Perceptual confusions between four-dimensional sounds.

Are meaningless sounds learned and identified in a speech mode? Sixteen sounds were generated differing on four dimension, each having two values. These were: the source waveform contained either all harmonics or odd harmonics; the fundamental frequency was either 90 or 142 Hz; there were either one or two formant frequency regions; and the formant(s) was (were) either low, 600 (and 1550) Hz or high, 940 (and 2440) Hz. Twenty‐four listeners identified these sounds. Fewer confusions were made between sounds (1) as the number of dimensions on which they differed increased, and (2) as the dimension(s) changed, from formant number to ferment frequency region, to fundamental frequency, to source waveform. Similarly, fewer confusions were made between sounds whose formant frequencies and fundamental frequency were in a fixed ratio than between those with the same formant frequency. In essence fixed ferment sounds were more often called the same sound than were fixed ratio sounds. The data fit a hypothesis that ...