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Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms
Published on: February 10, 2016
Mechanisms of auditory masking in marine mammals
Brian K Branstetter1, Jillian M Sills2
1National Marine Mammal Foundation, 2240 Shelter Island Drive, #204, San Diego, CA, 92106, USA. brian.branstetter@nmmf.org.
Abstract:
Anthropogenic noise is an increasing threat to marine mammals that rely on sound for communication, navigation, detecting prey and predators, and finding mates. Auditory masking is one consequence of anthropogenic noise, the study of which is approached from multiple disciplines including field investigations of animal behavior, noise characterization from in-situ recordings, computational modeling of communication space, and hearing experiments conducted in the laboratory. This paper focuses on laboratory hearing experiments applying psychophysical methods, with an emphasis on the mechanisms that govern auditory masking. Topics include tone detection in simple, complex, and natural noise; mechanisms for comodulation masking release and other forms of release from masking; the role of temporal resolution in auditory masking; and energetic vs informational masking.
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