Auditory Perception: A New Analysis and Synthesis

by Richard M. Warren

This new edition of Auditory Perception: A New Synthesis, a book originally published by Pergamon Press (1982), describes the nature of sound, how it is analyzed by the auditory system, and the rules and principles governing our interpretation of auditory input. It guides the reader through the physics of sound and the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear and nervous system before embarking on an explanation of how experiments reveal the means by which we locate and identify sound sources and events, and how we recognize and interpret the patterns of music and speech. The new material includes discoveries concerning cochlear mechanics and neural transduction, processes involved in the perceptual restoration of portions of signals obliterated by extraneous sounds, and the manner in which sequences of sounds including those of speech and music, are organized into recognizable patterns. In addition, a chapter on speech describes how processes employed for the perception of brief nonverbal sounds are used for the organization of syllables and words, along with an overlay of special linguistic mechanisms. The book comes with an accompanying CD-ROM containing audio demonstrations, allowing the reader to experience directly some of the auditory illusions that have been described, and providing new insight into the mechanisms employed in perceptual organization. Advance undergraduate and graduate students interested in auditory perception in behavioral sciences, psychology, neurobiology, and speech and hearing sciences, will find this book an excellent advanced guide to the subject.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Richard M. Warren (b. 1925) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is known for his pathbreaking work on auditory perception. Warren is an elected Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the American Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association. He holds a bachelor's degree from the College of the City of New York, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from New York University. After extensive research work in physiological psychology, Warren began his teaching career at Shimer College, where he served as chairman of psychology. In 1964, he moved to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he remained for the duration of his career. His most recent book is Auditory Perception: An Analysis and Synthesis (2008). (from Shimer College Wiki)