Processing Auditory Stimuli: Holistic Vs. Analytic Modes Of Processing

Abstract

This study investigates the circumstances under which people use a holistic (overall similarity) or an analytic (feature representation) mode of processing in a concept learning task. Three experiments were performed on the auditory modality using the dimensions of pitch, timbre, loudness, and rhythm. The first experiment involved psychophysically scaling these four dimensions to' ensure that the perception of each value remains constant in the face of variation across irrelevant dimensions. In the second set of experiments, a speeded sorting task was used to determine if subjects can selectively attend to these dimensions. The last experiment tested whether subjects use a holistic mode or an analytic mode to learn concepts based on these auditory dimensions. The results suggest subjects use an analytic mode in this situation.