Subject: Re: Temporary binding of descriptions in perception From: Pierre Divenyi <marva4!EarLab!pierre(at)UCDAVIS.EDU> Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 15:57:35 GMTDear Dick, Al, Christian and others, While I am enjoying the exchange of thoughts, theories, and models immensely, I think that the phenomenon has not been described in sufficient detail to draw any conclusion, let alone draw far-reaching and often very complex theories on how the mind works. First, I think that Dick should respond to an early challenge by Al and examine whether the illusion persists with high-pass and low-pass copies of the utterance by the same voice. This manipulation should answer a few questions, if not on binding and nodes, at least on fatigue and suppression. I have a different idea: If we have one speech processor and if it is located in one hemisphere, then we should expect to experience different illusory percepts in the two ears (even with the identical voice & word staggered in the two ears), just by virtue of the longer time needed to reach the processor from the ipsilateral ear. Furthermore, and here is another challenge, testing people of a relatively advanced age (at which, as we are told, progressive demyelination of the corpus callosum slows down and impairs interhemispheric transfer) should lead to more frequent reports of VTE than obtained in younger listeners and should yield asymmetric results in the two ears (as measured, for example, by the time needed to generate VTE). Once we know better what is really happening, we would have easier time looking for models to explain it. Or, as the Latin say: "Verba volant, data manent". Pierre **************************************************************************** Pierre Divenyi Speech and Hearing Research (151) V.A. Medical Center, Martinez, CA 94553, USA Phone: (510) 370-6745; Fax: (510) 228-5738 E-mail : PDivenyi(at)ucdavis.edu ****************************************************************************