Glossary

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Audio Localization(also: Sound Localization, Auditory Localization)

The ability to identify the location of a sound source in space using auditory cues such as interaural time differences (the slight delay between sound reaching each ear) and interaural level differences (volume variations between ears). Audio localization is a critical skill…

Cocktail Party Effect

The human ability to focus auditory attention on a single speaker or sound source while filtering out competing voices and background noise. Named after the experience of following one conversation at a noisy party, this perceptual phenomenon demonstrates that the auditory…

Cocktail party effect(also: Selective auditory attention)

The well-documented human ability to focus auditory attention on a single speech source among multiple simultaneous conversations, while still detecting relevant information (such as one's name) in unattended streams. The cocktail party effect is foundational to the design of…

Psychoacoustics

The branch of perceptual psychology that studies how humans subjectively perceive sound - loudness, pitch, timbre, spatial location, foreground/background segregation, and masking. Psychoacoustic principles underpin accessible audio design: screen reader pacing, earcon and…

Rapid Auditory Processing(also: RAP, Auditory Temporal Processing)

The ability to perceive and process rapidly changing auditory signals that occur within tens of milliseconds, such as the rapid frequency and amplitude transitions that characterise speech sounds. Rapid auditory processing is a fundamental skill for language acquisition, as…

Timbre(also: Tone Colour, Tone Color)

The perceived quality or 'colour' of a sound that distinguishes different sources playing the same pitch and loudness — for instance, the difference between a flute, a violin, and a human voice singing the same note. Timbre is determined largely by the spectral content (the…

Tinnitus(also: Ringing in the Ears)

Tinnitus is the perception of sound - most commonly ringing, buzzing, or hissing - without a corresponding external source. It can be continuous or intermittent, uni- or bilateral, and ranges from mild background nuisance to severely disabling. Tinnitus is often associated with…

Working memory(also: Short-term memory)

The cognitive system responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information during complex tasks such as language comprehension, reasoning, and decision-making. Working memory has limited capacity, typically described as 7 plus or minus 2 items, and varies between…

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