Virginia M. Richards
Research Interests
My research interests include human perception, cognition, and mathematical
psychology as applied to the perception of complex sounds. Using
psychophysical techniques, we study the rules governing low-level
auditory processing and the possible mechanisms by which multiple
sound sources are segregated. Recent work has been aimed at the
development and testing of multiple-channel models of masking that
depend on both energetic and temporal aspects of complex sounds.
At present, the goal is to extend this work into the realm of perceptual
organization, including "auditory streaming" and the detection
of a target pattern of sounds against a background of distracter
sounds. Both psychophysical experiments and the allied processing
models depend on digital signal processing techniques in which acoustical
features are independently varied, allowing the determination of
the relative contribution of the different cues as well as the underlying
combination rules.
Papers that may help to more clearly describe these sorts of experiments
and psychophysical methods include:
- Richards, V.M., and Lentz, J.J. (1998). Sensitivity
to Changes in Level and Envelope Patterns Across Frequency. J.
Acoust. Soc. Am., 104, 3019-3029.
- Richards, V.M. (2002). The Detection of a
Tone Added to Noise: Effects of Feedback Variation. J. Assoc.
Res. Otolaryn, 03, 209-221.
- Richards, V.M.and Neff D.L. (2004). Cuing Effects for
Informatoinal Masking. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 115, 289-300.
- Huang, R. and Richards, V.M. (2006) "Coherence detection:
Effects of frequency, frequency uncertainty, and onset/offset
delays," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 2298-2304.
Teaching
Spring 2007, Research Experience in Perception (PSYC 311)
Spring 2007, Proseminar in Perception (PSYC 600-303)
Fall 2008, Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGS001)
|
|
Contact Information
215.898.0223 (phone)
215.746.6848 (fax)
richards at psych.upenn.edu
Virgina M. Richards
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
University of Pennsylvania
3401 Walnut Street 316C
Philadelphia, PA, 19104
|
