Tests of human auditory temporal resolution: Experimental examination of a Bayesian adaptive procedure

Auditory temporal resolution plays a critical role in the everyday experience of listening to complex acoustic patterns. The two most commonly used methods for obtaining measures of auditory temporal resolution are gap detection and amplitude modulation (AM) detection. In an attempt to develop a standardized clinical test of auditory temporal resolution, we used Zippy Estimation by Sequential Testing (ZEST), a Bayesian threshold estimation procedure, to measure gap and AM detection thresholds. In the present study, we collected gap and AM detection thresholds from more than 140 normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants, using ZEST and a standard 1-up 2-down procedure for comparison. The results showed that the thresholds obtained with ZEST were very close to those obtained with the 1-up 2-down procedure and that the threshold estimates of ZEST approached the asymptote within 10 to 20 trials, indicating the reliability and efficiency of ZEST as a method for measuring auditory temporal resolution. In addition, our data revealed significant correlations between the gap detection thresholds and the peak sensitivity, but not the cut-off frequency, of the temporal modulation transfer function estimated from the AM detection thresholds, when the participants' ages and hearing levels were partialed out.