Profile analysis: detecting dynamic spectral changes

This paper explores how amplitude modulation influences the detection of changes in spectral shape. We generally used a complex of 21 equal-amplitude components, the lowest frequency was 200 Hz, the highest 5000 Hz, with equal logarithmic spacing between components. The signal was an increase in level of one or more components of the complex. The overall level of the sound varied randomly over a 20-dB range. Three experiments are reported. In the first, we determined how the modulation of a single-frequency component influenced the detection of amplitude change at that region. In the second experiment, the signal was an alteration of the entire spectrum and that alteration was subjected to various forms of amplitude modulation. In neither experiment did modulation generally increase the detectability of the signal. Finally, in the third experiment, we determined the effects of modulating the 'signal' and 'nonsignal' parts of the spectrum in different relative phases. The results of this experiment showed that the relative phase is important only for modulation rates slower than about 40 Hz. For faster rates, the temporal structure of the spectrum is unimportant. Thus, for modulation rates above 40 Hz, only the power spectrum of the stimulus is critical.