Auditory temporal gap detection for noise markers with partially overlapping and non-overlapping spectra

• Published in: Hearing research Vol. 174; no. 1; pp. 133 - 141
• Main Authors: Phillips, D.P, Hall, S.E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-12-2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Auditory gap detection; Auditory Perception - physiology; Auditory Threshold; Bandwidth; Biological and medical sciences; Ear and associated structures. Auditory pathways and centers. Hearing. Vocal organ. Phonation. Sound production. Echolocation; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Noise; Perceptual Masking; Pitch; Spectral dissimilarity; Temporal processing; Time Perception - physiology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Auditory gap detection; Temporal processing; Pitch; ERB, equivalent rectangular bandwidth; Spectral dissimilarity; Bandwidth; Human; Overlap; Temporal pattern; Hearing; Acoustic stimulus; Gap; Detection threshold; Pitch(acoustics)
• ISSN: 0378-5955; 1878-5891
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-5955(02)00647-0

Temporal gap detection thresholds were obtained from six listeners using an adaptive tracking method and constant spectrum-level noises. In separate blocks of trials, the markers bounding the gap were systematically varied in their spectral overlap or separation (expressed in equivalent rectangular bandwidths, ERBs). In the same listeners, gap thresholds were also obtained for noises of the same bandwidths as those constituting the overlap in the overlap conditions (in the presence of a wideband notched noise masker: ‘mask’ conditions). For the spectral overlap/separation conditions, gap thresholds were a systematic, linear function of spectral dissimilarity in four of six listeners. In the mask conditions, gap thresholds were inversely related to bandwidth in all listeners. For the three-, four- and five-ERB conditions, gap thresholds in the same listeners for the spectral overlap conditions were higher than those for mask stimuli with the same available within-channel bandwidth and spectrum levels. These data suggest that the spectral dissimilarity between the markers over-rode the availability of within-channel information in the recovery of the temporal gap.