heard, and perhaps initiate a process of adaptation. This
means that some features in measurements may be neutralized by
adaptation, and no longer be relevant.

Meaning At the highest level of response to sound, we attribute to the
recognition, and this can range from irrelevant to highly relevant, from
undesirable to good. Depending on the informational content of the
sound, we may choose to pay attention or to ignore it.

Boy, if that doesn't sound like psycho babble, I don;t know what does,

 

[GaryProtein]

. . . . So when people buy and cater to speakers, how much of their performance is really fixed and how much is the owner's brain adapting? . . . .

Beyond 24 hours, that's what "burn-in" is.

It's your brain adapting to what your system sounds like.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Boy, if that doesn't sound like psycho babble, I don;t know what does,

Yeah but it fairly well parallels the processing circuitry in the brain.

 

[jkeny]

Yeah but it fairly well parallels the processing circuitry in the brain.

I know what you are saying but I think it is a very high-level, rough categorisation of the levels of perception
But, yea, auditory perception is not a simple linear process so in answer to Gary, it might sound like psycho babble but there is very real science behind the study & research into auditory processing

 

[Tony Lauck]

I know what you are saying but I think it is a very high-level, rough categorisation of the levels of perception
But, yea, auditory perception is not a simple linear process so in answer to Gary, it might sound like psycho babble but there is very real science behind the study & research into auditory processing

Indeed, it is not linear. The brain even sends feedback to the ear to perform functions such as automatic gain control. The behavior of multi-stage systems with feedback is vastly more complex than multi-stage systems that have no feedback. It is (barely) mathematically tractable when the stages are linear, but mathematically intractable with non- linear devices such as neurons.

 

[GaryProtein]

Yeah but it fairly well parallels the processing circuitry in the brain.

In view of your credentials, I will defer to you on this.