Discriminability of narrow-band sounds in the absence of level cues

Gerald Kidd, Rosalie M. Uchanski, Christine R. Mason, Phalauni S. Deliwala

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Several experiments are described in which the task of the observer was to detect an intensity increment to the center tone of a narrow-band, multitone complex. The sound-pressure levels of the stimuli were equated, then randomized, so that listeners could not detect the signal by using level cues. The primary experimental variables were the number of tones in the masker spectrum, the level of the center tone or “pedestal” relative to the other tones, the center frequency and the sound-pressure level. Both “random-phase” and “fixed-phase” conditions (referring to whether the pattern of starting phases of the nonsignal tones was chosen randomly on every presentation or was held constant throughout each trial and block of trials) were tested. Although no simple detection strategy appeared to account for all of the results, the most plausible explanation for performance in most conditions was that the listeners were able to discriminate between sounds based on subtle differences in the amplitude envelopes of the waveforms.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1028-1037
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume93
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1993

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Discriminability of narrow-band sounds in the absence of level cues'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this