ABSTRACT
The temporal patterning of sound provides the organism with important information about objects and events in the world about it. Temporal patterns emerge when listening to cyclic sets of temporally dispersed soundbursts, but only when the rate of presentation lies within a limited range. At extremely slow rates, no pattern is heard; at some faster rate, pattern organization of discrete events occurs; at still faster rates, the perception of pattern in discrete events passes to perception of a repeating unit; at still faster rates, the perception of unitization passes to perception of texture or timbre. We review temporal pattern perception, the phenomenon of unitization, and a model suggested by the phenomenon. Finally, we discuss possible neurophysiologies processes underlying or contributing to auditory temporal pattern perception.
