Top-Down Influences in the Detection of Spatial Displacement in a Musical Scene

We investigated the detection of sound displacement in a four-voice musical piece under conditions that manipulated the attentional setting (selective or divided attention), the sound source numerosity, the spatial dispersion of the voices, and the tonal complexity of the piece. Detection was easiest when each voice was played in isolation and performance deteriorated when source numerosity increased and uncertainty with respect to the voice in which displacement would occur was introduced. Restricting the area occupied by the voices improved performance in agreement with the auditory spotlight hypothesis as did reducing the tonal complexity of the piece. Performance under increased numerosity conditions depended on the voice in which displacement occurred. The results highlight the importance of top-down processes in the context of the detection of spatial displacement in a musical scene.