The Relational Approach to Hearing Perception

Abstract

The principal problem in this paper is an application of the relational theory of perceiving to the interpretation of the phenomena of hearing perception.

Scientists’ interest in eye perception has not wavered for years. That is why the phenomenon of perceiving is sometimes almost entirely identified with eye perception. Meanwhile the phenomena of hearing perception often remain beyond the designed models of perceiving. Both from he theoretical and practical point of view it is reasonable to discuss the approach containing in itself the axioms which may be justified also on the grounds of the research concerning hearing perception. In this way there is a broader view of the phenomena of hearing perception as they are systematized by the general laws of perception.

The relational model, formulated by A. Biela, A. Falkowski and P. Jusczyk, emphasizes the elementary role which is in perception played by inner- and interstimulus relations. Such a model enables a thorough grasp of the process of hearing perception.

The axioms of the relational approach are confirmed by the research on the phenomena of hearing perception. The paper discusses the following researches: R. Crowder’s research on hearing images, L.B. Marx’s experiments on the grasp of adequacy between the characteristics of two modalities, and J.J. Bharuchy’s research on the activation conditionings of particular schemes of hearing stimuli.