Binaural processing of noisy stimuli: internal/external noise ratios for diotic and dichotic stimuli

A set of ten digitized statistically similar Gaussian maskers was used in one-internal tone-in-noise detection experiments under diotic (NoSo) and dichotic (NoS pi) interaural conditions. Stimulus/response matrices were generated for each masker in the presence or absence of a target 500-Hz tone. For both NoSo and NoS pi, nonparametric analyses show that response probabilities and sensitivities vary significantly across noise waveforms, indicating a considerable external noise component in subject response variability. A parametric model is developed that maps individual stimulus waveforms onto a decision axis, facilitating evaluation of internal/external noise variance ratios. For both NoSo and NoS pi, internal and external noise variance are of similar magnitude.