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Informational masking for multicomponent maskers with spectral gaps
D L Neff1, T M Dethlefs, W Jesteadt
1Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska 68131.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|December 1, 1993
Summary
Informational masking, caused by unpredictable masker sounds, persists even with large gaps around the target sound. Individual differences in auditory processing and attentional filters may explain varying susceptibility to this masking effect.
Area of Science:
- Auditory perception
- Psychoacoustics
- Signal processing in hearing
Background:
- Informational masking arises from uncertainty in masker properties, such as frequency composition.
- This type of masking is distinct from energetic masking, which is based on spectral overlap.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of spectral gaps within simultaneous maskers on informational masking.
- To explore individual differences in susceptibility to informational masking and its underlying mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Measuring auditory thresholds for a 1000-Hz signal in the presence of multi-component sinusoidal maskers with varying spectral gaps.
- Employing notched-noise stimuli to assess auditory-filter width.
- Evaluating processing efficiency using measures related to auditory and attentional filters.
Main Results:
- Substantial informational masking was observed even with large spectral exclusions around the signal in some listeners.
- Individual differences in informational masking were evident, with some listeners showing greater susceptibility.
- Auditory-filter width did not differentiate listener groups, but processing efficiency and attentional filter characteristics varied.
Conclusions:
- Informational masking can be robust and is not fully mitigated by large spectral gaps in the masker.
- Individual differences in auditory processing efficiency and attentional strategies likely contribute to variations in informational masking.
- Further research into attentional mechanisms is warranted to understand individual differences in auditory perception.