Binaural interference: effects of temporal interferer fringe and interstimulus interval

Binaural interference refers to the phenomenon in which the potency of binaural cues conveyed by a "target" stimulus occupying one spectral region is degraded by the presence of an "interferer" stimulus occupying a spectral region remote from the target. It is typified by conditions in which thresholds for detection of interaural temporal difference conveyed by a high-frequency target are elevated when the target is accompanied by a spectrally remote low-frequency interferer. This study explored effects of temporal relations between targets and interferers on binaural interference. In the first experiment, duration by which the interferer preceded and/or trailed the target (onset and offset "fringes") was varied. Results indicated binaural interference decreased with total duration of the temporal fringe, but did not depend on whether that duration was composed of onset, offset, or onset + offset fringes. In the second experiment, binaural interference was measured as a function of the interstimulus interval (ISI) between the two presentations of the target. Results indicated that shorter ISIs increased thresholds in both the interferer and no-interferer conditions, but did not affect binaural interference. These results suggest that the mechanisms underlying the effects of manipulations of the interferer temporal fringe and manipulation of the ISI are essentially independent.