Our studies revealed two stable modes of perceptual organization, one based
on attributes of auditory sensory elements and another based on attributes
of patterned sensory variation composed by the aggregation of sensory elem
ents III a dual-task method, listeners attended concurrently to both aspect
s component and pattern, of a sine wave analogue of a word. Organization of
elements,vas indexed by several single-mode tests of auditory form percept
ion to verify the perceptual segregation of either an individual formant of
a synthetic word or a tonal component of a sinusoidal word analogue. Organ
ization of patterned variation was indexed by a test of lexical identificat
ion. The results show the independence of the perception of auditory and ph
onetic form, which appear to be differently organized concurrent effects of
the same acoustic cause.