The study of masking has been a mainstay in auditory research, yet many of its underlying processes elude quantitative description. Using a combination of traditional methodological approaches and newer techniques, which permit examination of the relationship between the characteristics of specific stimulus waveforms and the responses of individual subjects, we attempt to identify the mechanisms that allow an observer to detect one sound in the presence of other interfering sounds. Our previous research, indicating the need to find alternatives to energy detection models of masking, leads to the evaluation of timing-based models and models that assume nonlinear peripheral interactions. Results questioning critical band theory and indicating the importance of across-frequency interactions are extended here by examining the role of central and peripheral factors in the detection of multiple signals and multiple-component signals. Prior conflicting findings on the importance of across-time interactions in masking are further assessed using new approaches to the study of temporal masking and temporal fringe effects. The results of this research will help to specify the nature of processing both within and between spectral/temporal channels. The work will have implications for auditory theory in general, and for the study of auditory pattern analysis and auditory masking in particular.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC000786-04
Application #
3217488
Study Section
Hearing Research Study Section (HAR)
Project Start
1990-05-01
Project End
1994-04-30
Budget Start
1992-05-01
Budget End
1993-04-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Wright State University
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Dayton
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
45435
Kloiber, Diana True; Ertmer, David J (2015) Can children substitute for adult listeners in judging the intelligibility of the speech of children who are deaf or hard of hearing? Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 46:56-63
Gilkey, R H; Good, M D (1995) Effects of frequency on free-field masking. Hum Factors 37:835-43